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Read other letters about this article
I found most of the comments posted here much more interesting than this interview (and Mr. Moussaieff's book, which I do not plan on reading). I am a vegetarian. I have been one for many years. Moussaieff's philosophy seems to focus specifically on the ethical aspects of diet. He would like us to avoid animal suffering at all costs, which is indeed a noble and righteous desire.
BUT, there is more too this issue! There are the practical aspects: what are the environmental consequences of mass-farming animals? What are the economical costs?
How many acres of land are destroyed each day to raise ever more cattle to meet the demands of the hungry and growing US population? When will US consumers understand that they can't always have it all? that the meat industry in unsustainable? We can't go on eating the way we eat today in the future. For this reason we must also start to buy produce locally. Do we even know where most of our food items come from any more? Raising animals is also expensive.
To cut costs, because, again, in this Walmart culture of ours, US consumers believe that everything should be cheap! cheap! cheap! mega-farms are genetically modifying the genes of these animals and lowering the standards of their living conditions, which, in the end, decreases the quality of the products.
I encourage you all to research these other aspects of the foods industry. You may change your minds.
Some comments here seem to reiterate common misconceptions about vegetarianism. I have read here that vegetarianism is a "uniquely western" phenomenon... whatever that may mean. Listen, vegetarianism exists and has existed for a very long time in cultures throughout the world. Take India or Japan, for example.
Furthermore, to equate vegetarianism in other countries with malnutrition is inaccurate. Malnourishment is not the result of an herbivorous diet, but rather of a great number of unrelated problems. The human is omnivorous and is able to metabolize food of many kinds. Mother Nature has provided us with everything we need to survive successfully and healthfully on only grains, vegetables, fruits, legumes, etc. As long as the vegetarian diet is balanced and nutritious, adults as well as children can live in wonderful health on this diet.
The only reason some of you claim otherwise is due to the lack of information and social acceptance in our society of this alternative to consumption. The meat industry, like big oil, is an omnipresent force in our country, that controls the way we live our lives in many ways we fail to even recognize.
Some commenters claim that vegetarians are a fringe that has lost touch with "reality." On the contrary, if you are everyday consumers of meat, you are the ones not living realistically. Your way of life is an illusion, meticulously crafted over the years by these giant monopolies.
