I am writing in response to Froma Harrop’s column in the Jan. 5 Herald about Veganuary, the month-long commitment to plant-based eating that she calls “a cultish mindset.” Harrop may eat whatever she chooses, but more than “a few moments’ thought” are needed to understand “the point of a vegan diet.”
No cult was involved in my choice to forego all animal products 12 years ago. Like many vegans, it began with my love of animals. It was solidified by scientific evidence of environmental and personal health benefits.
The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recently issued a special report in which 107 scientists from more than 50 countries declared plant-based food and fuels as key to the climate change fight.
The National Institutes of Health published a study concluding “vegetarian diets represent an effective means for the prevention and treatment of cardio-metabolic diseases” and “benefits seem to be greater with vegan than lacto-ovo-vegetarian diets.”
Consumer Reports reported two-thirds of chicken meat they analyzed was infected with salmonella and/or campylobacter due to filthy conditions at factory farms.
Humane Society International states “an animal-based diet … causes immense animal suffering from practices ranging from factory farming and intensive confinement to inhumane handling and slaughtering.” The Washington Post, The New Yorker and others have exposed cruelty at factory farms.
Please give a plant-based diet more than a few moments’ thought. The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine website (pcrm.org) provides links to clinical studies on nutrition and health, as well as free recipes and a 21-day meal plan.
Valerie Edmunds
Mill Creek
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