From Today's New York Times

To the Editor:

Re “Mr. Puck’s Good Idea” (editorial, March 26):

Thank you for writing about the restaurateur Wolfgang Puck and his desire to buy meat raised humanely. This issue is an important one and needs to be talked about. If we are to live in a more peaceful world, we must abandon the cruelty on our plates.

Kristina Cahill
Long Beach, Calif., March 27, 2007

To the Editor:

Livestock producers raise their animals under humane standards and under the care of a veterinarian. In the United States pork industry, the vast majority of the more than 100 million pigs raised each year are housed in climate-controlled buildings that protect them from the elements, illness and disease and that allow for individual care.

According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, management and husbandry are more important than the type of production system for ensuring the health and well-being of pigs.

As for the environment, the pork industry prides itself on being a zero-discharge industry.

Finally, organic doesn’t mean safe. While conventional food producers must demonstrate that pesticide residues are within established safety margins, organic growers are not subject to the same scrutiny despite the widespread use of biological pesticides and animal waste as fertilizer.

Dave Warner
Director of Communications
National Pork Producers Council
Washington, March 28, 2007

To the Editor:

Regardless of how “humanely” an animal is raised, it still has to be slaughtered to be eaten. That is never humane.

Eating dead animals and animal products is bad for people, bad for animals and bad for the planet. The next logical step for those who eat in restaurants is to demand more vegetarian-vegan options on their menus.

Judith Abeles
San Diego, March 26, 2007