From Today's New York Times

To the Editor:

Thank you for Nicholas D. Kristof’s plea for food-policy reform (“Lettuce From the Garden, With Worms,” column, June 21). Though factory-style production worsens it, the root problem is animal use. Since using animals is cultural, not part of our biological nature or in any way necessary, animal use is by definition inhumane—unkind where we could as a society choose kind.

It is inhumane to humans as well, E. coli or not, since animal protein and animal fat in the diet significantly increase chronic-disease risk, and using animals is a huge environmental problem regardless of method.

So the solution is simple. But our colleges of agriculture and our state and federal governments prefer the problem to the solution, responding to years of reasoned requests for change with public relations exercises.

David Cantor
Founder and Director
Responsible Policies for Animals
Glenside, Pa., June 24, 2009