Some green ideas to chew on

Re “With low-carbon diets, consumers step to the plate,” April 22

It was terrific to finally read about how eating more greens is the best way to be more green. Eating your veggies and reducing your consumption of meat certainly is an easy way to save our planet for future generations. This is a choice that we can all easily make and is a lot cheaper than buying solar panels or a new hybrid car.

There is another simple choice Californians can make that helps not only the environment but the animals that are raised for food. Voters will have the chance in November to pass a ballot initiative that would reduce the suffering of farm animals by providing pigs, calves and hens enough room to stand up, lie down, turn around and extend their limbs. This important proposition is supported by the Humane Society of the United States, family farmers and countless veterinarians. I’m looking forward to voting “yes” on the Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act and hope my fellow Californians feel the same.

Jane Garrison

Redondo Beach

The Times’ otherwise awareness-raising piece makes a rather glaring omission of the obvious: If you really want to reduce your carbon footprint, you’ll switch to a vegan diet. The new, inconvenient truth is that eating meat can never be green.

Mikko Alanne

Los Angeles

The Times does a real disservice by failing to put the carbon emissions arguments into perspective. Here are a few facts: In 1944, there were more than 25 million dairy cows producing milk in the United States. Today, there are a little more than 9 million, a 64% reduction. Can auto manufacturers make that same claim? Through improvements in cow health and comfort, today’s dairy farms have made the modern milking cow more efficient than her ancestors. Those 9 million cows today produce 8 billion more gallons of milk a year than the 25 million cows did in 1944.

Add to that the enormous progress we’ve seen in renewable manure-to-energy technology, and farmers start looking more green than the Average Joe. Of course, a balanced story like that may not make for front-page journalism.

Rob Vandenheuvel

General Manager

Milk Producers Council

Chino

I had a meatless Earth Day experience during lunch at my university, which contracts with Bon Appetit. It was highly disappointing to my palate and suspicious because milk products were still available. Clara Peller had it right: “Where’s the beef?”

Michael Schulteis

Lake Forest