I too, have seen life drain from the eyes of animals who were killed so that I might live. I have experienced the range of emotions involved in transforming carcass into meat – from sorrow, to revulsion, to scientific objectivity, to mind-numbing work, to pride. I know how it feels to butcher, grind, can and freeze meat which would feed me until next year’s harvest.

I’ve since drifted away from a meat-based diet and consider myself lucky that my body functions well on beans, grains and vegetables. I like to think that my ecological footprint is smaller than it was when I ate meat. Inspired by “Diet for a Small Planet” I decided it would be more efficient to eat lower on the food chain. Rather than feed protein to animals, I skip the middleman and feed those calories to myself.

On the other hand, I have work to do reining in the distance traveled by some of my food. Obvious targets would be the olive oil from Greece and the coconut milk from Thailand that I can’t seem to do without. And then there’s the Midwestern soybeans and California Vegenaise.

Your writings reaffirm my decision to eat locally grown food and support my farmer friends as they expand into beans, wheat and rice. You are, as always, an inspiration!