Toxic chemicals aren’t the only thing meat-eaters cannot avoid
Re: “Risks associated with eating fruit and vegetables, too”, Have Your Say, January 10.
I agree with Robin Grant that many fruits and vegetables these days are contaminated with chemicals, so the best choice, where possible, is to buy organic, unsprayed produce. But the plant foods fed to animals are also contaminated, thus choosing meat is not a way of avoiding them.
Robin says I seem particularly concerned about the ethical aspect of killing what I describe as “sentient creatures on a par with human beings”. What I have been saying is that the animals we so casually and callously slaughter for food have emotions similar to ours and the same capacity for suffering as us. Consequently they deserve to be afforded similar consideration and compassion. Like it or not, we are all animals.
Jenny Moxham
Victoria, Australia
