Vegetarian diet healthy, a start to better world

Editor,

While I'm glad to see Jordan Lewis of Tulane University has newfound respect for vegetarians, I believe him when he says, "I may never comprehend it," especially if his sole idea of vegetarianism is vegetable broth.

He seems to think that vegetarians struggle each and every moment of every day to adhere to their decision not to eat meat, fish or dairy products. Not so. I have been a vegetarian for 30 years and haven't struggled with it except for finding something suitable to eat in restaurants. This situation, fortunately, has changed for the better duringthe last decade.

I initially became a vegetarian because my parents forced me to eat things such as liver and oxen tongue on the premise that people cannot say they don't like a food until they have tried it - without any seasonings or condiments. While I was in high school, we ate steak every night because that's all my mother, who was terminally ill, could cook easily, quickly and without thought. I came to hate steak and I became a vegetarian the day I left home.

Vegetarian meals are tastier because they are not planned around meat being served, with the side dishes being just that - secondary to the meat. I never ate so well as when I lived with a vegetarian cook, and if I ever win a sizable lottery, one of the first things I will do is hire one.

However, my decision is not based purely on food preferences. I won't review all the arguments for vegetarianism, but I will say this: it's healthier for all, including the animals used as food - witness Mad Cow Disease, which has resulted in millions of cows being slaughtered simply because they are unfit for human consumption after we fed them diseased feed that had other diseased animals.

Certainly God's creatures deserve better than this, which brings us to the ethical reasons for vegetarianism. Being a vegetarian doesn't make me a saint, but at least it's a start to making this a better world for all.

Anne Rice

Technical writer

Biology Department