Letter: Meat eaters should meet a new diet

Thursday, March 18, 1999 | 10:21 a.m.

A recent survey found that 75 percent of consumers would eat more vegetarian meals if they were widely available. Young people are flocking to meatless eating. Food manufacturers, supermarkets, and fast-food chains are scrambling to meet the demand with veggie hot dogs, burgers, lunch "meat," and dairy-free ice cream.

It's a great setting for the 15th annual observance of the Great American Meatout on March 20. Concerned people in more than 2,000 communities in all 50 states and several other countries are planning to welcome spring with educational events.

They will ask their neighbors to "kick the meat habit this spring, at least for a day, and explore a more wholesome, less violent diet of grains, legumes, vegetables, and fruits." They will ask their supermarkets and restaurants to carry a larger selection of meatless meals.

Indeed the Great American Meatout provides all of us a special opportunity to examine the impacts of our diet on the health and well-being of our family, our planet and the billions of animals tormented and killed for food.

On the first day of spring let's turn over a new leaf, kick the meat habit and get a new lease on life.

DEBBIE DILL