Dear Editor,
I am writing this as a response to a previous letter about going vegetarian. Although I do agree with the benefits of going vegetarian for even one day, I do not believe it will positively impact the environment.
It is true that meat production is the main cause of greenhouse gas emissions and global warming, but how will the decisions of, let’s say, all the students at UCSD to go vegetarian affect meat production? Demands will still be high, the industry is not going to shut down and meat will continue to be produced.
As much as I’d like for everyone to contribute to saving our environment, the option of going vegetarian doesn’t really do much. It doesn’t matter if every UCSD student decides to go vegetarian for one day; the same number of animals will be slaughtered, the same amount of fish will be caught and the same amount of meat will be produced.
I hate to be such a downer, but I’m trying to be realistic. If we really want to slow or even stop meat production, we would need to go straight to the source. Even then, it’d be nearly impossible to convince the industry to decrease its production.
I am not trying to say vegetarianism isn’t a good thing. It’s quite wonderful actually ‘mdash; mentally, spiritually and health-wise. I’ve made the decision to eat vegetarian diets some days, and I’d recommend it to everyone else, too.