Thank you, Cindy, for your balanced analysis. My comments were in reaction
to Manning's putting blame on vegetarians for Iowa's loss of 99% of it's
wildlife habitat, which is a ridiculous comment. Why he would say that after
putting so much thought into the rest of the article surprises me...except
that he is a subsistence hunter and he has a personal agenda against
vegetarians--animal rights activists particularly--for constantly taking
issue with his life style. It would have been to his credit if he had left
this agenda out of the article.

Jack    

on 3/12/04 12:11 PM, Cindy Hildebrand at [log in to unmask] wrote:

I agree with Jack that certain of Manning's assertions/conclusions should be
questioned, especially the issue of how much land is needed to feed a
vegetarian, compared to someone who eats meat.  I was surprised that Manning
didn't talk about that more directly, though he did discuss the amount of
energy needed to produce a pound of meat, compared to a pound of grain.

However, I also agree with Jack that Manning's article is interesting and
thought-provoking, especially his analysis of the money-power-fuel-food
connection, and his discussion of "catastrophic agriculture."   I'm glad his
article was featured in a general-interest magazine like HARPER'S, where it
has the opportunity to reach more readers who may not have thought about
these issues before.

Also, the message I took from the article regarding meat is that Manning
feels that if one does want to eat meat, and do so more responsibly, it's
important to find a "niche" in which the meat is produced in a way that does
minimal damage to native ecosystems.   For Manning, who owns wild land,
shooting an occasional wild elk on his property is a way to do that.  For
others, as Manning pointed out, the niche might be eating lambs raised on
sustainably-grazed pastures, for example.

Cindy 



Cindy Hildebrand
[log in to unmask]
Ames, IA  50010

"Iowa is said to be a prairie state, but what is a prairie to the present
generation?  Within 40 or 50 years, the broad stretches of tall shining
grass trembling in the sunlight or tossed by the breezes into billowy waves,
gorgeous as the season progresses with its pageant of brilliant hued
flowers... is fast passing..."  (Ada Hayden) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
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