Benefits of a plant-based diet
While being in whole-hearted agreement with George Monbiot about the universal benefits of a plant-based diet (15 June), such a diet has proved to be neither boring nor expensive in those many countries where meat is a rare luxury. Think chickpea curry, tofu laksa, vegetable tempura, Mexican bean quesadillas and all those Middle Eastern feasts. There’s no need to cook well to prepare many of these dishes; where such a diet excels is in the use of spices and herbs.
Perhaps Monbiot also grew up with insipid overcooked vegetables. It’s time to dust off the wok and show the world that vegans rock.
Jennifer Feeney
Carlton, Victoria, Australia
• It is an admirable aim to feed the world more efficiently and sustainably. George Monbiot makes it all seem very easy to convert to a plant-based diet. It’s a great idea and there are many in the media recommending we take up a vegan diet.
However, I would like to see more in the media about the nutritional issues we face if we do convert to veganism. The Vegan Society itself warns on its website about the dangers of Vitamin B12 deficiency and how difficult it is to absorb enough through food alone. Supplements are essential for the majority of people to avoid compromising good health. There are also difficulties in making sure we get a range of other essential nutrients.
Tina Hagley
Thorndon, UK
• George Monbiot’s exhortation for us all to convert to a vegan diet ignores the fact that any diet will be insufficient in the long run to feed an ever-increasing population. What is needed is a concerted effort to stabilise the population – raising standards of living is the only successful method known to have achieved this when done equitably. We need new cultural and economic norms that are not based on perpetual growth.
JE Kebbell
Wellington, New Zealand
The need for apology
Linda Besner’s comment (25 May) that Canada’s apologies for past wrongs by our current prime minister, Justin Trudeau, appear to be wearing thin may be a surprise to those who have been affected by tragedy. Indeed, some groups have been demanding such apologies for a long time.
Besner does acknowledge there were several inhumane acts performed in the past in Canada, as has been the case in many other countries, and there had been little acknowledgment of them by previous governments. It is to the credit of Trudeau to bring these out in the open and apologise so that the younger generation understands the seriousness of these tragedies, as they are not taught in the schools, and can learn from past mistakes.
A genuine apology by our prime minister, who is a man of emotion, helps in the healing process of those hurt by the actions of past governments. It is rare to hear of such apologies by other world leaders for wrongs done in their respective countries; they should apologise as well. Acknowledgement of past wrongs can serve as a deterrent for similar actions in the future.
Vipen Sawhney
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
Preparing Swedes for war
Jon Henley (1 June) says that leaflets preparing Swedes for war were issued “to the general public until 1961”. That may be, but the same kind of information was then printed in the telephone directory until the end of the cold war. Hence it is no novelty to people who, like me, grew up in Sweden in the 80s. Some people might even have gotten the impression that the lack of updates simply coincided with the end of the phone directory.
The leaflet seems to divide the general public. Some people consider it ridiculously alarmist, but some actually find it useful. Possible Russophobia between the lines is an issue, much as it was during the cold war. Back then, it was a common joke in the draft that for unknown reasons, the unknown enemy in the exercises always attacked from the east.
Daniel Lundgren
Oxelösund, Sweden
The motives of migrants
Daniel Trilling’s piece on migrant myths is evocative and emotional, if occasionally missing some balanced reasoning (15 June). A counter-argument may be that the de facto support expressed in this piece for what may some may call opportunistic mass migration from economically impoverished or politically unstable countries skews the UN definition of refugee as a person forced to flee a country based on religious, ethnic or political violence, war or persecution.
If we are unable to differentiate between legitimate and opportunistic migration, there is a danger of some people “crying wolf” as the world turns away from real refugee concerns.
James Taylor
Adelaide, South Australia
Briefly
• It is amazing news that Nasa has discovered a complex organic substance on Mars, and scientists are naturally excited that this may be from a living organism long ago (15 June). I fear it may merely be the remains of some plastic food wrap discarded by a careless Martian.
Alan Williams-Key
Madrid, Spain
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