Comments on: Food For Thought

Andy Ponders Eating Spinach, Horsemeat And Vegetarianism

[amedacm]

Wow - Andy you blew me away. I never thought I'd hear something like that from you, and on the eve of Ghandi's birthday. What timing. I admire your courage as most people think people who care about animals instead of eating them are nuts. Nuts - I think people who eat carcasses are nuts. You're right I think the tide is turning and one day vegetarians/vegans will be the norm and those eating corpses will be outcasts like smokers. Meat free zones will be everywhere. Meat eating will be looked at as it is - barbaric and medieval - something from the dark ages. There won't be billions of animals suffering in factory farms, then murdered; the environment won't be deteriorating and heart disease, cancer, diabetes and strokes will be history. We will feel better physically and mentally with a clear conscience. Compassion will be the fashion, and you can be proud that you were part of the solution instead of the problem. Also, being vegan is easier and less expensive and you have more energy. Never get sick. Also, the food is great. I do not miss out on anything. Been 30 years now. You look younger too. All positives, no negatives. Know that you know about it, you can't ignore it. You can't pretend. You know the truth. This was your best one ever. Keep up the great work Andy!

[nwjoy]

Nuts?? Nuts?! Yes, please, soynuts, peanuts, walnuts, Brazil nuts....all a much healthier choice than dead animals. I am vegetarian and much prefer elk in the forest than on my plate. I am sincerely hoping its less than 50 years before more people thoughtfully consider their food choices. Thanks for the insightful commentary, Mr. Rooney.

[jennaschissl]

Thank you Mr. Rooney for your Food for Thought commentary and your comments regarding vegetarians. I became a vegetarian over 10 years ago when I just could not stomach the thought of other living beings being killed for me to eat them. The last straw for me was walking down China Town in San Francisco and seeing all these darling little chickens in cages just waiting for someone to say I want that one and then it would be slaughtered. It just turned my stomach inside out and made my heart ache for all the animals that are killed for human consumption and also the ones that are tortured and killed for their fur and feathers.

Also, thank you for mentioning never eating rabbit. I've lived with pet rabbits for 15 years now and it pains me so much that these little beings are still being raised and killed for food and fur. They are the most misunderstood of all animals I believe. Having said that, they are the nations #3 most popular pet yet they still have livestock status. We hear of backyard horror stories all the time yet there isn't much we can do because they are considered livestock. I hope we can change that one day very soon and I hope in years to come eating animals will be the thing of the past but I don't think it will happen any time soon, unfortunately.

Jenna Schissler

[Jalust--2008]

Mr. Rooney, you'd better be careful or you will become unGrinch-like right in time for Christmas. But you stated the truth. Raising animals to eat is a strange thing. We can raise much more protein by raising a wide variety of grains. It takes about 16 acres to produce an acre of cow meat protein. shiver

I lost 90 pounds as a vegan! Then I got some kind of desire for other stuff and went back to being a vegetarian. I re-gained 70 pounds. NOT because I fell off the turnip truck and became a vegetarian, but because I was, simply, oh, my!! overeating!

You are an inspiration, as is Kirstie Ally who has lost about 75 pounds so far. And I thought I could keep up with her. Well, if I'd stop stuffing my face for a moment. . . but I digress.

I want to congratulate you for saying what I never thought you'd say: that someday, maybe 50 or 100 years in the future, civilized people would stop eating other animals. Let's hope that it doesn't take that long and you are not old now and will not be old then! But, I do believe you will be a vegetarian.

[rwill501]

Mr. Rooney, it pleases me that you place a higher value on horses than on other forms of meat. Horses and cows may live in the same environment, but cows are not used in a funeral procession for a fallen President, nor were they ever ridden into battle. The history of the USA has many examples of heroism of horses, but, other than feed our soldiers, cows aren't often mentioned. My horses thank you for both your support and understanding.

[blakkat31]

So refreshing to hear Andy say what was on my mind when I decided I didn't want to eat the products of suffering, especially since we don't need animal flesh to survive, and it's much better for our health, the environment and animals to enjoy a delicious plant-based diet. I pray that we will stop killing animals for food and other reasons in my lifetime. The world would be a much more peaceful place. Thanks Andy and 60 minutes!

[my2cents7]

Mr. Rooney

Thank you for your commentary. I have always enjoyed your refreshing perspective on the world.

You should know that, with regard to your thoughts about civilization and vegetarians, you are, by far,not alone. Great minds throughout history have made similar observations about the relationship between civilization and the manner in which animals are treated. This is one of my favorite:

"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated"
Mahatma Ghandhi 1869 -1948

[bpbri]

Andy,
Sounds like you're ready for a vegetarian starter guide or a viewing of meet your meat. Check it out online at http://www.meatyourmeet.com

[kathybc]

I have been a vegan for many years and I applaud
your observations concerning the horrible ways
that sentient beings treat other sentient beings.
In order to feed all the world and to save the environment, we must all become vegan. And yes they still eat horses slaughtered in the U.S. in
Europe. They also eat dogs and cats in China.
But it doesn't make any difference- meat is meat,
flesh is flesh. It is all repulsive.

Ms. Kathy Caldwell
Rochester, New York

[corradoborg]

Thank you Mr. Rooney for recognizing that humans are evolving toward a meat-free diet. There is no denying that someday soon animal farming will be a thing of the past.

If I missed an earlier comment to this effect, I apologize. But I don't think anyone has yet commented on the connection between the tainted spinach and factory farming. Although it is not yet proven, one of the leading theories suggests that the E. coli that infected the spinach was due to the waste runoff from nearby cattle operations. Waste from animal farming is by far the number one pollutant in the US. It runs into rivers and water supplies, mingles with groundwater, and leaves all kinds of toxic remnants - like E. coli - everywhere it goes.

Going vegetarian is far more important to human safety than people recognize. It does not only affect the individual's health. It impacts entire ecosystems, and as we have now seen with the spinach, has far-reaching implications for the safety of just about everyone in our country.