Food: Everyone has the right to choose

Straits Times 4 Sep 10;

I refer to the article, Between Ethics And Etiquette (LifeStyle, Aug 29). I think the environmentalists are passionate but self-centred. They make it seem that only they are in the right and everyone else is in the wrong.

I respect their decision to eat what they choose to. However, they have no right to impose their beliefs on others. I eat only fish, vegetables and fruit but I attend lunches and dinners where meat is served. I just do not eat the meat dishes. I do not demand that my friends and relatives eat only fish and vegetables. They have the right to eat what they want, just as I have the right to eat what I want.

He XiuYun

My wife and I have never touched or consumed meat. Our eating habits do sometimes cause us inconvenience especially when we travel overseas. However, we do our best not to inconvenience others and complain as little as possible when we do not get what we desire. We also keep our opinions to ourselves. We are okay with dining in the company of non-vegetarians.

Shashi Lal Kashyap

Telling people what they should eat happens only in countries which have lots of food choices. Try asking a man who is dying of hunger whether he is a vegan, �a vegetarian or a meat-eater, and he would probably eat your tongue.

All foods have their own special nutrients that are important to the body. We should be thankful there is a wide variety in Singapore.

Eric Chia

Vegetarians and vegans are peace-loving people who respect all living things. Declining a wedding invitation where shark's fin is served or serving a vegetarian wedding dinner is not imposing one's belief on others. If meat-eaters accept the truth that they do have 'blood on their hands' and if vegetarians and vegans accept that the meat-eaters are happy with 'blood on their hands', we can all eat together in peace.

Priscilla Chng

If you do not want to eat shark's fin, you can tell the waiter you are skipping it. This way, you can stand up for your beliefs and demonstrate your tolerance at the same time.

Couples who throw vegetarian wedding dinners should tell their guests in advance. It is just courteous to do so.

Ringo Tan

Someone once told me that in sharing the gospel of the Christian faith, one should 'use words only when necessary'. Forcing a religion on a non-believer would only repel him from wanting to find out more. In the same way, wouldn't bringing up the brutal slaughtering of endangered animals during a meal only cause others to recoil?

Vegans should let the benefits of their healthy eating habits (they look healthier, for example) speak for themselves.

Speaking up against eating endangered animals is acceptable at the dinner table so long as you are mindful of other diners' reactions. You should take the hint if they try to change the subject.

I refrain from eating shark's fin. I have also watched documentaries which expose the unethical means employed by fast-food chains used to obtain meat for their patties. Despite that, I would still like to eat a cheeseburger occasionally without someone sitting across the dinner table trying to make me feel guilty.

Kerri Pang

The article undermines the environment movement and attempts to portray those who support enlightened eating as rude and socially inept.

The media has vilified environmentalism and made it out to be some form of deviant cult.

I am a vegetarian and I have never avoided a wedding dinner or handed out packets telling people to boycott certain dishes.

In fact, my experience has been that vegetarians tend to be 'attacked' by everyone else at the dining table, for simply passing on the shark's fin.

Would you say that people who sell and eat shark's fin are militantly trying to obliterate one of the sea's greatest creatures? And should people who eat foie gras be labelled as individuals who hate geese and want them to suffer a painful death?

In today's world, where the environment is being degraded and humans are directly affected, shouldn't people change their eating habits a little to respect the environment?

Bee Li

EDITORIAL: No shark's fin, no meat
Straits Times 5 Sep 10;

There is a small but growing group of Singaporeans, many among them young, who will not eat shark's fin, bluefin tuna, foie gras and meat and dairy products. Shark's fin and bluefin tuna, because sharks and the tuna are endangered species, and it is seen as a cruel act when fishermen saw off the fins of sharks while they are still alive. And foie gras because it comes from farm ducks that have been force-fed to grow big unnaturally so they will have bigger livers, or so this group contends.

Those who abstain from meat and dairy products call themselves vegans. They see the slaughter of animals as cruel. These 'ethical eaters' are not alone. They are part of a worldwide movement whose coordinating body is Peta, or People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

Society thrives on diversity. It should respect the stand taken by this group. They believe in their cause and act on it, even if a little too zealously, in their lives. They do not do it for profit or any other material gains. But a problem arises when such folks try to impose their values on others who do not subscribe to their cause.

An ethical eater who refuses to attend a friend's wedding dinner because shark's fin soup is on the menu cannot be applauded for his righteousness, because he is putting his cause above friendship. He can go to the dinner and sit out the shark's fin soup course - quietly. To protest while the dish is being served would also not be the right thing to do. Nor would lecturing others around the table as to why they should boycott what they consider a delicacy.

The Sunday Times Lifestyle section last week featured a vegetarian couple who are tying the knot next year. They are planning an all-vegetarian wedding buffet dinner for about 180 guests. The groom said, if a bit theatrically: 'It's our wedding. We don't want blood on our hands.'

But would that be an imposition on their guests? Some will think so and not share in the joyous occasion. Pity.

Stop, not just discourage, cruelty to animals
Straits Times 12 Sep 10;

I refer to last Sunday's editorial, 'No shark's fin, no meat'.

Changing mindsets takes affirmative action.

The editorial states, without agreeing, that the harvesting of shark's fins and foie gras are deemed cruel to the animals.

This fact has been published in mainstream media for many years. Yet many people continue to eat such food in the full knowledge of the suffering of the animals harvested to produce them.

Cruelty to animals by human beings should be stopped, rather than simply discouraged.

I have lived here for 12 years. Engaging Singaporeans in a debate regarding shark's fins at dinner tables generally elicits agreement that, indeed, the practice of consuming such food should be discouraged - next time, perhaps. But next time does not ever seem to arrive, as this scenario is perpetuated.

My suggestion is we start acting more maturely about this issue. After all, positively changing people's attitudes to animal cruelty should be regarded as a sign of maturity.

Darren Blakeley