Letter: Consider life change for new year

With New Year’s resolutions just around the corner, consider the popular trend toward a healthy, eco-friendly, compassionate meat-free diet.

According to Harris Interactive, 47 percent of American consumers are reducing their consumption of animal products. The USDA projects this year’s per capita chicken and beef consumption to drop by 8 percent and 17 percent, respectively, from the 2006 peaks. Similar dramatic drops are projected for pork and turkey consumption. Milk consumption has fallen by a whopping 40 percent since 1970.

A number of celebrities are vegan or going vegan. They include Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Oprah Winfrey, Ellen DeGeneres, Jay Z, and Beyoncé.

Microsoft founder Bill Gates, PayPal founder Peter Thiel and Twitter founders Biz Stone and Evan Williams are funding plant-based replacements for meat and eggs.

Fast-food chains such as Subway and Chipotle are responding to the growing demand by rolling out vegan options.

Taco Bell has found that 43 percent of conversations about meat were negative.

The Baltimore, Los Angeles and San Diego school districts, serving more than one million meals a day, have adopted Meatless Mondays.

How about dropping animals from the menu for this New Year’s resolution? Entering “Meatout Mondays” in a search engine brings tons of useful recipes and transition tips.

Dan Bentham

Vancouver