CONSIDER GOING ‘VEGAN’ IN 2013
Dear Editor,
2012 has not been a banner year for the meat industry. Extreme drought has doubled the cost of animal feedstuffs. Undercover investigations documented male chicks suffocated in plastic garbage bags or ground to death, their female counterparts crammed for life in tiny wire-mesh cages, pigs clobbered with metal pipes, and assorted farm animals skinned and dismembered at the slaughterhouse while still conscious.
A study of more than 120,000 people by the Harvard School of Public Health confirmed once again that meat consumption raises the risk of cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Director General of the World Health Organization Margaret Chan, warned that routine use of antibiotics to promote animal growth in factory farms is causing “the end of modern medicine.”
No wonder U.S. per capita meat consumption has been dropping by nearly 4% annually!
October offers excellent opportunities for dropping animal products from our diet. The month kicks off with World Vegetarian Day and World Farm Animals Day on October 1st and 2nd, respectively. It continues with World Food Day on October 16th, and Food Day on October 24th.
Entering “live vegan” in a search engine brings lots of useful transition tips.
Kenneth Miller
Kearny
N.J. SHOULD AID ESSEX VETERANS
Dear Editor:
As a lifelong Essex County resident and proud WWII veteran, I feel that Essex County is in need of a Veterans Memorial Home for elderly and sick veterans. According to 2010 Census data, there are 30,285 veterans living in Essex County. The veterans population of Essex County clearly provides a justification for a facility in our home of Essex County.
As of today, there are three New Jersey county veterans’ memorial homes in New Jersey – one in Paramus (Bergen County, veteran population 44,145); one in Menlo Park (Middlesex County Veteran Pop. 38,958); and one in Vineland (Cumberland County veteran pop. 9,810).
An ideal location would be the old Essex County Hospital, located in Belleville at the intersection of Belleville and Franklin Avenues.
We are spending billions in the far east – let’s spend some here to renovate this hospital with a grant to serve the veterans coming home!
Joe Fornarotto
Commander
Belleville/Nutley Chapter 2
Disabled American Veterans
