Sir, It is perfectly acceptable nutritionally that people should eat what they like, with only a couple of essential provisos: they should eat plenty of everything; and they should not eat too much.
This being the case, I cannot understand why some vegetarians seem determined to convince us meat eaters of the error of our ways. They can't seem to bear the thought of us enjoying a good steak, or a juicy burger now and again, and even a sizzling sausage or two. They want us to join them and give it all up. Yet, if God had intended us to refrain from eating meat, surely He would have provided us with five stomachs, like real herbivores, instead of only one?
It is nothing to me if other people want to eat mountains of greens, raw carrots, fruits and fibre, and I have no doubt that these foods can provide an adequate diet. I do object however, when some of them give advice, especially with pseudomedical authority, that red meat products are harmful. On the contrary, meat is an excellent food, rich in protein, whose special attributes of vitamin and mineral contents are unsurpassed by any other single food. This applies whether the meat is a sirloin steak, a beefburger, sliced bacon, cooked ham, or a humble pork sausage.
To say that "such meat products pay little contribution to a balanced diet" (Margaret Griffin, May 14th) is therefore wrong, while it is just nonsense to imagine that "the sweepings from abattoir floors" are coursing through anyone's body (D. K. Henderson, May 16th).
There may be a need in individual cases to cut down on, or even eliminate, a particular food from the diet, but as a general rule, everyone should eat meat, in any or all its forms - and plenty of it too! - Yours, etc.,
Taney Road,
Dublin 14.