Q & R: Are you a vegan?

Here’s the Q:

I have been an avid reader of your work (although I have fallen behind on my reading lately, so I need to catch up with you and apologize if my question has already been answered in a book I haven’t yet read). The freshness of your ideas give me hope for this world. I just wonder if you happen to be vegan? I have been since December, and it has opened me up to being a more compassionate person every day. The movie Earthlings (you can get it from Netflix) is difficult to watch, but changed the lives of me and my family. I understand that you care deeply for the planet and the creatures living on it – and I believe being vegan can make an incredible positive impact on our planet. If you’re not already vegan, would you consider watching Earthlings? Your voice would be heard by so many if you spoke out about the abuse of factory-farmed animals. It is no way to treat God’s precious creatures.
Thanks so much for your time and consideration!

Reply after the jump …

R: Thanks for your note, and your encouraging words. Although my wife and I prefer a low-meat diet, I’m not yet a vegan, or even a vegetarian. I plan to keep moving in your direction over time, for three primary reasons.

1. As residents of a “hot, flat, and crowded” planet, it makes the most ecological sense for those of us who are able to do so to minimize or eliminate meat consumption.
2. For health reasons, I prefer a vegetarian diet.
3. I share your concern for the ways factory farming abuses our fellow creatures.

Thanks for recommending Earthlings. I look forward to seeing it – and I’m sure quite a few other folks will see it as well because of reading your recommendation here.
PS – The book of mine that deals most directly with issues of environment, sustainability, etc., is Everything Must Change. As you exemplify – our eating habits are part of “everything!”