Letters to Editors

Veggie in a Non-Veggie World

I'm writing to commend you on your Note from the Coordinators, "Do the Best You Can." It's tremendous, extremely well written, an article I will save and pass out when needed. "Do the Best You Can" is the philosophy I've held to as a vegetarian all these years (26 last February). It's a way for me to make vegetarianism work and keep on working. For instance, Rie and I both take prescription drugs. We assume there's gelatin in some of them, and who knows what in others. We don't have the energy to figure out who is making what generic pill we are taking and what is in it. It is a compromise we make, which some people don't understand. I'm pretty sure that most of the soft pretzels on the streets of Philadelphia are made with oil, as opposed to lard. But I don't ask, because I have to make choices and compromises in my life, and again, I know the street vendors don't have a clue. I figure 26 years with no meat, chicken or fish, most of it doing extensive cooking, (plus our vegetarian wedding for 144 guests — someday I should write up that funny tale) has taught many people the joys of this choice in life I have made. I'll never be perfect, but I do the best I can, and that's ok.

I hope this rambling note makes some sense. Thanks a lot again for all of the hard work you do.

Naomi Segal
Philadelphia, PA

Prisoners' Rights

The argument presented in "Do Prison Inmates Have a Right to Vegetarian Meals?" (Mar/Apr 2001 VJ) was quite disturbing, to say the least! The authors, Amy Ogden and Paul Rebein, have eloquently cited numerous situational arguments for providing prisoners with a choice of meals, based on the First Amendment to the US Con-stitution, which I found to be very anemic at best. They ask. . . , "Do prisoners have a right to vegetarian meals?" and cite portions of the First Amendment. My questions are as follows: 1. What is the definition of a prison? 2. What is the definition of a prisoner? 3. Right to freedom of what? 4. Right to exercise freely? 5. What were the reasons for their incarcerations? 6. Did they deprive others of their rights or freedoms?

I feel that this sort of journalism has no real substance with real relevance to the vegetarian and its goal to educate the public about vegetarianism and the interrelated issues of health, nutrition, ecology, ethics, and world hunger. The real intent of this letter is to let you know I enjoy the publication; however, articles such as [this] distract from the intent (my assumption) of your magazine to promote healthier living through a common sense diet.

Reuben T. Tsujimura
Walla Walla, WA

VRG's response: The Vegetarian Resource Group, as well as local vegetarian organizations, often receives requests from prisoners seeking assistance in obtaining vegetarian meals in prison. VRG's mission is to make vegetarian living as simple as possible for anyone wishing to follow such a lifestyle. This includes prisoners. Many individuals writing to us for help are incarcerated as a result of protest activities they were involved in, whether it be for animal rights, environmental concerns, peace interests, or other issues.

Response from Paul W. Rebein (a vegan lawyer and one of the authors): I believe that all people, including prisoners, have a constitutional right to vegetarian meals. It does not matter what crime the person has committed. It is simply not appropriate for the government to punish inmates by forcing them to eat meat. To put it another way, the government should not kill animals to punish humans. Moreover, we believe the government should encourage prisoners to adopt nonviolent practices like a vegetarian lifestyle.