A response to “Vegan eating: More men are going animal-free” by Elisa Ludwig, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Jan. 4, 2017, p. F01.

Remember the animals

I love reading that more men are opting for animal-free foods and that more restaurants are catering successfully to a trend away from animal products and toward plant-powered food choices. An ethical vegan since 1983, I have long argued for the term animal-free, which puts the animals in mind in a way that “meat,” “dairy,” and “vegan” do not. The animals who lived and died miserably, only to be parsed into chicken wings, hamburgers, bacon, and cheese, need to be remembered for their own sakes and for the sake of a future in which I hope they are no longer on the menu or the table.

KAREN DAVIS, President
United Poultry Concerns
Machipongo, VA

Illustration from Nature’s Chicken by Nigel Burroughs