LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Don’t allow another epidemic with ‘religious’ exemptions

To the Editor:

(A recent) headline contained some good news, tempered with considerable caution, but good news nonetheless. School will open later this year. As I read the article, it was clear that many concessions to necessity and adaptations to suit the occasion will require implementation on all sides.

If an effective COVID-19 vaccine is developed, who would hesitate to protect our children and grandchildren with its use?

Because of the so-called “religious” exemption, in some Connecticut schools, the vulnerability to measles rises to 20 percent or more of the school population. There are certain medical exemptions from specific vaccines that rely on “herd immunity” to protect a few people. Selfishly claiming a “religious” exemption: is tantamount to not wearing a mask and coughing in a crowd.

The governor and the legislature need to address this issue immediately. We already have one epidemic. Do we really want another?

Thanks from Kent

Brock Putnam, Litchfield

Memorial Library

To the Editor:

We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to the many supporters of the Kent Memorial Library who stepped forward and contributed to our recent Matching Gift Campaign. The campaign was initiated because of the risks of COVID-19, whereby we had to cancel our annual summer fundraising events—the Benefit party, the book sale and the car raffle. We count on these events not only to engage with residents of the larger Kent area, but also to raise $120,000 annually — one third of our total budget.

Your donations of $60,000, together with the matching funds, enabled us to replace that lost income and keep the library’s virtual and now actual doors open.

As we approach the library’s 100th anniversary in 2022, we are so gratified that the friends of this institution want to see it continue for another long while.

Betty Ruddy and Ned Babbitt, Kent Memorial Library

Developing cultured meat

To the Editor:

Few things would do more to reduce animal suffering than widespread consumption of cultured meat, which is grown from cells without slaughter. Compassionate politicians should do everything in their power to help achieve this goal. In the current moment, that primarily means supporting government funding for open research.

There are number of private companies currently developing cultured-meat products. Unfortunately, as Good Food Institute founder Bruce Friedrich points out, their work is proprietary, which slows down the industry’s growth. That’s why making the research available to everyone is so important.

We raise billions and billions of animals in the most hellish conditions imaginable. Their lives are a fraction of the length of their nearest wild counterparts. Ultimately, these sentient creatures — with interests and preferences of their own — are killed on a high-speed slaughter line.

We can end this. All it requires is forward-thinking politicians with a movement at their back, pushing them along. I urge readers to contact their representatives and ask they support government funding for open research into cultured meat. Together we can make a better world.

Jon Hochschartner, Granby