Planting an idea

As president emeritus of Jewish Veg and the author of three editions of Judaism and Vegetarianism, I was pleased to see “Plant-based diets tied to lower risk of type 2 diabetes,” (July 28) However, based on my research, there are other important factors related to adopting such diets.

• Not only can type 2 diabetes often be prevented via plant-based diets, it can also be reversed in many cases.

• Plant-based diets also reduce risks for heart disease, several types of cancer, and other life threatening diseases.

• Such diets are not only very important for human health, but they also reduce climate change and other environmental threats to humanity, the current widespread abuse of farmed animals, and the wasteful use of land, water, energy, and other resources.

In view of the above and more, I ask some of society’s most respected and dedicated people:

• Why aren’t doctors generally not urging their patients to shift to healthy, well-balanced plant-based diets?

• Why aren’t rabbis addressing the fact that animal-based diets violate Jewish teachings on preserving human health, treating animals with compassion, protecting the environment, and conserving natural resources?

• Why aren’t environmentalists doing more to stress that shifts to plant-based diets are essential to efforts avert a climate catastrophe and other environmental disasters? RICHARD H. SCHWARTZ, PhD Professor Emeritus, College of Staten Island