Real taste of freedom

The writer of the letter “Wilderness at risk” (Letters, Sept. 19) wisely says, “Anyone who talks the talk about (the) climate crisis needs to walk the walk. This is not time to be business as usual. We need sacrifices and honest thinking all around.”

Amen! But I felt some suggestions were in order.

The best way to walk the walk is to turn your back on the meat and dairy industries that do so much damage to the environment. In fact, we won’t be able to get a handle on the climate crisis until we address what and how we eat. Animal agriculture — besides being inherently torturous to the animals and slaughterhouse workers — causes vast pollution, methane emissions, deforestation and habitat loss, and puts fellow species in peril. (Think of ranchers’ zeal for eliminating wolves.) The sacrifices the letter writer merely alludes to — like considering adopting a plant-based diet — are actually a real taste of freedom from the climate catastrophe that is clearly close to capsizing our way of life. Think about it, folks.

Kecia Talbot, San Rafael