TO THE EDITOR:
I was happy to read in the March 20th issue of The Daily Tar Heel about moving to cage-free eggs. While I applaud this, I wanted to add a reminder that eggs are neither nutritionally required (we synthesize all the cholesterol that we need) nor advisable in today’s environment of obesity and high cholesterol diets.
There are well-documented hazards to the eating of eggs. “Cage-free” or not, eggs are not cruelty-free choices, based on farming practices that include routine, painful procedures done without anesthesia, such as debeaking and smothering or otherwise killing of unwanted male chicks.
Based on peer-reviewed evidence and long-term health outcomes, The Physicians Committee, for which I teach Food for Life classes, recommends the power plate of fruits, grains, legumes and vegetables (pcrm.org/health/diets/pplate/power-plate), a recommendation not very different from government guidelines. According to polls by the Vegetarian Resource Group and others, more Americans are seeking healthful whole-food, plant-based choices for various reasons, including health, avoiding serious illness later in life, longevity, environmental stewardship and concern for animals.
I would encourage dining services to consider offering healthful, plant-based choices at every meal. I invite interested folks to look into many of the local vegan events that are here in the Triangle, such as hosted by Triangle Vegetarian Society, Triangle Meatless Mondays, Triangle Vegfest and others. I encourage people to take my Food for Life classes (fflclasses.org) and would be happy to work with UNC to create custom offerings for the community.
Dilip Barman
President
Triangle Vegetarian Society
