Ms. Hirt claims we gorge ourselves daily on 47.2 million pounds of beef. Given that the beef is distributed over 200 million people, that is .236 pounds per person per day. I do not feel gorged on one quarter pound burger a day. Even the holiday amount of 56.6 million pounds of beef only brings it up to .283 pounds per person.

The Ethiopians might appreciate the 905.6 million pounds of corn used to feed the cattle which were consumed in the Independence Day Meatfest. Assuming the Ethiopians have livestock to feed it to, fertile soil to plant it in, or research facilities that can make something useful with it. Sweet corn and field corn are not the same thing; sweet corn is for human consumption and field corn is used for seed, feed, and a huge variety of marketable by-products such as ethanol.

I don’t see any justification for Ms. Hirt’s conclusion either. How will becoming vegetarian bring relief to the tired soil of this planet? What more-sustainable form of feeding ourselves is she really suggesting? Kelp farming?

Perhaps next time you should present a reasonable solution to the problem if you want any respect from those of us whose brains are clouded by all that uric acid from the slaughtered animals we consume.

Brenda Voss

Program assistant

Office of student financial aid