An Open Letter to Matier and Ross on SB 1138

I just sent off a message to Matier and Ross on SB 1183.

Dear Matier and Ross,

I always read your column with great interest, and Monday's column about SB 1138, proposed by Nancy Skinner,  particularly interested me because I think it's so important that we connect our diet with the environment and other living things.   (I hope you're not rolling your eyes.)

Your column motivated me to look up SB 1138, and I see how it has been amended.  Apparently, it originally mentioned the health aspect of plant-based food.  There was and is no mention of the environmental impact.  But at Nancy Skinner's press  conference on April 25, she focused on the environment, saying "Offering plant-based options...gives California a chance to further its climate protection and water conservation goals."  She quotes a  2014 study in the journal Climatic Change finding  that vegetarian diets were associated with a 50 percent reduction in food-related greenhouse gas emissions as well as a 2013 study by the British Institute of Mechanical Engineers:  "While each pound of beef required over 1,800 gallons of water to produce, tofu only required about 300 gallons of water per pound and pasta only about 222 gallons."  She pointed out that offering plant-based meals is providing "not just a healthy choice but  a way of reducing food-related greenhouse gas emissions."

You're right that the focus of SB 1138 is on "being fair" to those whose diets are not in the mainstream.

But I hope your readers won't be scared by your raising the question of  the cost of  adding the vegan option.  We really need to think of what raising livestock  costs the environment.

In today's world, plant based should really be the default rather than the exception!

KQED sent its volunteers a letter saying it would provide dinner for those on the 3:00 to 7:00 shift, adding "There is usually a vegetarian option."  I made a $500 donation towards making sure there is always a plant-based option.

At the COP 23 in Berlin at least 60% of the food was vegetarian or plant-based, and beside each food item, they gave the carbon footprint to make people aware that what we eat affects the environment.

Like those at KQED and COP 23,  you at the SF Chronicle are in a great position to further education on how what we eat affects the planet.  People who eat a plant-based diet are doing  volunteer work with every bite-- for both animal welfare (eye roll) and the environment.

Your faithful reader,

Tina Martin