In response to Otis R. Taylor Jr's Column on Sign Coerced on Local Butcher, Berkeley

In response to Otis R. Taylor Jr's column "In Berkeley, animal rights going straight to the meat," I concur that the Direct Action Everywhere protesters could find more effective ways to argue the case against raising, selling, buying, and eating meat.  I see that they didn't convince Mr. Taylor to forego the pork "sando" he ordered.  Sixteen years ago, they wouldn't have convinced me.

My younger sister, mother, her partner, and my son all became vegetarians before I did.   I believed  that farm animals were raised only for our consumption and that they romped happily in the field until they were slaughtered.  We all had to die eventually, I reasoned, and the time for them to die was right before they landed on my plate. 

My mind and diet weren't changed by a sign about animal rights that a local butcher was coerced into putting up.

I became a vegetarian the day I saw a brochure showing farm animals that never romped happily before they landed on my plate but were in essence being tortured every moment of their lives--caged and treated like inanimate objects, as are the vast majority of farm animals. 

I later became a vegan when I saw evidence that dairy animals aren't treated much better than other factory animals, not even the ones whose eggs are labeled "Cage free." 

Learning how livestock contributes to global warming soon strengthened my conviction as did finding out how delicious vegan dishes can be.

I'd suggest  posters conveying more compelling reasons to give up meat:

--a poster depicting the torturous conditions in which  most farm animals--including dairy animals-- are kept captive.

--a poster showing the impact of livestock on the environment

--a poster showing how much land would be needed to feed meat to the world population if animals were given the freedom to graze in nature before their slaughter.

--a poster showing how delicious vegan dishes can be.