The ecology of meat (IV).

• Author: Hershaft, Alex
• Position: On the Ecology of Meat, GM Crops, and the Embodied Energy in a Car - Letter to the Editor

Former president Clinton's coronary bypass surgery should be a wake-up call for the millions of Americans whose chosen lifestyles elevate their risk of heart disease. According to the American Heart Association, more than 60 million Americans suffer from heart disease and nearly 500,000 die each year. The lifestyle risk factors are a diet high in saturated fats and cholesterol, smoking, and lack of exercise.

Scores of studies conducted in the past three decades demonstrate beyond reasonable doubt that replacing animal fat and meat in our diet with vegetables, fresh fruits, and whole grains lowers substantially the risk of heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, and other chronic diseases. These diseases account for 1.3 million American...