I totally agreed with Patricia Knezevich's view of eating meat [FoodFeedback, Food & Flavor, Aug. 12, and post-gazette.com/food]. I have gone vegetarian now for almost three years and have never felt better. Humans don't have to eat meat. I refuse to brutalize other species in order to have a cheap hamburger. I will not even enter a McDonald's, Burger King, etc.

Demand for cheap beef is a major reason for the destruction of the rainforests. Eighty percent of the corn raised in the U.S. and 95 percent of oats are used to feed cattle. People don't think about the suffering the cow or pig had to endure to have meat on their plate.

MARIE KUNDRAT
Sheraden

I would have to agree with Ms. Knezevich. I'm not from the U.S. and I'm shocked to see overweight people cooking meat on cooking shows, overweight people cooking meat and selling it in the Strip District -- meat meat meat everywhere. This meat-based diet is a health issue and an animal cruelty issue, and anyone visiting the gulag slaughterhouses would agree.

CANDY SHEERAN
Pittsburgh

Thank you, Patricia, for putting into words the revulsion I also felt when reading of the use of an animal as just another "ingredient" in satisfying our appetites. I believe people must take responsibility for what is on their plates, and this encompasses the full knowledge of how it got there, not feigning ignorance because it's just too hard to face. We can't seem to elevate a pig or cow or chicken to the same level as a cat or dog, which we would never subject to such inhumane treatment, not without getting arrested for animal cruelty. The extraordinary benefits to the environment, to our health and the solution to world hunger can be realized with knowledge. Thank you for helping to spread that knowledge with your letter.

JUDY DOBIES
Polish Hill

Ms. Knezevich's letter is confusing. The first half describes practices that are cruel and vile, practices I did not know about. But much of the remainder of the letter is a collection of ignorant and prejudiced ideas (e.g., assuming all Christians, and PG writers, think the same things) and a thoughtless rant (e.g., about "biblical voodoo logic").

Is there any truth in the first half of the letter?

GREG GUENZEL
Monroeville

Not everyone is a vegetarian. Animals taste delicious. I don't yell at you for eating plants, so don't yell at me. Please excuse the Post-Gazette staffers for catering to the masses who eat meat. They probably thought they were doing their job.

JON KOPRIVA
Baden

Speaking of the issue of meat ...

A quick word of thanks for your thoughtful, accurate coverage of PASA's Beef Cook-off and Master Class ["Quite an education: Our gal explores her relationship with beef -- the grass-fed kind -- at first MeatTHINK event" by Gretchen McKay, Food & Flavor, Aug. 12, and post-gazette.com/food]. Part of our motivation in these programs is to help eaters get beyond the revulsion and outrage they often feel when they learn how commercial meat is raised, slaughtered and processed.

Instead of having them say, "Ugh, I can't eat meat ever again," we want to provide eaters with a healthful and humane alternative -- the healthy grass-fed cattle and bucolically pastured lamb that Jamison Farm and other progressive, sustainable farmers are processing and producing. And did I mention those meats are also extremely delicious?

Your article captured the look, feel, smell and taste of the events with humor and intelligence. We hope your readers will be inspired to eat meat more thoughtfully as a result.

MARILYN ANTHONY
Exton

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