LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Meat without slaughter
Dear Editor:
In a recent landmark ruling destined to save billions of animal and human lives, the Food and Drug Administration has ruled that meat cultivated from animal cells is safe to eat. The ruling was granted to Upside Foods, funded by Bill Gates and Richard Branson, but also by other established meat industry giants.
In the past decade, the cultivated-meat industry has grown to more than 150 companies on six continents, backed by $2.6 billion in investments. They all grow meat from animal cells in clean manufacturing plants, rather than in cruel filthy factory farms.
An estimated 70 billion animals are macerated or suffocated at birth or raised in tiny cages each year to produce today’s animal meat and dairy offerings. Consumption of these products has been linked conclusively with elevated incidence of killer diseases.
Production of animal-based foods pollutes our waterways and groundwater supplies, destroys wildlife habitats, and accounts for 20 percent of greenhouse gas emissions.
The forthcoming massive switch from animal agriculture to plant-based and cultivated meat and dairy products offers a truly monumental change in kindness to animals, human health, environmental pollution, and global warming.
Earl Prake
Kissimmee
Florida's "Green Wave"
Dear Editor:
The recent election spurred a lot of talk about red waves and blue waves, but a perhaps unnoticed wave that swept the polls in Florida this November was bright green.
Once again, Floridians — red, blue, and independent — voted for conservation. Voters in various Florida counties turned out during a surprise November hurricane to cast a vote for wild Florida, passing measures that support natural resource protection.
Why do Florida voters elect to pay for conservation? The reasons are as varied as the personalities of Florida’s voters, but the fact is the majority of Floridians support conservation. And we vote for it every time. Floridians don’t always agree, but we do find common ground in the land and water we share. It’s a great love of place. It’s part of our ethos, our Floridian ethic, our heritage, and our legacy.
Freshly grown food, breathable air, fishable lakes, and swimmable beaches are no longer guaranteed. We must be good stewards of our land and water today, and Floridians get that. When we vote to save natural and agricultural lands that make our counties unique, we are saying, together, that this is what matters to us.
I firmly believe that Florida is the best place to live, work, visit, explore, and more. I want to live here, raise a family here, and will continue to be a champion for our state’s prosperity. It’s no surprise to me that others want to be here, too. But, as we grow, we have to keep a keen eye on what we save, and what we pave. Voters in six counties sang that sentiment in unison.
It’s hard to put a price on things like woods, water, and wildlife until you start to lose them. That’s when their true value becomes crystal clear. For those of us who have lived here for a while, it hits you when you drive by the woods you’ve passed every day for decades and, suddenly, they’re gone. For newcomers, it’s the feeling you get the first time you visit a Florida spring and are taken aback by its beauty. Everyone has a reason to stand up and protect wild Florida.
While voting for conservation is part of a growing national trend, Floridians have a long history of supporting conservation measures. Thanks to the voters who passed measures this year, hundreds of millions of dollars will be allocated to conservation in those counties.
We’re moving in the right direction, but we have a lot of work to do, Florida. We can have it all here in our beloved state. We can continue to grow our economy and population while also saving the special places that can never be replaced.
Those Floridians who put wild Florida at the top of their minds, hearts, and voting decisions deserve our gratitude. By passing ballot measures in support of natural resource conservation, they are helping create a better future for all Floridians and sending a clear message to leaders: Save land, and now.
Traci Deen
President/CEO, Conservation Florida (www.conservationfla.org)
The views expressed by those contributing to the Viewpoint page do not necessarily reflect those of this newspaper or its staff. The News-Gazette offers a venue for writers to express their opinions, and presents them as “opinions” or editorials, and not news.
