Letter: Vegetarian food for thought

Sir: When all else fails, insult the enemy. That appeared to be the main theme of your leading article 'A flavour of smugness' (9 December), which greeted the launch of the Vegetarian Society's educational resource pack.

With the society receiving more than 600 letters a week from schoolchildren, and a recent NOP survey showing that 14 per cent of 15- to 17-year-olds are vegetarian, there is clearly widespread concern about the mistreatment of animals and the effects of slaughterhouse products on health, the environment and world poverty. The resource pack is the society's answer to this fast-growing demand for more information, tackling all of the issues and enabling children to make an informed choice about what they eat.

Offering an alternative view to those of the Meat and Livestock Commission is hardly sanctimonious, and the only whiff of superiority came from the pen of the leading article's author.

Yours faithfully,

PAUL BRYAN

Campaigns Officer

The Vegetarian Society

Altrincham,

Cheshire