Farming matters
There was an odd statement made in one of the special interest meetings before Yearly Meeting: that growing crops for plant-based diets causes more animal suffering than some forms of livestock farming (see 9 May). Whether this is true or not, it is a fact that many more crops need to be grown to feed livestock than if those fields were used to feed people. This makes livestock farming doubly destructive to animal suffering.
Helen Porter
Who says?
I have long been keen on hearing non-Quaker opinions on the causes of conflict and how to prevent it. My favourite comes from the actor Tom Baker, when asked about violence on Doctor Who, his most famous role. He said that violence, at its extreme, usually takes on a quality of the ridiculous, because it results from a failure of the imagination. Those who use it haven’t the intelligence to find a better way. Perhaps we should include this in the next Quaker faith & practice; we could write and ask him.
Max Evens
