I’m going back to being vegan. Why? It’s not only the right thing to do, but a plant-based diet is very healthy; less chance of getting cancer, heart disease, a stroke, dementia, food poisoning from E. coli, or salmonella and being obese. Not eating animal products — i.e., meat, dairy and fish — also is more healthy for the earth. “Raising animals for food creates more greenhouse gas emissions than all forms of transportation combined, ” states the Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Animals raised for food use more than half the world’s grain crops. Every day, more than 20,000 humans die of hunger while grains that could have fed them are used to feed billions of farmed animals. Billions of animals are inhumanely slaughtered to satisfy our taste buds. Animals want to live their lives in peace just as we do; they never willingly give up their lives. Animals about to be slaughtered know something awful is about to happen, and they suffer terribly. We can retrain our taste buds to stop craving animal products and try alternative, delicious vegan foods. The Food Co-op has many. Let’s all be change agents for our health, to help the earth and to save billions of beautiful animals. This is an important issue; let’s not turn a blind eye. Won’t you join me? JILL TURNBULL, RN Port Townsend