letters.

VRG PROVIDES HANDOUTS TO DIETETIC INTERNS

I am a dietetic intern at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay who is in the process of completing an internship to become a Registered Dietitian. A friend of mine who was involved in the campus chapter of PETA said that she was able to get some excellent consumer handouts from you on vegetarianism and vegetarian cooking. As part of our internship, we are doing several community lectures on vegetarianism complete with cooking demonstrations. We would like to provide our audiences with as much information as possible. These demonstrations are not-for-profit and our internship is unpaid, so we aren't able to purchase any materials at this time. Any free materials that your organization provides would go a long way to enhance our programs and promote vegetarian cooking. Thank you for your time (and great website).

Stephenie Jazdzyk DePere, WI

READERS' SURVEY RAISES QUESTIONS

I've been a vegetarian for over twenty years, and have long appreciated your magazine for its simple, factual approach. The Readers' Survey in your March/April issue raised an interesting question for me: To what extent is it desirable to provide food companies with free, very valuable marketing research?

On the "pro" side, it helps them market more vegetarian products. This promotes vegetarianism by making it easier and more convenient.

On the "con" side, what's easier and more convenient is not necessarily what's most productive for human and environmental health. To me, the "best" diet seems to be one based on simple, whole grains, vegetables and fruits. Ideally they are organic and locally grown, not transported long distances using wasteful, polluting fossil fuels.

Even though I shop at a great local health food co-op, I still have to struggle each week to minimize the less sustainable, packaged, processed foods in my cart. It can be difficult to resist the appeal of the quick and novel in favor of simple, healthful whole foods. In a way, your journal faces the same dilemma: Do you offer your readers only what is best for them and the planet, or do you include things that make vegetarianism easy and appealing in the short term? Do you keep directing our attention to how simple our needs really are, or do you assist the corporations in generating more and more wants?

In your editorial of the same issue, you observe that "capitalism seems to work," hence the desirability of ethical entrepreneurs. I find myself questioning whether any system based on greed and competition really works, or merely seems to because we have not yet exhausted our natural resources or polluted ourselves out of existence. I favor cooperation, but I'm not sure cooperating with large food corporations promotes anyone's interests except theirs.

I don't have simple answers to these questions, but I hope you'll consider such issues as you continue to develop your excellent publication.

Beverly Petiet Albany, NY

Letters to Editors can be sent to: Vegetarian Journal, PO Box 1463 Baltimore, MD 21203 You may also post letters to our website at <http://www.vrg.org>