Letters to the editor for Feb. 12

The diet of Lent

I miss Mardi Gras. I miss being in crowds on Fat Tuesday. I’m hoping for a speedy recovery from the pandemic so we can all congregate again.

After Fat Tuesday, which is Feb. 16 this year, Lent begins. Lent is the 40-day period before Easter when Christians traditionally stop eating meat and dairy in remembrance of Jesus’ 40 days of reflection. As a Christian, Lent has meaning to me.

For me, I already don’t eat meat and dairy. My plant-based diet helps reduce chronic diseases, environmental degradation, and animal abuse. Countless reports have linked consumption of animal products with risk of heart failure, stroke, cancer, and other diseases. A U.N. report named meat production as a source of greenhouse gases and water pollution. Investigations have revealed animals raised for food under horrible conditions of caging, crowding, drugging, and mutilation. These actions go against what I believe.

Lent offers an opportunity to honor Jesus’ powerful message of compassion and love for all living beings. Stop supporting the meat industry, and choose a nonviolent plant-based diet. It’s a diet that goes back to The Bible (Genesis I:29) and was observed in the Garden of Eden.

Enter “plant-based Lent” in Google and explore hundreds of meat-free recipes.

Dan Pryce, Olympia

Saving salmon and repairing the world

In the Jewish tradition, the concept of tikkun olam means “to repair the world.” Recently, tikkun olam has become synonymous with the pursuit of social justice and is often invoked when discussing issues of social policy, providing extra protection to those potentially at a disadvantage, and when discussing our relationship to our natural environment.

We have a unique opportunity to practice tikkun olam right now, thanks to the recent plan put forward by Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson. Focused on restoring Snake River salmon on the brink of extinction, Rep. Simpson’s proposal is a much-need path forward for saving salmon, honoring treaty obligations to Northwest Native tribes, and benefiting farmers, businesses, and electric ratepayers in the region.

The scientific evidence is overwhelming: A free-flowing lower Snake River is essential to recovering wild salmon and steelhead in the Columbia Basin. We have a moral obligation to restore these iconic fish, to ensure that we invest in infrastructure improvements that strengthen Native tribes and to ensure the economic prosperity of our state’s farming and fishing communities.

Rep. Simpson’s plan is the most important step forward we can take for our collective future and to stand in solidarity with Native communities. Now it’s up to us.

Join me in asking Senators Murray and Cantwell and our new Representative Marilyn Strickland to seize this opportunity to work with others in the Northwest to restore salmon and invest in our communities. Together we can repair the world.

Seth Goldstein, Olympia

We came this close

I was not surprised when the Port of Olympia announced the failure of its latest scheme to make money — the much ballyhooed plan to berth two U.S. Maritime Ready Reserve ships. But it turned out the port apparently lacks the equipment (enough tugboats) to meet federal requirements.

“We came this close,” said Port Commissioner Bill McGregor as he held up two fingers. Perhaps the port could consider adopting that statement as its motto.

Hal Spencer, Olympia