I visited Chico, California to speak at a Barnes & Noble bookstore.  Like with other talks, I appreciated the participation of audience members, especially when questions come up that I have difficulty answering, like whether or not cats can be vegetarian.  Often, someone in the audience offers a more educated perspective than I.  In Chico, I described some easy vegan dishes, including how I sometimes just heat up noodles with a sauce made of margarine, nutritional yeast, Braggs, salt and pepper.  A woman in the audience grimaced when I mentioned margarine because it can be so unhealthy.  And the group was reminded that it’s better to use certain oils, like olive oil, in place of margarine. 

I also spoke to two agriculture business classes at California State University, Chico, comprised largely of students involved in the farming industry.  They spouted various assumptions that support animal production, including the notions that meat is healthful, that producing it is efficient, and that consumers around the world want more meat. I encouraged them to examine these assumptions, and to consider whether growing plants instead of animals is a more efficient and healthful way to provide food for consumers in the U.S. and abroad.

Gene