A solution for rising food prices

Can you believe the meat price increases predicted by USDA Economic Research Service? Fifteen percent for red meat and 11 percent for fish and eggs! Way over the predicted 8 percent inflation rate, already the highest in four decades.

The obvious solution recommended by nutritionists is fresh vegetables. They contain all the nutrients required for healthy living and no saturated fats, cholesterol, hormones and antibiotics loaded in animal products. They do contain complex carbohydrates, fiber, and essential vitamins and minerals. They offer vastly reduced risk of contracting heart disease, stroke, some cancers, diabetes and obesity.

Fresh vegetables are going up only 4.3 percent — way below the 8 percent inflation rate. But there is more… A University of Michigan research report found that replacing 50 percent of animal products with plant-based foods would prevent more than 1.6 billion tons of greenhouse gasses by 2030 — President Biden’s target date for a 50 percent reduction in emissions.

In an environmentally sustainable world, we need to replace meat and other animal products with vegetables, fruits and grains, just as we replace fossil fuels with wind, solar and other renewable energy sources.

This outrageous meat price increase may be our blessing in disguise.

LEX NAKAHARA, Lahaina

What made us great?

Americans like to call this the greatest nation the world has ever known. Let’s remember what made it great.

America became great because she granted land to most of her early citizens. With land, individuals and families were assured of never, or rarely, staying in debt. Being credit-worthy meant being free. The land contained resources — water, minerals, timber, transit rights, and sub-parcels — that could be sold when needed to cover debts. In time, land became available to all to a degree. America also became great because of the practices of our ancestors. Those whose blood we have in us were animated by a code of ethics that inspired them to endless economic inventiveness, regular civic participation, family solidarity, educational ambition and spiritual backbone.

They believed they had to honor their economic contracts, their political promises, their vows to spouses, their commitments to justice and to heaven, and the study of law and democracy.

All these things were non-negotiable. Doing them made them unstoppable.

Families, neighbors, workplaces, marketplaces, the electorate, classrooms, courtrooms and their God absolutely depended upon them to do what they said they would do.

Who does not follow, support and lay down his life for one who keeps promises?

KIMBALL SHINKOSKEY, Woods Cross, Utah

Bad jokes and slapping people

In a civil, polite society, we shouldn’t run around slapping comedians, politicians, radio or television personalities, or musical performers. The list goes on and includes everyone. Will Smith’s stunt of slapping comedian Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars was a bad idea. It was only by the grace of God and mainly the grace of Chris Rock that Smith was not arrested or sued. Before this is all over, Rock could still take him to court. At this point in time, it doesn’t seem likely.

On the other hand, it was a bad idea for Chris Rock to use Will Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, in a joke that highlighted alopecia, the disease that has been tormenting her. Diseases and disabilities are issues with which people struggle. The joke angered Will Smith. His feelings got totally out of control as he bounded on stage to slap Chris Rock. While many people understand how Smith must have felt and may have thought Rock deserved it, we still have to restrain ourselves.

I suspect there are people who probably have wanted to slap a politician or two. You can’t do that because you would go to jail. Furthermore, that is the wrong way to conduct our behavior. What about Vladimir Putin? You couldn’t get by with that in Russia. Regardless of how evil and heinous an individual is, if you slapped him while walking down Broadway in New York City, a policeman would most likely arrest you. This is a far-fetched scenario, even though most of the free world is ready for Putin to be totally removed.

If you have been working on your list of people to slap, you might as well put it away. It won’t work. You will eventually end up in jail, in court, or both.

We do have free speech in America. People can hurl words freer than hurling punches. Words can and do hurt.

There are repercussions if you slander, malign or use your speech against others in a way that “hurts” them. However, television, radio and political events frequently allow the rhetoric to go way out of bounds.

An idea for us all is to control our tongues and our actions. Most of us have spoken before we thought.

We may have reacted in a way without seriously considering the action. Too often a fast mouth or quick action may have brought regret.

There are lessons to be learned from this year’s Academy Awards. Mainly, don’t act like those people.

GLENN MOLLETTE, www.glennmollette.com