Screaming Tomatoes?

It was with some guilt, then irritation, then howls of laughter that I read Madeline Brink’s letter (“Lobsters’ Pain,” Oct. 22) complaining that you had published a recipe for cooking lobsters.

Can we really suppose that she is unaware that animals are generally killed before being consumed? Can it truly surprise her that death can be painful? In the wild, many animals are killed while being consumed. How many letters has she written to National Geographic and the Nature Channel complaining about viewing that?

Brink does not bring up the fact that fish suffocate before coming to market. The screaming of these fish has not been documented, perhaps because the fish are too busy gasping for oxygenated water.

I am happy that Brink has gained the trust of her pet hermit crabs. They can rest easy knowing she does not intend to have them for dinner.

Ponder, however, the fate of the tomato, seed torn from its host, bathed in chemical fertilizers, encaged in wire baskets, made to bake in the hot summer sun only to be ripped from its umbilical cord, sliced, diced, stewed, canned and, worse, eaten alive and dissolved in human digestive juices!

GWEN STRONG

San Jose