To the editor: I read with interest the article in Sunday’s Times about using baby goats for delicious, tender tacos (“Roasted baby goat tacos hide in a rural street food row near San Bernardino,” Feb. 25). Once the waves of nausea passed, I was able to visualize tearing a 45-day-old, unweaned baby goat from its terrified mother and then turning it over to slaughter because it made a tasty, tender taco. I understand the need to slaughter animals for food, but shouldn’t there be some humanity, some level of decency in how it is carried out? The article was sterile with no thought to the barbarity of the act. There are levels of humanity that sink below the need to prepare food.
Donald Gerecht, Los Angeles
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To the editor: Thanks for the great article! Though I might shake my head at some things, another part of me likes that some “old country” ways are still practiced here in the States. Raw milk, straight from the goat or cow? Maybe it’s not a great idea (I appreciate Louis Pasteur) yet thinking about my mom makes me wonder. She was born and raised on a farm in Nebraska to Swedish immigrant parents. I remember her saying she always drank milk “warm from the cow” and that the first time she ever drank cold, store-bought milk she made a sour face. Of course, this was now a bit more than a century ago.
Bob Wieting, Simi Valley
