Conversation

What you said about…

Big Fat Lie

Re “don’t blame fat” [June 23]: Why can’t the Americans get it right about what to eat, despite an army of specialists? Because there is too much industrially produced food. Eat what is natural in natural doses. Taste, availability and common sense will lead the way automatically. Processed foods, industrialized production and their marketing mislead humans into eating the wrong thing or the wrong quantity. But this system will not stop. It is where the profits lie.

Stephen Buhofer,
Geneva

I am a professional patisserie chef of 35 years currently lecturing at a local school. This article confirms the conviction I used to share with my customers and now my students. Desserts made of fresh fruit, fresh wholesome milk, unprocessed cream and fresh free range eggs can be a nutritious and healthy food item, enjoyed in moderation. Unfortunately your article omitted one fact: every person has a different metabolism, and some burn their “fuel” faster than others.

Renato Zanoli,
Rotorua, New Zealand

The article describes new studies that debunk similar ones done decades ago. Then, as now, these studies were so-called evidence-based, which is the benchmark for any study to be hailed as being truthful. A fat lot of good it has
done us. Do not be surprised if 30 years from now, further research will overturn the present conclusions. The overworked
“evidence-based” epithet often gives the lie to the actual truth. Unfortunately, modern man has abandoned common sense and needs to be instructed on every aspect of how to live his life—how to move, breathe, sleep and, in this case, how to eat.

Arthur van Langenberg,
Hong Kong

Russian Roulette

Re “man in the middle” [June 23]: In the conflict about eastern Ukraine, the West has put pressure only on Russia to contribute to the peace process—despite the fact that the Kiev government was and is in the best position to realize a peaceful solution. It still has the best possibilities to end this conflict and must be urged to follow this route to emerge as a winner in the end.

Rolf Simon van Leeuwen,
Baarn, The Netherlands

Petro Poroshenko, the newly elected President of Ukraine, needs to realize a number of cold facts before his kamikaze act of confronting Vladimir Putin. Putin knows he has virtually a free hand for any interference in the affairs of Russia’s neighbors, can afford to flout international opinion and can simply bide his time. Eastern Ukraine has already become a de facto province of Russia, and Putin is quite content to allow the Russian militants to do his work for him without the embarrassment of any invasion by regular Russian forces.It is sad indeed that Russian surrogate aggression is paying off, and Poroshenko stands alone.

Peter Perkins,
Johannesburg

Who Knows?

Re “we’ve all got gm Problems” [June 23]: I agree with your article on the information-silo problem in big corporations, but I disagree with your example that “Western retail brands didn’t know who their suppliers were or what they were doing.” I think this sentence is a little bit naive. If I know children in Asia are working for $1 a day, I think worldwide companies know it too. Moreover, it’s the main reason for them to have their garment factories there.

Didier Raballand,
Nantes, France

Sympathy for the Devil

Re “the sacrificial lambs” [June 23]: Joe Klein discusses with compassion the supposed respect Bowe Bergdahl’s parents
showed the U.S.’s sworn enemy, the Taliban. I find it interesting that Klein, who sympathizes with possible compassion
shown to terrorists, finds no such sympathy in his heart for Jonathan Pollard. Pollard merely passed on to the U.S.’s only
true friend in the Middle East, Israel, information vital for its security, which was of no consequence to U.S. intelligence. But Klein called Pollard’s release a “loathsome possibility” [“Why Obama Hit Pause,” April 21].

Avi Klein,
Tzur Hadassah, Israel