I enjoy your (Pam Linn) column in the Times and did read it in the Oct. 5 issue, i.e. “Certifying Happiness Down on the Farm.”

With all due respect, I am enclosing an article from “PETA” magazine. As a ranch person I hope you won’t be shocked by this. I send it along only to show you that times have changed tremendously as far as treatment of “food” animals.

Incidentally, the way live chickens are shipped is only one small facet of the crowding, mutilation and cruelty they endure their whole lives.

Again, I submit this to you respectfully. I know as a journalist you are a seeker of information and hopefully you will accept this as an offering of same.

Thank you for your hard work and journalistic efforts, and thank you for reviewing this information.

Sarah Priest

We have worked tirelessly for decades to protect our wild areas, our open space and the Santa Monica Mountains. They are in danger once again from increasing development by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.

Several years ago, our sister cities of Calabasas, Agoura Hills and Westlake Village and the water and school districts conceived the North Area Plan to control the threat of rampant development in our open space in the Santa Monica Mountains.

Recently, without public comment but with heavy lobbying by big developers, the Regional Planning Commission weakened the plan by upzoning many areas around Peter Strauss Ranch, Kanan and Cornell Roads, the Mulholland Scenic Corridor and the Santa Monica Mountain Recreation area including Malibu Creek State Park.

On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors will hold a public hearing to approve the revised North Area Plan. If this plan is implemented, traffic on Pacific Coast Highway. will increase dramatically. Since the 101 Freeway is already overloaded and the Board of Supervisors has done nothing about that, increasing development over the hill means that the hundreds of homes planned for those areas will surely dump more traffic on PCH, not to mention destroy the splendor of our mountains.

The Cornell Preservation Organization (www.ladyface.com) has chartered buses to take people down to the meeting. (Remember the trek to L.A. to oppose sewers?) If you would like to go to show your support for retaining the original North Area Plan, call 818-734-0775. The buses will leave the Von’s parking lot at Kanan Road. and Thousand Oaks Blvd. (take Kanan Road. across the freeway to the shopping center) at 8 a.m. Tuesday.

Show that Malibu still cares about our mountains.

Sandra Stafford

For generations, the passing of summer has been romantically marked by the last rose. But for me, at least since I moved to California a couple decades ago, it has been the departure of something more edible.

Last week I picked the last fig off a Malibu friend’s bountifully producing tree. Too bountiful, in fact; for fig lovers who have their own trees, summer can seem like an endless effort, racing to beat birds to the sweet fruit (in my friend’s case, a squad of squawking wild parrots).

Nevertheless, I harvested enough to indulge my passion for the fruit, at least for a couple months.

With my love of figs I share a passion for the fruit that goes back to biblical times (they were particularly prized by the Egyptians 6,000 years ago, and were a staple of the common man and woman’s diet in ancient Rome and Greece).

Although creationists and evolutionists may disagree about how everything began, most would agree that it was certainly not an apple with which the serpent tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden. Since no self-respecting apple tree would think of growing in a desert, any fruit Adam and Eve could have eaten would have been a date or, more likely, a fig. And, of course, fig leaves came so conveniently designed to cover one’s, uh, privates, in those pre-Armani and Donna Karan days.

In California, the early Franciscan missionaries brought figs along with Christianity, first planting them at the Mission San Diego in 1769 and from thence, up the Camino Real. Those figs, now called “Black Missions,” were California’s only crop until the middle of the last century, when immigrants introduced other varieties of the several hundred known.

Although their popularity has gone up and down over the years, figs, especially fresh, are very much “in” these days, thanks to the popularity of California cuisine, with its lighter spin and intensified taste.

But now that the season is ending, what does a fig lover do?

Well, if you’re lucky enough to find some still on a tree or in the market, grab them. But remember, fresh figs, like most fresh fruits, are best when their presentation is kept as simple as possible. Halve them and wrap with paper-thin prosciutto for a memorable hors d’oeuvre; quarter them, place atop some pastry cream in a baked tart shell and glaze with apple jelly for a stunning dessert, or sumptuously breakfast on them accompanied by some tart Bulgarian yogurt and strong black coffee.

But if you can’t find any fresh figs, cope as most Mediterranean and Near Eastern peoples have for millennia: stock the larder with dried figs and apply a little imagination.

Fig recipes

Roast Chicken Stuffed with Figs and Wild Rice

3/4 cup (dry measure) wild rice, cooked until nearly done in water or light chicken stock

1 large onion, peeled and chopped

1/2 cup chopped Italian parsley

12 dried figs (Smyrna or its local adaptation, the Calimyrna, are the best dried; use more if they are small) cut into medium dice (be sure to trim the tough stem end)

4 tablespoons butter

salt and pepper

1 large roasting chicken (6-8 pounds)

Saut onion in 2 tablespoons of the butter and season to taste with salt and pepper. When cool, stir in diced figs and parsley. Stuff chicken (previously brought to room temperature), place on a greased rack and put it in an oven preheated to 450 degrees.

Immediately reduce temperature to 350 degrees and roast until done (20 minutes per pound for a 6 pound bird, 15 minutes per pound for larger, or until meat thermometer placed between thigh and body of the chicken reads 190 degrees). Baste often with pan juices. If breast browns too much, cover loosely with foil during last 30 or 45 minutes of cooking.

Let chicken rest on rack for 15 minutes after roasting and place on a serving platter. Skim fat from pan drippings, deglaze with 1/4 cup port or sherry and 1/2 cup chicken stock. Reduce somewhat and swirl in 2 tablespoons butter. Adjust seasoning and serve.

Dried Figs Stuffed with Walnuts and Dipped in Chocolate (great for a gift)

3 ounces toasted walnuts (toast in 350 degree oven for 5 minutes or until fragrant)

2 ounces ricotta cheese

1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest

2 teaspoons powdered sugar

1 pound dried figs (again, Smyrna or Calimyrna are the most succulent dried)

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted

In a bowl, make a paste of the walnuts, cheese, zest and sugar. With a sharp knife make a slit in the wide end of each fig. Place a couple teaspoons of the walnut paste in the fig and press the cut edges together to seal. Holding the fig by the stem, dip it halfway into the melted chocolate and set on a cooling rack to dry. (From The California-American Cookbook by Jeannette Ferrary and Louise Fiszer)

I would especially like to address Pam Linn and her article in the Oct. 5 issue “Certifying happiness down on the farm.”

In regards to this article, is Ms. Linn aware that the world’s largest meat packer, IBP, is now facing potential criminal and civil charges for violations of state and federal law?!

Here are some of the violations of state and federal law that have been documented on tape and by sworn affidavits from IBP’s workers:

• Struggling cows being hoisted upside down and butchered, while still alive! (employees who attempted to stop the machinery to prevent cows alive from having to endure this, were told they would be fired for stopping the production line — it cost money!)

• Cows being repeatedly hit with ineffective stunning devices.

• Cows being trampled as workers force other cattle to run over them

• Disabled cows being chained at the neck and dragged into knocking box

• Cows tormented and repeatedly shocked with electric prods. Workers shown shoving electric prod into cow’s mouth.

Sure, I would love to believe the illusion of loving farmers and friends caring for the farm animals and “just killin’ to eat” — (oh they do it humanly!). However, today too many people just don’t care — money seems to be the main motivation for everything. People are too stressed out just trying to pay the bills … but that’s because there are very few benevolent people in this world today. Those who have the money want more … so the prices go up. And, since life is a circle, everybody gets the effect — even the workers at IBP who tried to do their job correctly, were told they would be fired if they stopped production! (since “what comes around goes around,” I wonder, if you eat an animal that has been tortured this way, do you get an upset stomach?)

So, although I do agree that it is sad that there need be so many governmental “protections” — this is only a reflection of our time, and unfortunately needed in today’s world!

P.S. Can you guess, I’m a vegan!

Alessandra DeClario, Ph.D.

(Response to Harriet Burgess letter)

In response to the article about Lower Topanga, you stated that ALC (American Land Conservancy) will not develop any part of the property. We believe you. But we also know the deals your ALC brokered at the Post Ranch Inn in Big Sur and at Crystal Cove in Newport Beach.

In both cases the DPR (Department of Parks and Recreation) gave a 60-year lease for a portion of State Park land to a concessionaire (the Freed family), who then developed a high-end resort hotel in Big Sur ($450-750 per night), and who plans to do the same at Crystal Cove. We have reasons to believe that you have similar plans for Lower Topanga.

What do those plans mean to the community at large? It means that there will be no more “Feed Bin” for horse owners, no more “Reel Inn” for locals to hang out with friends, no more low-cost housing at the “Topanga Ranch Motel,” which also has become a popular movie location, no more “Wylie’s” for local fishermen, no more “Ranch Market” to serve the beachgoers, etc.

Instead, the new development will be catering to an international tourist crowd, or maybe there will be rows of expensive town homes, and the locals will be kept off limits. Is this really the way we want things to go? Or is Topanga Beach better served by maintaining its unique vernacular architecture and the businesses who really cater to the local surfing community and to the inner city folks who come here to chill on weekends?

Arthur Machen

On Saturday, Oct. 14, the Malibu Township Council -sponsored Candidate Forum took place in the Webster School auditorium. The candidates competing for the open seat on the Malibu City Council presented their views on city issues and why they should be elected. A panel of proponents and opponents of Measures N, O and P debated the merits of these important issues on which Malibu voters will vote in the upcoming November election.

On behalf of the MTC Board of Directors, thank you candidates, issue debaters and attendees for committing your time and effort to make this another success in the long series of forums presented by MTC.

Public forums and debates to inform the public on major issues and promote the process of democracy in action has been a major goal of the Malibu Township Council for more than 50 years and will continue to be a major goal in the future.

For those who were unable to attend the Forum, it will be aired on Channel 3. Check for dates and times on the Channel 15 events calendar and in the local newspapers.

Efrom Fader, board president

Malibu Township Council

(The following letter was sent to Gordon LaBedz)

I am addressing you as the Chair of the Sierra Club Angelist Chapter.

My wife and I have been residents of Malibu for 34 years and she and/or I have been members of the Sierra Club for many years. We are alarmed at the increasingly frequent partisan interjection of the Sierra Club in local Malibu politics to the detriment of the credibility and reputation of the Sierra Club.

In a recent article published in the Oct. 12 issue of the Malibu Surfside News entitled “Recent Committee Campaign Fillings, Etc.,” you are quoted as having said “Electing Roy Van de Hoek as a city councilmember and passing Measure P are essential in protecting Malibu’s unique character and natural beauty.” I do not know Mr. Van de Hoek or what he has done to protect Malibu. I am informed that he is a recent resident and has engaged in no civic activities.

Mr. de Hoek’s opponent for the City Council is Mrs. Sharon Barovsky who, along with her recently deceased husband, Harry Barovsky, who as Mayor Pro Tem of Malibu at the time of his untimely death, to my knowledge, have been at the forefront and active participants in protecting Malibu’s unique character and natural beauty continuously for more than 20 years.

As to your denouncing Measure N, which you state “favors unchecked development along our coast,” it is apparent that you have been misinformed.

Measure N, a copy of which I am enclosing, neither fosters nor opposes any developments. By its terms it gives voters an opportunity to approve any development agreement of 30 acres or more in the City of Malibu, if they choose to do so. If the voters elect not to take advantage of that opportunity, then the city council will have the option to proceed without further voter approval. It is up to the voters to decide.

As to Measure P, a copy of which I am enclosing, a close examination of its consequences, whether intended or unintended, will convince you, I am sure, that should it be adopted, it will result in precisely the kind of unplanned patchwork development that the Sierra Club has long condemned. Further, according to the Surfside article, the Sierra Club contends that “Measure N … includes a poison pill” that states, if it receives one more vote than Measure P, regardless of the number of people who vote for P, Measure N, and only Measure N will prevail.”

You are quoted as having said that this was “sneaky” and “… does not serve democracy and it does not serve Malibu’s natural environment.”

Apparently, your informants neglected to mention to you that an almost identical “poison pill,” to which you object, was first utilized in Measure P (see Section 9), which you support, long before Measure N was even prepared. Had you been so informed, I am sure you would be condemning measure P with the same vigor that you are condemning Measure N.

The Sierra Club, by taking a partisan position in Malibu, apparently without a full understanding of the facts and issues, is doing itself a great disservice. It can perform a very positive function by building

a bridge between what is becoming, regrettably, an ever-widening chasm of suspicion and distrust between parties who all claim they are seeking a common goal of protecting Malibu’s fragile environment. Toward that goal, if you would care to join me, I would be happy to arrange a meeting with you and other activists in Malibu to discuss our common aspirations for the benefit of Malibu and its citizens.

A. David Kagon, president

No on P Election Committee

I was truly saddened by your article on the effects of the MTA bus strike (Bus Strike Taking Toll on Malibu Workers, Oct. 5). What causes me to write is the lack of compassion for other’s suffering, by two Malibu residents interviewed for the article.

One Point Dume resident says she is “delighted” over the strike because she is not as fearful over the way the buses allegedly “race down the hill and exceed the speed limit.” I have never noticed any MTA buses driving unsafe, but even if I had, the first thing I would do is write a letter to the city and complain. I certainly hope this Malibu resident who is delighting in the misfortune of others wrote a letter or made a phone call to complain about these unsafe driving habits. I have found that the best way to change something is to take action to change it.

Then the article mentions another resident who is missing her housekeeper, telling of how she really needs her for “the floors, the windows, and the bathrooms.” Maybe this person could possibly lend a hand and go pick up her housekeeper for the day and enable her to do what this woman needs done. This may also get her housekeeper to other jobs in Malibu, or maybe give a ride to her friends as well so that they can all have one day of work.

I am amazed at how anyone can be “delighted” and another can be complaining about not having clean bathrooms when there are poor, sick, elderly, disabled, and the less fortunate who are suffering greatly because of the strike.

While one person is rejoicing or another is upset about dirt and dust, there are people who are not getting to doctor’s appointments and not getting to their jobs, which means not being able to put food on the table or pay the utility bills. Some are walking for hours to be able to get to work and others are not getting there at all because it would take an entire day to walk there.

I thank God every day for what I have and that I am able to get around. I thank God that I have two arms and two legs to be able to clean my home and that I am not stuck somewhere with no transportation and can get my bills paid. I “delight” in waking each day to health and a roof over my head. The comments of these people invite me to ask them to take a look at what they have and to climb out of their own little world of comfort and convenience and take a look at what others do not have.

Alethea Guthrie