Hi Alex – I believe that food choices are personal and they don’t necessarily need to fit with a neat picture of logic. There is so much more at work, spirituality, ethics and values also strongly come into play. It is the endless cycle of justification which becomes increasingly tiresome.

Part of life is most definitely about recognising the reality of death. I believe that such life lessons can be learnt in other ways and do not necessarily need to be demonstrated on the dinner plate.

Of course it is natural to have omnivores and carnivores in the world. Humans though are uniquely capable of making a choice about what they eat, and this is a choice that can take in a whole range of factors like cruelty vs necessity, organic vs commercial, local vs import, and sustainable vs non-sustainable…it is this choice that is critical and something for which I feel grateful to be able to make.

Being a trained environmental scientist / biologist I have a wide practical and theoretical appreciation for the value of life – both animal and plant. I am also keenly aware of the impact which the human species has had (and continues to have) on ecosystems of the world, an impact which the earth could have never prepared for. Informed choices about what we eat, how we farm and how we feed the world start with the individual, and from there we can but hope to learn and make a difference.

Hi Tisha – Hey that’s cool, whatever makes you happy…that’s what life is all about. I am with you 100% on believing that people should not have to justify their values or choices to anyone…I only wish other people got this message!!

We don’t have to justify our convictions and choices to anyone sweetheart! People tend to have a problem with anyone that is not like them and who cares, let them deal.

I too, value all life, but in valuing I realize that death is part of life. I also realize it is natural for there to be carnivores and omnivores. You can easily make the distinction that we’ve turned our (human) meat eating into an industry, and it isn’t necessary for our survival. It has been necessary for our survival in the past, but with today’s technologies and wealth, we do not absolutely have to rely on meat to feed ourselves. It is of course more expensive, and time consuming to get the proper nutrients on a no meat diet, but if your values are there, it’s a small price to pay.

If you value all living things, you must also value plant life. Plants and algae are the only form of life that can survive without subsiting on other forms of life, and that’s not even all plants.

We can minimize our impact now through our knowledges, but it is absolutely not natures way to do so. It is artificial, and can be very difficult. Neither way is right or wrong, it just depends on your personal values.

Gennaro Contaldo, the Italian chef who taught Oliver for more than ten years, said: “Children grow up and see this sort of thing – how can you have a lamb without killing the lamb?

“People who go into supermarkets don’t believe that this happens. It’s not something where you press a button and you get a lamb. I respect and support Jamie in full.”

It’s this aspect that I agree with – people blindly eat meat without thinking where it comes from and I think that when speaking to a vegetarian it often makes them uncomfortable or even angry.

This of course doesn’t mean everyone and I hope (without expecting it) that meat eaters don’t take offence when they read this but rather think about what they eat. Even if you take the time to think at the very least about the living conditions that some of these animals must endure before they are killed and make better choices in the future.