I agree with you on a philosophical level, I believe it is wrong to kill animals. I also agree that the social convention of habitual meat consumption as a protein source is not a good yardstick to measure oneself against. It appears that those people who have considered the ethical and moral feelings they have around the production and slaughter of animals often decide it is wrong, unless they are involved in the industry.

As I’ve done more research, it casts yet more confusion over the entire issue. Eating eggs sentences hens to shortened lives and millions of male chicks are gassed or macereated at birth, every year. Therefore, to be absolute about this, I’d need to become vegan.

However, commercial vegetable farming kills millions of living creatures every year, through ploughing and mechanisation of harvesting. Living on a diet of zero-tillage or homegrown produce is virtually impossible in my situation, so where does the line get drawn?

It goes back to supporting sustainable and high welfare production, alongside minimal consumption. I’m also going to experience the slaughter and preparation of chicken, rabbit and ducks later this year, to see how I feel about taking part, first hand, in the process.