More important issues to worry about

I despair of Eric Bahrt's opinions in your letters section. The world is full of bad things, mostly evil perpetrated by people on others, but also the systematic pillaging of our precious finite resources, such as oil, which once exhausted cannot be replaced. Amid all this he attacks my food in the form of meat.

Now don't get me wrong - I dislike pain in all its forms, on whomsoever or whatsoever it is inflicted, but there are limits. As the great Jamie Oliver once said, "In England you are allowed to have an opinion as long as it comes out of your mouth." In recent years, great strides have been made to alleviate suffering in the production of our food, with the introduction of more humane (notice the anthropomorphic reference) methods. In addition, we can take pride in the work of food gurus like Heston Blumenthal, who has pioneered the introduction of more of the "lower" animals, famously adding snails to his porridge. Indeed, we need to make use of more plentiful and renewable sources of protein, such as insects.

On the other side of the coin, it is even arguable that eating more animals is an extremely effective way of preserving a species. For more than 100 years it was supposed that the dodo became extinct because it tasted good. Subsequent studies found that, far from it, the poor things were tough and virtually inedible. Their demise was instead the result of the introduction of the humble (yet far more delicious) pig.

Mr Bahrt advocates total abstinence from meat production and consumption. This is his opinion, but I am afraid it is, and will remain, far removed from the reality of life for the majority of human beings. Back in reality, it is a "dog eat dog" world and we had better spend our time resolving far more pressing problems.

Alan Mehew

Bangkok

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