FIFTY million animals are raised for meat each year, most of them factory farmed. This is the reality of our so-called civilised society.
Grotesque, isn't it?
It just never ceases to amaze me how most people (even some members of my own family) seem able to turn a blind eye to such cruelty and purchase meat without bothering to check where it originated.
Activists Jean Bennington and Judi Hewitt get VIVA’s message across with help from cockerel Dougal.
Even when I hand out leaflets in the street, quite a few folk will turn them down saying they can't look at them because they are too upsetting, and then probably go off to buy their cheap meat.
I can't deny the hypocrisy sometimes gets to me.
But I remind myself that I might have at least planted a seed - and even if they can't give up the dreaded meat, they might consider the lesser of two evils and go for organic free-range.
I've no doubt those that don't share my compassion for animals will accuse me of being an animal rights fanatic and people-hater - it won't be the first time!
I don't hate anybody! I also believe everyone is entitled to their views, even if I don't agree with them.
However while animals are kept in sheds and denied their most basic instincts and freedom, I will continue to bang the drum.
There are times when I feel like calling it a day. At such times I need only reflect on a photograph I once saw of a sow on a filthy factory farm, who had a look of utter despair on her face.
It's this haunting image that shakes me out of my own despondency every time.
A lamb and bullock make friends
So what, you may ask, is the human cost of consuming so much cheap meat?
Well, for a start, the saturated fat in meat is linked to obesity and heart disease (which killed my dad in his fifties).
Angina is a curse in my family, so my avoiding meat is reducing my chances of developing it.
Factory farms also contribute to global warming and pollutes our planet. Rain forests are cut down to grow animal feed. One third of of the world’s grain harvest is fed to farm animals, while 800m people go hungry.
This is the view of experts anyway! My own view is that I have been rewarded by nature with youthful looks because of a lifetime free of meat.
I'm not saying vegans never get ill, but there's no doubt that our diet helps us to avoid a few of the more nasty diseases.
You know what? It's just occurred to me that while our species is busy killing animals, they are actually killing us!
