It's not the means, it's the end ... result that is.

Ok, first things first, contrary to my post of 28th, I’ve ignored one of my foibles and eaten a veggie burger. If I call it a patty (which describes the shape and consistency as opposed to the content) then I think I can get away with it. Donna and the kids were getting dinner from Hungry Jack’s and I was coerced, a little. Anyway, it was nice.

There, I’ve done it ... feels so good to get it off my chest!

Oh yeah, almost forgot. I accidentally ate a couple of pieces of ham from the fridge the other day. I was just looking for something to nibble on and the last pieces were there so I had them. Nice too. Just a slip up.

Here’s the low down: I’ve stopped eating meat, not because of my moral views on the methods we use to ‘care for’ and slaughter our livestock (though it’s a concern), but because of the scale on which we produce it at as much as any moral issue I have with its consumption. Take a look at these figures for Australia for the month of September, 2011:

Current Population (November 9th 2011): 22,757,314
Cattle(a)	620,057	0.03
Calves	91,710	0.004
Sheep	465,725	0.02
Lambs	1,562,921	0.07
Pigs	396,152	0.02
	3,136,565	0.14
(a) Excludes calves

Not so bad you may think, but that's 0.14 of a beast for each of the population (½ of that number being lamb).  This includes infants, the elderly and, let's not forget, vegetarians, vegans and those of that ilk.  What's missing?  Chickens!

Don't take my word for it, these figures come straight from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

You should check out the figures for civilised nations such as the UK and the USA in particular (182 animals per capita per year), they're frightening.

The real damage, apart from the health care burden (as for the individual who's dumb enough to allow themselves to get 50+ kg's overweight I have no sympathy, though I do have admiration for those for whom the penny drops and they make efforts to turn it around), is done to the environment - and it's not just the methan (which is more damaging than on a global scale than global vehicular emissions).

Our planet cannot support the level of mass production that the meat industry engages in.  It's not about vegetarianism it's about what's natural.  There's plenty of information out there, go see for yourself ... or ask.

It's a cliché I know, but in a world of such excess, how the fuck are there so many starving?

• 7,001,760,663 current total world population
• 916,405,551 undernourished people in the world right now
• 1,548,527,792 overweight people in the world right now
• 516,175,931 obese people in the world right now
• 19,261 people who have died of hunger today
• 9,578,142 people who have already died of hunger this year