I totally agree - the meat industry is fucked up. But I see poorer people here ahead of me in the supermarket buying the cheapest, cheapest bacon or sausage they can to feed their families, and I don't think they're thinking of the environment, they are thinking of their next meal and how much their dollar is going to stretch. Until it's changed at a government level (factory farming and so on, allowing cage eggs to be sold at supermarkets - wtf) and at an education level (health, chemicals and so on) and a social level (the unequal distribution of wealth) and a spiritual level (where people understand it against a moral framework) I can't see a lot of change.

Saying that though, there are more vegetarians now in Australia than ever before, which is amazing. And we DO care, most of us, well, around these parts. It does seem to be human nature to satisfy their carnal desires, that's for sure. Those base instincts to eat DESPITE consequences.

I've never been a big milk/cheese eater - the taste and smell of milk sickens me. But damn, a good pizza every now and then - and I make a mean welsh rarebit... you know when you grate the cheese, add a bit of milk (vegan milk round here haha) and a bit of mustard and grill it - omg - drooling....However, the cheese I buy is local (less miles) and from an ethical company, so yay.

I love vegans for their passion and for what they do, it's just that their approach alienates people. Yet if no one is listening, what else are they meant to do?

Conscious, ethical choices are key - for everyone, meat eater or not. I have utopian dreams of each village/town/city sustaining itself with local food set ups - just like it used to be. We'd be so much more aware and reverent of all life, I think, because we'd be dependent on it in ways we aren't now, when we can buy stuff on a tray wrapped in plastic without any thought of where it comes from and the life that was put into it.

Oh, and meat packaging and industry - now there is a whole other post...