I abstained from posting when I first saw this post, I think i was a little shocked to see such an obviously non-tech topic here. The posting rules also crossed my mind, and I will say that I was surprised that given the fiore in the blogs a little while back there was not some application of 'lead by example'. But - when it is your own site - I guess you can post what you like.

Regarding the great meat / veggie debate - I can take it or leave it. My partner is vegetarian, and i rarely eat it see more simply as it is more convenient to only have to prepare one meal- For my partner - there is no moral reason - she simply doesn't like the taste of it.

Regarding the arguments for homo-sapiens being herbivorous, this is simply untrue. We are omnivorous - by nature we are hunter gatherers. This has long been proven and can be seen in many pre-cultural and pre-historic cave paintings - dating from times when homo-sapiens were but a relatively new species. Paintings also made by our other predecessors also echoes this.

In my mind, the problem is not one of eating meat, or killing to eat - but is simply wastage. Unoboonex touched on this with his comments on consumerism, KFC, Macdonalds etc, even our trusty supermarkets achieve the same - they dumb down the whole issue. As consumers we simply do not appreciate that there is so much wastage and so much unnecessary slaughter. I have long held the view that if everyone had to hunt / keep / kill their own dinner (as many of us did, not so long ago) then there would be much less wastage. Unnecessary killing is a bad thing, and it is driven by the disposable society we live in.

How many of us still use butchers? How many of our children have ever been to one? Do they even appreciate the connection between, their burger and the carcasses hanging in the butchers window? Supermarkets just package everything in a nicely presented styrofoam container with a pretty picture of a serving suggestion on it.

Regarding what to teach our children. I am a strong believer in letting them make their own minds up - knowledge is key - educate them by letting them know how food feeds society, why crops are farmed, cattle herded, and why we have been doing this for thousands of years. Let them know where their burgers come from, and give them the choice to make their own minds up.

To tell them it is wrong, is wrong in itself. As mickyb stated - there is no right or wrong answers - You cannot teach a child the answer to something it doesn't understand - especially if it contradicts it's own perceptions. This is the danger of trying to teach a child to adopt your views, especially in regards to something that is in essence has no right or wrong answer.

DM.