Are you worried?

No. Go to a reputable butcher and don't eat fresh fish from supermarkets - only buy frozen.
Tried different alternatives but quite frankly its not a dining delight.

I love meat but seem to be intolerant to it so for many years have been meat free but occasionally will be tempted if we go out for a meal and I cant find a veggie alternative , which is a bigger problem because i am Dairy intolerant and allergic to peppers and tomatoes !

If you're lactose Intolerant there's lactose free milk and cheese. You can get vit B12 from eggs so a vegetarian diet is very healthy. Not so sure about vegan.

I love vegetable, fruit and vegetarian food but we are omnivores with incisors and need protein and other things obtained from meat. I actually don’t eat a huge amount of meat but have red meat about once a week for the iron and so forth and chicken or fish in some form for at least one other meal.

I have a vegetarian sister who, with the rest of her family, is constantly ill and catches everything nasty doing the rounds. The vegan niece has mental health issues which is unsurprising because there is a a very large link between veganism and depression.

I think that, in the absence of organised religion in the lives of many now, other things have taken its place and vegetarianism, veganism, extreme political beliefs, political correctness and virtue signalling are all filling the void.

Of course, I respect those who cannot eat anything killed for the purpose as in a very sophisticated society such views can be accommodated without starvation. Nonetheless, I question the rights of those who make personal choices to evangelise for their preferences. I don’t push what I eat down everyone’s throats, metaphorically speaking, and I expect them to remain equally silent on their views.

Oh, I used to love a bacon sandwich, but I've gone right off them now.
I don't know why, but they just don't float my boat anymore.

This is going to be unpopular, but I'm going for it! I'm sorry, but I am a meat eater and don't think I could give it up. I have these incisors that are designed to eat meat? Who could possibly say they don't enjoy a bacon sandwich or a chicken stir fry, or even a roast beef dinner with lashing of gravy? Apologies if anyone is offended by my carnivorous habits.

I eat meat twice a week only. I buy organic meat direct from a local farm, so I also know it's high welfare. (I also know that it's not halal meat - which a lot of meat is now, even though it's not labelled as such). I start to not feel as well if I don't eat meat - I've researched this and tried different supplements which are supposed to give the human body the same things that meat does, but all to no avail. I've come to the conclusion that I just have to take the risk - my life is pretty low risk anyway. Even the Dalai Lama eat meat !

Going veggie or even vegan would be very difficult for us thanks to my DHs digestive system
I have to be soooo careful about our meals, which I must admit are fairly boringly basic, with limited vegetables. I love to be more adventurous but the results are not worth it

I gave up eating meat (and fish) fifty years ago. Never had a moment's regret.

I haven’t eaten meat for 46 years for health reasons and I’m fit as a fiddle. My MIL stopped eating beef during the BSE scare as she didn’t want to contract it ... whilst happily puffing away on 20 fags a day !

I was vegetarian for over 12 years but like someone else here I had health issues and was advised to eat some meat.I dont eat much though ,no fowl ever very little beef and only locally produced, and lamb from my friends farm at the other side of the village milk from a farm I can see from my living room window.Ihave family who are strict vegan BUT will cook meat for thier cats ?My health is much better when my diet is mixed

Well said GrauntyHelen ! I'm with you on that - I'm a farmer's wife too, we eat meat of all sorts & we know how stringent the regulations now are

Quite agree with you GrauntyHelen. I am organic for environmental reasons, not dietary reasons.

NO but then I am a farmers wife The regulations are very tight and all meat is traceable !

I would never give up meat. Apart from the fact that I love it.,if we all stopped eating meat we wouldn’t see sheep and cows in fields because they are the farmers’ livelihood.

I rarely eat meat and haven’t done for years.

The programme last night was a reminder that processed food of any sort may not be as safe as we are led to believe.

The Horizon programme “The Honest Supermarket” was also worth a watch.

There is no need to give up meat at this time, imho, as British Animal Husbandry is of a high standard. The Farmers were forced to buy cheap food for their cattle because they were paid so little for the cows they produced for the meat market. Just as they are paid so little for the milk they produce. It is the Supermarkets that enforce the bad practices. Please do not blame our Farmers. They were told the fodder was safe. Buy British from a Butcher who can tell you his meat source.

The use of animal products in cattle food has been banned for a long time. As far as I can tell, the possibility of the cattle having the type of prion disease that takes until old-age to express itself is not possible since those cattle would have been slaughtered long ago. The Prion Disease Laboratory in Edinburgh still investigates cases of suspected prion disease. My neighbour was investigated two years ago when he suffered a terrible neurological illness which was not treated early enough because he was admitted at the week-end. Because his symptoms were atypical, his blood and tissue samples were sent to Edinburgh.

If you do give up meat you will not miss it, in my experience. I use lentils, nuts, beans, quorn, cottage cheese, mushrooms... the list is endless!

Meat twice a week to keep DH happy, fish once a week (DH hates it but puts up with it). Rest of our main meals are veggie. All home made.

I gave up meat but not for ethical reasons, I just cannot stand the stuff. Never could. Many a time, as a child, I was left on my own, crying at the table because I'd not 'cleared my plate'. Brought up in a family with a Caribbean mum and white working class dad - a meal wasn't considered a meal unless it included meat. The look, the smell, the taste, the texture - absolutely everything about it made me want to vomit.
Like one of the contributors above I prepared meat for my family (my ex husband was a meaty) but when my middle daughter decided at the age of 8 she didn't want to eat it that was fine with me and ditto my youngest a few years back. Lots of chat about the pressure to cut down on meat consumption but I wonder how many folk are living in households where they eat it just because that is what gets foisted on them?

I've never liked meat mainly because I was brought up in the 50s and my parents were poor so our meat was full of gristle. If in any doubt about meat, just look in a butcher's window and compare it to the vibrant colours of a fruit & veg shop.
If you must buy meat, make it a luxury and only buy organic.

I was a strict vegetarian for 7 years back in the 90s before I fell off the wagon towards the late 90 s. I ve never gone back to eating much red meat it’s mostly fish and chicken but I did veganuary this year, successfully, and this has made me think once more about trying to return to a vegetarian way of life. I don t think I ll ever be vegan as I have no desire to give up eggs or honey but I have changed to oat milk which is delicious. I think the seed is now sown and it’s only a matter of time until the meat and fish go, although I would greatly miss smoked salmon.

Yes, hubby and I gave-up meat completely 6-year-ago. We have never missed-it. Quorn products have improved tremendously over the year. There is Quorn mince and chicken which allows for bolognese, chicken Carbonara etc!

I do eat meat, probably about once a fortnight. A friend who went veggie had health problems which turned out to be lack of vitamin B12 and B6 and that convinced me we are omnivores and need as varied a diet as possible. I dont know if I could go veggie anyway because I am lactose intolerant and so many veggie meals feature cheese. I definitely dont think I could cope with vegan, whenever I try to up my vegetable intake I get horrendous wind and indigestion, so most likely I would end up just eating carbs and then have blood sugar issues! How on earth did eating get so complicated?

I tried being a vegetarian and found it affected my health, so I eat meat in moderation, bought from reputable shops.

I think most people do eat more meat than they need, but that we were never meant to exist on only plant-based food.

Haven't had meat for 15 years, have stopped eating fish too. The intensive farming process is too cruel.