Which deaths are worse? (Warning: might make you sad).

Causing death seems to be a major argument against carnivory. Oh no, a lovely little lamb is being killed. This is cruel, callous and murderous. I want no part of it so I’ll be a vegan forever, and no creature will ever, ever die so that I can be fed. Blood is shed, the cute creatures have fear in their eyes, some of the cows even cry in terror just before they are slaughtered. I can live happily and well and be strong on beansprouts and soy milk.

Causing death is one the major arguments against a plant-based diet. Look, look at those soy crops. Stretching out as far as the eye can see. Right to the horizon. All that land, that precious, rolling, ancient land, has been drained of life: cauterised, sterilised, homogenised.

Instead of a rich topsoil, teeming with so much life and fertility that it…