The United Nations says we should try to eat less meat to help lessen global warming - and I agree. What do you think?

Environmental concern is the main reason I try to limit my meat consumption and now the United Nations has backed me up. Raising animals for meat is a wholly inefficient use of land and resources, especially given that most livestock are fed farmed grain rather than grazing naturally. Then there is the pesky issue of the methane emissions, particularly from cows. Global food production is a far more serious contributor to global CO2 emissions than flying - and I’m not just saying that because I’m a travel writer.

Of course, I understand that food is a necessity and travel is a luxury. Of course, we need to cut down on polluting forms of transport when we travel, and indeed when we are at home as well. (I also don’t have a car). However, I would argue that meat is just as much a luxury as air travel - we don’t need it to survive, especially in the nutritionally rich first world where we have all the food choices in the world. Animals in the developing world are less of a problem anyway, since they are far less likely to be eating grain and are likely to be slaughtered and eaten close to home.

I am not a vegetarian but I am a meat reducer - I treat meat as a luxury and try to only eat meat or fish once or twice a week.

There are many good reasons to consider vegetarianism. You might have a religious or moral objection to killing animals, or the way they are generally raised. You might be doing it for health reasons - some vegetarian diets can be healthier than meat-based diets. You might just like the taste of vegetarian food.

I am interested in vegetarian cooking because I want to reduce the amount of meat I eat, because people I love are vegetarian, and because some of the food is just really, really good. (Try this fantastic aubergine moussaka recipe and you’ll see what I mean).

I have a great deal of respect for people who devote themselves full time to vegetarianism but I don’t choose to join them. Firstly, I don’t fundamentally believe that killing animals for food is wrong - we are part of the eco-system and at a basic biological level all life feeds on other life to survive. Secondly, vegetarians have to be extremely careful to make sure that they are getting all the nutrients that they need and I don’t have the time and patience to watch my diet quite that closely and while I like beans and lentils, I abhor fake meats such as Quorn as unnatural, processed unfoods. Thirdly, as a food writer I don’t want to shut myself off to new flavours and a whole culinary realm. Finally, I want to spend my money to support organic farming and saving old breeds.

I try very hard to avoid factory farmed meat, though it’s not always easy to make an informed decision when I’m eating out. The great thing about not eating meat every day is that I’m not price sensitive and I can afford to buy the best quality meat with high welfare considerations. A whole organic chicken might cost £10 at the market or butcher rather than £1.99 in Tesco but I’ll only have it a couple of times a year.

Where I do draw the line is eating endangered animals - in Spitsbergen some of the restaurants offer polar bear, while whale features prominently on menus in Japan and Norway and bush meats in many parts of Africa. For the same reason, I try to avoid eating cod and tuna and only buy fish from sustainable sources. (I also don’t have a pet cat).

Two great books that might help change your thinking on these issues are Fast Food Nation by Eric Schloss, a few years old now but still relevant and certainly one of the most entertaining non-fiction books I’ve ever read, and the thoughtful Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, about one family’s attempt to eat locally including raising some of their own food.

What do you think about the United Nations pronouncement? Agree or disagree? What’s your personal stance on eating meat?