From Tim: As a vegetarian and a member of the VS for 20-odd years, I am constantly disappointed by the lack of profile we get. There are plenty of issues arising every day, one recent one being Dr Rajendra Pachauri, chair of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recently saying that people should reduce their meat consumption even further to help reduce man-made climate change. Where was the immediate response from the VS?.... the VS expert pundit appearing on breakfast TV, in the press or Radio 4’s Today programme? Why was it not considered a priority to capitalise on this and other high-profile news stories? The same opportunities were missed during the BSE/CJD crisis, the Foot & Mouth crises etc etc.

I do despair that our Society is not jumping on these chances - yes, in a reactive way perhaps, but who cares if it adds to the campaign? The media is shot through with successful pundits on other subjects who are sought after in times of a breaking story. These people get heard because they make it their business to be the first number that the programme producers, editors or journalists call for a comment. I want to feel there is that kind of campaigning passion in the VS, and I don’t. Instead I get cross when I hear everyone else’s point of view instead.

Reply from Liz O'Neill, Head of Communications at the Vegetarian Society: Thanks for getting in touch and please accept my apologies for taking a few days to respond.

I share your frustration that we don’t always have the public profile that we would like and that would make such a valuable contribution to raising the profile of vegetarianism. However, please be assured that this is not down to lack of effort or interest. I won’t claim that we follow up every possible lead, but we do have a very active press office and work hard to build relationships with key contacts all year round as well as responding to news stories as they break. Unfortunately that doesn’t always translate into reported interviews and much of the time we have contributed to the story, even if we don’t appear and aren’t quoted. Sometimes we even encourage press to interview representatives from other organizations because they are in a better position to say what needs to be said. The main reason for this last point is that, as an educational charity, we are the ‘safe’ face of vegetarianism and it’s better for the whole vegetarian movement that we retain that position while allowing others to offer the more radical view.

One thing I would ask of you and, indeed all committed vegetarians, is to be an active consumer of the press. Write letters to the editor, contact the complaints line after poor TV reporting and generally make a fuss as comments from viewers, listeners and readers are often the most effective way of raising the profile of an issue, opening the door for us to get those interviews.

I hope this goes some way to explaining our position and please don’t despair of us – although we may seem quiet at times, we really are all working for the same end result.

From James: Honestly, leading a vegetarian or pescetarian diet (as I do) is scientifically proven to produce less Greenhouse gases; huge amounts of the energy contained in the Producer is lost as the energy moves further up the food chain. Even in the case of Pigs and Cows, who are Primary Consumers, this leads to a huge wastage of energy.

Has everyone noticed why food prices are rising? One of the reasons is because many people, in countries such as China, are beginning to turn to a meat-based (as opposed to rice based) diet and thus the amount of crops is not going so far in feeding the people. Also huge swathes of the Amazon are being cut down to feed the growing (and already substantial) American demand for meat.

I don't think there is anyway that Meat eaters can justify that eating a meat-based diet is doing no harm to the environment, or even begin to suggest that a vegetarian one does no better.

From Cazza - vegetarian vs carnivore: My husband is a carnivore but my daughter and I have been vegetarians for over 15 years now. I buy and prepare dinner for us all but retain the hope that my husband will become vegetarian, if only to make my life easier! The more I prepare meat etc the more glad I am that I don't eat it. Whereas there is an energy in vegetables (more so in organic ones) the meat or chicken is just dead and often there is a smell, not because it is off but I think from the horror of the killing process as well as the awful conditions. Even the organically reared animals have a nasty time often.

There is also the issue of the temptation to overeat and just because meat or chicken is available it is easy to eat it more often than before and therefore this can lead to health problems. The older style of diet had little meat and more vegetables and pulses. It comes back to balance in all areas of life.

From Martin Allen: Surely the reason why meat production has gone by 100 tonnes since 1970 is due to the rise in population. Also mentioned in your article is deforestation to make way for ranches however if you stop to consider this statement then you reach a slight problem the main reason for deforestetion is to make way for large areas to grow palms and the like for bio-oils not for meat production. I'm not saying this is true in all areas but on the whole it is.

As for the use of fossil fuels in meat production then if we sourced our meat locally rather than from the large supermarkets this would dramatically reduce the consumption of fuel even if you buy local produce from your supermarkets the likely hood is that it has travelled to a distrubution center miles and miles away only to come back to the store when it is only grown/produced around the corner. Whilst we are talking about fuel consumption surely the majority of manufactured fake meat e.g quorn mince etc uses far more fuel than say raising a chicken at home and slaughtering it yourself.

Also the vegetarian diet relies heavily on other forms of protien from pulses and nuts to rices and beans most of which are not produced in this country but from abroad surely this uses far more fuel than production of meat from a local farm. In the article you also mentioned the gases from manure i'm guessing that this is the same manure that is used to grow organic vegetables, so allthough this manure is a by product of meat/dairy production it is used for other purposes not just as a waste material.

From Steve Horton: I have tried to get my head round your ad that appeared in Earth Matters. It states that animal farming creates more greenhouse gases than the worlds public transport system.

It's obvious that you would like everyone to become vegetarian. What do you see happening to all the animals on farms? The answer can only be eliminate them. By becoming vegetarian, like cows, sheep goats etc, is it not the case that humans then personally create more greenhouse gases? How can that be dealt with?

With animal farming and the worlds entire transport system, your figures account for only 31.5% of greenhouse gases. Sure, we should be looking at reducing the transport systems output but what about the other 68.5%?

From Linda Buss: Farm animal manure comes from digesting grass. If this then causes greenhouse gas emissions, what about the manure of wild animals that also eat grass?