`I couldn't bear the cruelty'

It's my choice, and there are no rules, writes Anthony Bevins

The idea that some vegetarians "cheat" by eating meat is a nonsense; there is no hard and fast line to be dictated or taken.

Intellectually, it would be possible to take a principled stand by refusing to eat beef or pork, or by eating fish on Fridays.

I class myself as a vegetarian because I do not eat meat, and will go out of my way to avoid it, even at the risk of causing embarrassment to myself and others.

But I do not take such a strong line against eating fish, and will eat it, if it avoids embarrassment for a host or hostess. I prefer not to eat any flesh, but sometimes make an exception for fish (and politicians).

Yet I wear leather shoes and belts, consume dairy produce like milk and cheese, and eat so-called free-range eggs. If that is hypocritical, then it is the result of having a principle. Only those without principles cannot be hypocritical.

The degrees of vegetarianism can be as different as the causes. I know vegetarians who do not like meat because they do not like the taste, when it has taste. Others will eat white meat, like chicken, but not red meat, or vice versa, for the same reason.

I turned against meat in my mid-forties because I could not bear the cruelties involved in meat production; I did not wish to be responsible for the evident pain inflicted by men on animals to satisfy my appetite.

It helped that my daughter is a vegetarian, and she advised on diet and protein; matters that had not previously bothered me. She also assured me - quite rightly - that not eating meat would cause me no harm.

It is a personal choice and, as such, it is tailored to each individual, by each individual. I suspect that meat, unlike tobacco, is not addictive, and I do not think it is as carcinogenic, but if vegetarians occasionally eat meat, that is their choice. Cheating has nothing to do with it.