In many religions and cultures, even dating back to the ancient Greeks, there have been contrary perceptions about the morality of natural food chain.

Whether it is right for humans to control the existence of certain species of animal for the sake of a food product has long been debated by campaigners.

And their claims that animals should not be bred just for slaughtering has found support from environment buffs who are trying to save the world.

Aside from the moral arguments around the consumption of meat, the true cost of agricultural farming could be the dramatic impact it is having on climate change.

The head of the UN climate agency claimed recently that the “solution would be for us all to become vegetarians” to help tackle environment issues.

The argument is that the focus remains on CO2 emissions, although it is the production of other gases that in fact is most damaging to the atmosphere, and cutting out meat production is said to be the most effective way of reducing global warming.

So the logic works that the gas that has the largest impact is methane, apparently 21 times more powerful greenhouse gas than CO2, and the number one source of that is animal agriculture, through excrement and decomposing carcasses.

In cattle, a vast amount of methane is produced as cows try to ferment their food, such as hay and grass, to get energy from it, with the windy by-product of the process being the polluting gas.

Thus, cutting the demand will negate the need for the products.

And with carbon-cutting measures often detrimental to the economy, it makes it a compromising situation for climate campaigners.

But taking out a whole section from the food industry would have wider effects, and convincing people to lose a staple from their diet would always be difficult.

After all, humans have always hunted meat, and at one time, there were far more animals and species living on the Earth, still inadvertently producing methane, and the world has survived.

Despite the potency of the gas, surely the drive still has to be behind reducing industrial and transport emissions, not taking steps to ensure people are sitting down on a Sunday to Quorn and two vedge.