APPLAUSE FOR HONESTY

I must congratulate Ellie Harrison on her two most recent pieces. She certainly pulls no punches and rightly so. Sometimes we need a wake-up call and that means brutal honesty. The no-holds-barred account of the role of the slaughterers was astonishing in its matter-of-fact account of the end of an animal that would find its way into the human food chain.

It’s absolutely right that everyone should understand how the meat that ends up on their plate got there. I haven’t been able to make the leap to being a vegetarian like my wife has, but I do make an effort to source organic or free-range meat. Sometimes I falter though and Ellie’s column has motivated me to redouble my efforts. I hope you didn’t get complaints from the squeamish. We should all know what goes on in an abattoir to supply our meat, a concept that is distant to many today. The plight of the starling (November issue) should be a call to arms. Growing up in 1970s Manchester, I remember autumnal trips at dusk into the city when we’d see huge gatherings of starlings on the stores around Piccadilly Gardens. The noise and spectacle was awe inspiring. That doesn’t happen any more and the cityscape is all the poorer for it. We’ve since moved to the Yorkshire countryside and I never begrudge the raucous gang of starlings that crowd our fat-ball feeders. It’s a pleasure to do our bit for this struggling bird. I know that in offering what we can, those spectacular murmurations will continue in the fields around our home. Chris Gee , Wheldrake, York