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Heather Mills' latest bizarre rant: 'Why don't we drink milk from rats and dogs?'

Updated 08:53am on 20 Nov 2007

Making a point: Heather Mills at the poster launch

During another typically bizarre day for Heather Mills, the former model yesterday urged people to try drinking milk from rats and dogs to help save the planet.

Media-shy Heather started off by storming out of a radio interview with London's LBC station.

She then drove a gas-guzzling Mercedes 4x4 to Speakers' Corner in Hyde Park to speak about ecological matters - and kept the engine running for part of the morning.

Once there she proceeded to launch into an extraordinary ecological rant and exhorted the assembled crowds to try drinking rat's milk instead of cow's milk in a bid to save the planet from deforestation for livestock.

She said that livestock created far more carbon emissions than transport, so we should go vegan - someone who eats no meat or dairy produce - or at least find something else to put in tea or coffee.

At Speakers Corner in Hyde Park she said: "There are many other kinds of milk available. Why don't we try drinking rats' milk and dogs' milk?"

Vegan Mills was supposed to be launching a poster campaign for an animal welfare charity.

Yet some observers couldn't help wondering if Heather Mills had a different aim in mind - embarrassing her estranged husband Sir Paul McCartney.

For the billboard posters she unveiled yesterday were initially covered over by adverts for the National Domestic Violence Helpline featuring a woman with a black eye.

Miss Mills has previously claimed that she was assaulted by the former Beatle during their marriage.

Last year she even hinted that she was applying for an occupation order, which is commonly used in domestic violence cases to decide who keeps the family home.

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Mixed message: A domestic violence poster covered the Viva! billboard

Last night animal charity Viva! insisted it was merely a coincidence that its billboards had been covered up by the domestic violence posters.

A spokesman said: "They were for an old campaign that is nothing to do with us."

The violence posters were eventually removed to reveal the Viva! billboards featuring Miss Mills, which accuse the meat and dairy industry of helping to fuel global warming.

But still the 39-year- old former model wasn't clear of controversy. She provoked accusations of hypocrisy after she arrived at the launch at Speakers' Corner in Hyde Park in a gas-guzzling Mercedes 4x4 - and kept the engine running for part of the morning.

One of the posters features Miss Mills writhing in a gold sequinned dress with the slogan: "Hey Meaty, you're making me so hot!"

The second poster shows Miss Mills - whose leg was amputated after a motorbike hit her as she crossed a street - sending herself up with the logo: "You haven't got a leg to stand on!"

The slogan is aimed at those who claim to be environmentally-aware but also eat meat.

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Controversial: One of the ads for the Viva! campaign fronted by Heather Mills

Steamy: The billboards are likely to have drivers stopping in their tracks

Viva! director Juliet Gellatley said: "Meat and dairy animals are the second biggest cause of greenhouse gases at 18 per cent compared to 13.5 per cent from all the world's different modes of transport combined."

Earlier, Miss Mills had stormed out of an interview with Nick Ferrari on LBC radio. Things got off to a bad start when Ferrari asked her about TV and magazine interviews in which she complained about her treatment by the media and said her marriage had driven her to the brink of suicide.

Miss Mills retorted: "Shall I fall asleep now or do you want to get on with talking about global warming?" before making snoring noises.

She added: "You don't know me as a person. To have an opinion about somebody you've never met before is pretty superficial."

Ferrari responded: "I can have an opinion on murderers, on corrupt politicians. I don't have to meet them all."

And Miss Mills hit back: "I am not a murderer or a paedophile. I am a charity campaigner. To put me in the same bracket as those is exactly why I've been treated like one."

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Speakers' Corner: Heather Mills addresses a crowd of photographers and journalists at the launch of a poster campaign by animals charity Viva!

Eco-warrior? Heather turned up at Hyde Park in this environmentally UN-friendly 4x4

After several more clashes, Miss Mills said: "Just cut him off" and walked out.

� Sir Paul has joined a campaign to save a post office near one of his homes which faces closure under Royal Mail plans.

"It is a vital part of community life and should be saved for future generations to cherish," he said in a statement read to protesters in Heswall, Wirral.

Reader views (69)

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To call it "extraordinary" is simply ignorant.

- Mandy, Sydney, Australia, 20/11/2007 14:54
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Have you ever tried milking a rat?

- Jimbo, London, England, 25/06/2010 20:42
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To be honest, the only argument I can recognise in favour of eating meat is that it tastes good, ad surealy we have come a bit further than that level of selfish barabarism as a species?

- Gervase Poulden, London, 15/09/2009 12:29
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Ahh, but you forget we are omnivores i.e. we have evolved to eat meat and vegetables. So do our closest cousins - the barbaric chimps. Eating meat might have played a part in brain evolution which has allowed you to post vegan ideas on the net. :o)

- Jimbo, London, England, 25/06/2010 20:37
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Heather Mills is amazing, truly she is. If she is, to paraphrase the late Peter Cook, a uni dexter, how come every time she opens her mouth she puts her foot in it without falling over!!

- Mike Done, Swieqi-Malta, 02/04/2010 12:30
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I love the idea of milking a rat! You'd probably need a magnifying glass and a pair of tweezers.

It's not unnatural to drink milk; humans produce the enzyme lactase, the only purpose of which is to break down lactose sugars naturally found in milk. As far as I'm aware no other animal species produces lactase after maturity; our continued production of lactase is an adaptation to drinking milk. At some point in our evolutionary history, the benefits of drinking milk so far outweighed the cost (energy and amino acids) of producing lactase in maturity that lactose tolerance evolved independantly in both European and East African populations.

- Liz, Essex, 31/01/2010 18:04
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maybe she should think about how many trees she killed with her stupid billboards

- Carnivore <3, sometown,usa, 21/10/2009 06:01
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As someone who has recently turned vegan, I can really sympathise with Heather Mills. All she has to face is openly negative press, with no reporters or interviewers ever being genuinaly interested in understanding what she is talking about. It is so much easier for people to make a joke about tucking into a bit of meat later rather than actually thikng about the suffering that was involved in briging that meat to their plate.
The enviromental point is that a huge proportion of animals exist only to feed humans, (95% of pigs in the US are in captivity) we now know that humans can have a perfectly healthy diet without meat, making the mass production, exploitation and maltreatment of animals in one word, unnecesary. To be honest, the only argument I can recognise in favour of eating meat is that it tastes good, ad surealy we have come a bit further than that level of selfish barabarism as a species?

- Gervase Poulden, London, 15/09/2009 12:29
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Whatever happened to COMPASSION? Do any of you idiots know exactly what goes on in those hellhole slaughterhouses? I do, I've seen enough undercover videos to last a lifetime. It's utterly sick and disgusting. What I can't comprehend is how all of you wouldn't dream of eating your pet cat or dog but don't mind eating a cow, pig,etc. ALL animals and living things feel pain. Wake up out of your media-induced stupor and stop being ignorant slaves and robots! Also, lay off Heather because she is doing more for animals than all of you combined. Go Heather!!!

- Desiree, New York, USA, 14/07/2009 06:45
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You make a good point John! Send her back to school, she needs Biology lessons.

- Peter, Wrexham, 01/10/2008 21:54
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Is Heather Mills stark raving bonkers? Commenting on the Judicial refusal to not publish the transcript of the divorce hearing, she gave one of her well practised rants when leaving the court. This particular one was about the bias of the legal profession against litigants in person. She implied that this was manifest in the Judgement. This could well be grounds for contempt of court by effectively accusing the judge of a lack of even handedness. No doubt if she gets summoned for this, she will defend herself again and proceed once more, to make a dogs breakfast of things for which everyone else will be to blame.

- Jim Walker, Preston, Lancashire., 19/03/2008 16:09
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Heather will never compete with Linda who was a genuine and self effacing person who cared about people first and herself, always second. Whatever Heather tries to shout about will never change this simple fact. Paul was vulnerable to Heathers "distractions" and understandably "saw" Linda in Heather's eyes but the awful truth emerged soon enough but by then of course it was too late. "Yesterday, love was such an easy game to play..."

- Dikod, Gillingham, Kent, 19/03/2008 13:12
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Cows have been specifically bred to produce large amounts of milk; dogs and rats have not.

How on earth would you milk rats anyway? It would be incredibly fiddly and you would get bitten so many times! How much milk would you get? A few millilitres per rat, presumably. It's not financially viable. Dogs might be more amenable but still the quantities involved would be too small to bother.

- John, London, 20/11/2007 16:58
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I guess we always knew she leaned to the left...

- Brian, Alexandria, VA, USA, 20/11/2007 16:29
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The problem here is not one of cattle and livestock, it's one of their simply being too many humans on the planet and not enough resources. If politicians really wanted to do something about global warming they'd try to stabilise population growth by keeping it to a sustainable level rather than letting it spiral out of control, but then they'd have to deal with the liberals whining on about their human rights.

- Trevor Roll, London, 20/11/2007 15:37
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Why is it so ridiculuous that we should drink rats milk? What is it about cows milk which is so much more natural? Personally, I think the fact that people find it so bizarre that we should drink rats' or dogs' milk merely highlights that the dairy inustry itself is NOT natural and could very easily be thought of as weird and disgusting were it not the social norm.

Nothing here is new - veg societies have been saying these things for a while now. To call it "extraordinary" is simply ignorant.

- Mandy, Sydney, Australia, 20/11/2007 14:54
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Heather leaves us with some interesting questions that we all need to ponder.

How many rats would it take to equal the daily milk production of one cow? How many rats would it take to provide the milk demands of London alone? What do you do with the rats when they no longer produce milk? How many rats would it take to make 1 hamburger? How many rats would it take to make 1 car seat for a Mercedes SUV 4x4? (I'm sure nobody will mind the awkward stiching pattern.)

How much greehhouse gas will all those rats burp and fart into the atmosphere?

Naturally these need to be free-range rats so they will be happier and produce more milk with fewer stress hormones. How do you physically contain that many free-range rats without spreading plague? How do you control the population growth rate of all those rats?

I noticed that Heather was wearing some blue jeans. How much carbon was belched into the atmosphere by the ships that had to transport the cotton to China to be spun into thread and woven into denim. Then to India to be dyed, cut, and sewn into jeans. Then yet even more carbon released by ships to bring them to England?

- Anon, Greenwood, Mississippi, USA, 20/11/2007 14:46
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Has Heather Mills seen the Simpsons episode where Bart discovers that the local Mafia (Fat Tony) are selling the schools in Springfield rats' milk and pretending it's cows? Anyway, I imagine the fat composition etc of rats' milk is not adequate for humans and it would have to be 'doctored' to be acceptable to our bodies. If she's a vegan, shouldn't she be urging soy milk on everyone? (I drink it sometimes and it's perfectly palatable).

- Sue R, London, 20/11/2007 12:32
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Heather's another greenie liberal who wants others to live like her. In fact I've got a nice rib roast and turkey on the menu for Thursday. Thanks Heather!

- Timmeh, Seattle, Wa, 20/11/2007 12:29
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Ben Franklin said it best: "Better to close one's mouth and be thought a fool, than to open it and expell all doubt."

- Mudhen Chris, Toledo Ohio, USA, 20/11/2007 12:29
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Sounds like I need to eat my car and ride a cow to work.

- Ds, Pewaukee, WI, USA, 20/11/2007 12:27
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I'll bet that Mercedes SUV has leather seats!

- Rugman, St Augustine, FL USA, 20/11/2007 12:25
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Drinking rats milk? Sounds like someone has been watching "The Simpsons" a bit too much. Anyway, wouldn't that still violate the whole vegan not using animal derived products thing?

- Bill, Alexandria, VA, 20/11/2007 12:24
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"She then drove a gas-guzzling Mercedes 4x4 to Speakers' Corner in Hyde Park to speak about ecological matters - and kept the engine running for part of the morning."

...I think this just about says it all.

- Mark, London, 20/11/2007 12:16
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Right, lets blame global warming on the cows. Does she not understand how every part of the cow is used. Shoes, soap, raw hide for chairs. DUH. Ticks me to no end how one becomes famous, then want US to do what they tell us. Do as I say, not as I do. Driving a SUV at the same time. OH but I am different then you, I'm famous. To me, PETA stands for People Eating Tasty Animals.

- Ron, Miamisburg, Oh, USA, 20/11/2007 12:08
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Actually, I think she was probably referring to some of the science labs that have to milk their female rats during research, the rats reproduce so quickly that female rats are always giving milk. Rat milk has been found to have the highest levels of good cholesterol and vitamins per calorie input of any domestic animal. There is a company in Maryland that has developed a milking machine for small animals such as rats and guinea pigs etc. A large rat can produce up to a quart of milk a day.

- Mark, USA, 20/11/2007 12:05
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Paul's looking better every day that this woman appears in public.

- Dale, PA, USA, 20/11/2007 12:04
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The liberals give England a bad name.

- Willy Brown, Chesapeake,US, 20/11/2007 11:58
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When Heather drinks rat milk live on tv than maybe she'll have some credibility. Come on Heather, try it.

- Denise, Oklahoma City USA, 19/11/2007 16:58
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If the good Lord didn't want us to eat meat, Why did he make them taste so good.

- Paul Klosterman, Romeo, MI, USA, 19/11/2007 16:58
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The very fact that Heather Mills is telling me what to do means I'm inclined to do the exact opposite. She should promote heavy drinking and smoking - she may actually see a decrease in these problem areas.

- Isabel, Woking, England, 19/11/2007 16:55
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Mmmm, meat.

Fish for lunch, steak for dinner!

- Carnivore, USA, 19/11/2007 16:48
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If she's truely a vegan, then how can she support the drinking of any animals milk? Nice 4x4 Mercedes...Sounds like an Al Gore advocate!

- Confused, Wichita, KS, 19/11/2007 16:48
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How do you milk a rat?

- Dan, Worcester, MA, USA, 19/11/2007 16:44
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A global warming advert on the back of the lorry makes for irony almost as delicious as sirloin steak.

- Joseph, Tenn, USA, 19/11/2007 16:42
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What Nonsense!!
What idiotic statements!
I will eat what I want, when I want and how I want.
Why don't these morons stay out of my business.
It is time for us meat eaters to become radical like these retards.
"Is there not a cause"?

- Jim, New Orleans, La., USA, 19/11/2007 16:41
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I thought since so many wild animals were on the brink of extinction raising livestock would not have such a dramatic effect. Why don't we just get rid of zoos and keep eating meat. By getting rid of zoos, we can reduce greenhouse gasses and keep raising livestock for my steak dinner.

- Justin, Bloomington, USA, 19/11/2007 16:34
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I am confused. Ms. Mills thinks eating animals and drinking dairy is terrible becuase it is cruel to the animal, a living being and production causes global warming. But, she is advocating eating plants - again, living beings - and from what I understand a collector of carbon dioxide, deterimined by the US Supereme Court to be a leading casue of global warming. And she drives from "lecture" to "lecture" in an SUV? Very odd...

- Paul, San Francisco, US, 19/11/2007 16:33
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They are making ads seductive and putting her in Glamour magazine because the sad fact is that most people only pay attention to what is popular and Hollywood. At least this way something good is coming from going with the crowd. I hope everyone joins. Whatever her "public persona" appears to be these days at least she is trying to do some good. If one person changes their lifestyle then KUDOS to her. I wish more people would take that stand! It's not easy being an instrument for a different, healthy, helping lifestyle when the Burger King, McDonald's world we live in is selfishly doing everything to avoid the truth.

- Danika, Florida, 19/11/2007 16:31
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These campaigns are totally missing the point. It's just as stupid as John Edward's wife proclaiming she will never eat fruit not grown locally because it needs to be transported and therefore, isn't consistent with green behaviour.

The media needs to start discussing serious matters like how much coal will China burn for electricity to feed their energy needs or how their one-party system will continue to favor energy intensive production (high pollution) over slower economic growth.

- Boss Mcsmash, Baltimore, Maryland, 19/11/2007 16:29
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I'm stumped.

- Richard Bwana, Avon, USA, 19/11/2007 16:26
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She was not really suggesting "there were better alternatives to using cow's milk." She was posing a rhetorical question - if we drink cow's milk, then why not rat's milk or dog's milk or cat's milk? - the rhetorical point being that we should not drink any milk; we should be vegans.

- Bill Foreman, Dallas, Texas, USA, 19/11/2007 16:19
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If we stop eating meat ALL, farm animals will become extinct. Dairy cows cannot survive in the wild. Nor can chickens, pigs or lambs. They are all prey.

- Eric Frederick, Orlando Florida, USA, 19/11/2007 16:17
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So, if she is desperately keen to save the planet how about getting rid of the gas guzzling 4x4.

- Charlie, London, 19/11/2007 16:15
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Pure theater. Okay so maybe she doesn't eat meat so what, the real aim is to change her bad image and so people "like" her. It is a shallow attempt and she's a flake.

- Michael, Prague, Czech Republic, 19/11/2007 16:15
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That settles it! Steak for dinner tonight!
Yum!

- Jon Carry, Boston, MA USA, 19/11/2007 16:14
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If animals were such a threat to the planet and contributed so much to global warming, then surely the Government would be targeting them and not the car drivers.

Wouldn't they?

It seems Mills has let the cat out of the bag, but since there's no money in it for the Treasury the poor old car driver will continue to be blamed and carry the can for global warming.

- Stevo, London, 19/11/2007 16:06
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How do you milk a rat?

- Ben, NYC, NY, USA, 19/11/2007 16:00
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Ahhh, so now I get it. PETA believes in animal rights for only some animals. Ok. Animal apartheid is OK. Got it. Thanks PETA.

- Steve, Birmingham, 19/11/2007 16:00
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To go along with Wendy and Cat's comments... You know, it's fine that she's trying to promote this type of awareness, etc... but I'm to the point, that I don't want to see her face portrayed all over the media anymore! She's just not a popular figure with the public these days. And you wonder why? And also, why are they trying to make these ads all seductive-like? I thought she was supposed to be promoting environmental safety, not posing for the cover of Glamour Magazine?

- Kristen, U.S., 19/11/2007 15:30
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It's not "that simple" Heather - just because you don't eat meat doesn't mean that we all must follow your beliefs. What about those who don't like vegetables, legumes, tofu and soya? How would you like to be told what to wear because we don't like it.

- Anne, London, 19/11/2007 14:49
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Don't have a cow man!

- Bart S, Springfield, 19/11/2007 13:48
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Wendy, couldn't agree with you more - people just turn off when they see her....

- Cat, London, 19/11/2007 13:48
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Whilst the message is well intentioned and worthy, I think Ms Mills is wrong in thinking that her appearance on these posters will encourage people to give up or eat less meat, given that she seems to be universally despised by the majority of general public.

If she really wanted to further these kind of campaigns she'd finance them, approach a popular environmentally conscious celebrity and keep her face out of them.

- Wendy K, London, 19/11/2007 13:16
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Russell,

Trees are 'made' from carbon dioxide so 1) stop de-forestation and 2) plant trees. Further, as paper almost literally 'grows on trees' stop the resource-wasteful re-cycling of paper (which can be biodegraded or used as fuel) and use trees which are then replaced on a managed basis by new plantings. Simple. Concentrate on re-cycling 'robber' resources e.g. metals and readily re-usables e.g. glass. Next question?

- Barry 1858, Welwyn, England, 19/11/2007 13:09
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Oh, put a sock in it Heather! And you wonder why the public can't stand you! So much self-righteousness!

- S, London, UK, 19/11/2007 12:29
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Good point but humans contribute by breathing out over 5 billion tons of carbon dioxide each year. So what should we do...

- Russell, Brighton, 19/11/2007 12:05
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We are omnivores and are best adapted to eating a diet which, ideally, includes eating appropriate amounts of unadulterated meat and fish. FACT.

Humans can, and do, exist on much more limited diets but will not maximise their potential by so doing and may not thrive.

Generally, meat from sheep and oily fish is good and hold back on the relatively recently introduced farmed cereals and dairy. Try to avoid other high G.I. foods and stress. Insulin surges are harmful. It surely goes without saying that a diet should be rich in unadulterated fruit, berries, vegetables, nuts and appropriate pulses. Finally, lots of short bursts ( so as to avoid burning ) in sunlight is very good for us - the resultant vitamin D produced is essential to good physical and mental health.

Not as punchy as Heather's adverts, I admit, but much more balanced and the best of what I've gleaned over the last 10 years of interest.

- Barry 1858, Welwyn, England, 19/11/2007 10:31
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Heather actually has a point here. Farmed animals produce more greenhouse gas emissions (18%) than the world�s entire transport system (13.5%).
For people serious about reducing their carbon footprint, personally I think giving up meat for the good of the environment is a much easier option than giving up my car - which is much more of a modern necessity.

- Kate Brock, Bromley, Kent, 19/11/2007 10:19
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So it's the animals fault for climate change and the increase in the earth's temperature. Excellent - I can continue to drive my 4x4 and tot up my air-miles without a conscience - thank you Heather I'll sleep better now. Mmmm, beef sandwich anyone.

- Pauls, London, 19/11/2007 09:54
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