Kittens and puppies practise pouncing on moving objects, or will snatch at butterflies with their paws. Human children meeting a small animal usually react with a sense of wonder and admiration.

Humans do not have the same instincts as carnivores, which shows that we are not natural carnivores and that meat eating has been acquired somehow against our natural instincts. This would explain why many people who give up meat fell as though they have been liberated from a bad habit.

Children's diet, often based on widely advertised stodgy food, is generally considered to be unhealthy, but some schools have experimented in offering fruit to small children. Many of them never eat fruit, or only rarely, but most of them are happy to eat it when offered.

Other schools are running allotments for small children to work in and take an interest in how their food is grown, and to taste what is produced. This helps them to experiment and learn to love foods they had previously avoided.

In another school bigger children are learning to care for farm animals and even present them at shows. Although this is encouraging meat eating, it may at least lead them to treat farm animals with more respect than simply seeing them as food from the counter.

Teaching nutrition and cookery in schools may be one way of promoting healthier eating habits, but growing vegetables for themselves seems a much better way to get them to eat more fruit and vegetables.

This issue is full of contributions, ideas and questions from our readers. Contributions from readers are what makes this magazine more personal, varied, interesting and valuable to many vegans who never have contact with other vegans. So please write in with your ideas, experiences, and drawings, and continue to keep this magazine interesting and valuable.