Mostly, I make sure to stay keenly aware of my own shortcomings so that I am more patient with others. It can be hard to see a friend order a cow-milk latte when almond or soy milk is available, knowing that the friend knows what dairy cows go through, how they mourn their babies, who have been carted off to veal crates so that we can steal their milk.

Because I am all too human, I don't always do the right thing, so how can I expect others to perform perfectly on the issues that are my top priority? I don't mean that we shouldn't try to do our best, but judgment and recrimination are such heavy weights. I find that accepting that we are all fallible lightens my load.

Some of us seem to be born with a drive to try to make the world kinder.

I am all too human, I don't always do the right thing, so how can I expect others to perform perfectly on the issues that are my top priority?

Indeed, a report from the United Nations has revealed that the livestock industry is the number-one contributor to global warming gasses - higher than even the transport industry. Plus, the effect of the livestock industry on our waterways and oceans is disastrous.

Seriously, many people have told me they can't eat turkeys anymore after getting to know them. I think in the wider world, when the stories air on the media, they help banish the idea that birds, other than parrots, are somehow lesser.

Once people learn, it is hard to forget and go back.