THERE’S only one resolution we should have made this new year, and it won’t surprise you that it’s to cut the CO2 and methane we produce with our self indulgent life styles.

Nothing else matters if we properly value the lives of our descendants – we should think of our children, their children, and then theirs every day and accept we could be ruining their future lives.

If we can’t give a hoot then carry on with the fast driving, holiday flying and meat eating, but we should also face up to the facts. More greenhouse gases are produced by keeping livestock than all the emissions from cars, planes, buses and trains. Indeed a ten acre farm would support 60 people with soybeans, 24 with wheat and just two with meat, so it’s rather a pity that 97 per cent of soybeans are fed to livestock!

The importance of cutting back on meat is overwhelming, with the production of one kilo of beef producing 19 kilos of CO2, whereas the same weight of potatoes produces just 280 grams - barely one 70th of the meat.

At least around 40 million tonnes of extra food are needed to feed those suffering from regular hunger, and yet 20 times that amount of grain is fed to farmed animals. Unhelpfully this problem is becoming more serious as the world population is increasing by at least one million every five days.

I certainly remain healthy without meat but I have struggled with the challenge of what to do about cow’s milk.

I have always taken it for granted from the first little bottle at school, then in tea and chocolate drinks, and its role in cheese, rice puddings, custard and porridge, but as I am serious about reducing CO2, it’s time for me to consider the plant based ‘milk’ alternatives such as soya.

I’ll report back.