I am a staunch carnivore and I'm a little miffed at what appears to be a growing trend.
Is it just me, or is there an epidemic of vegetarians in our traditionally meat-loving country?
I put the question to James Diggins and Pip Evans - who have over 35 years of experience between them as butchers and have authored the cookbook, Dinner With The Butcher - and asked, how can we fix this epidemic?
"People are under the misapprehension that meat is too expensive to feed their family," came the answer. "They think it's trendy to be vegetarian, and surprisingly, a lot of people don't know how to cook meat and are worried they will ruin dinner.
"To fix this epidemic, consumers need to be re-educated about the value of meat in their diet."
Well... Dinner with the Butcher is certainly a good start to getting people back to eating meat on a regular basis. I've often said that the best cookbooks are the simple ones, and Dinner with the Butcher certainly falls into that category, showing easy ways to cook meat tasty.
"We wrote Dinner with the Butcher because we have a passion for what we do," Pip and James told All Eaten Up.
"We have so much knowledge about meat and how to get the best out of each cut, especially the cheaper cuts and the secondary cuts. We wanted to share that with everyone, not just our customers.
"So many things in life these days are hard and complicated, we just wanted to make something easy. Dinner with the Butcher is proof that good, hearty comfort food doesn't have to be to difficult.
"That's important to us because we quite simply enjoy teaching people that it isn't hard to put a good meal on the table, and it doesn't have to cost a fortune to feed your family."
The biggest challenge the duo faced in writing the book was time - working 70 hours a week in their business, and finding time to write the book wasn't easy - "otherwise, we enjoyed coming up with the recipes and working together to put our technical knowledge and ideas into simplified terms that anyone can understand and use."
Luckily, James and Pip had their family on hand to help, with many of the recipes being handed down from family members.
"We then took the recipes and adapted them to suit modern living and family budgets. Many old fashioned recipes focused on the meat component of the dish, so it was easy for us with our knowledge of meat, to modernise these recipes. The rest f the recipes come straight from our shop or kitchen. We love to cook and we enjoy experimenting in the kitchen."
Having their own shop and being at the face of retail has given James and Pip the advantage of talking to customers and understanding their needs. One thing they've noticed is the increasingly time-poor nature of their customers, and the plethora of cooking shows on television has had its affect as well, with Pip and James often having to substitute the cut of meat from a show to a more cost effective cut.
"We are much more aware of what it costs to put a meal on the dinner table at home. Therefore our recipes contain simple ingredients and cost effective cuts of meat."
"They're looking for something quick and easy; ready-to-go meal ideas. Consumers also want value for money, and variety."
Easy to cook recipes, value for money ingredients, and a beautifully crafted book... I think I've found the perfect gift for my vegetarian friends.