IN reply to both Derrick Holt and Bob Johnston (Viewpoints, October 25 and October 22), my human biological views are not based on any vague personal assumptions.

They are the respected views of two eminent physicians who have had their work on the subject published worldwide.

Dr William C. Roberts, editor of the American Journal of Cardiology, states: “Although we think we are one, and act as if we are one, human beings are not natural carnivores.

“When we kill animals to eat them, they end up killing us because their flesh was never intended for human beings who are natural herbivores.”

Neal Barnard MD, the author of Breaking The Food Seduction, states: “We are unlike carnivores who lack flat back molars and can only move their jaws up and down. Humans and other herbivores can move their jaws up and down and from side to side, allowing us to grind up fruits, nuts, and vegetables.”

The original point of my letter appears to have been lost in the biology debate. The point was that the only reason why billions of people in the world are starving and dying of thirst, is that we in the ‘civilized’ world waste vast amounts of food and water on farm animals, which I, as the living proof of a herbivore for more than 60 years, can so easily survive without killing and eating.

Why Oxfam, Save The Children, etc, fail to comprehend this self-evident human error is really quite mystifying. It is interesting to add that this very subject was debated in one of the Scandinavian countries only a matter of weeks ago. It was reported on BBC Radio 4, but not on any of the TV channels.

EDWARD SANDERSON, Great Clarendon Street, Oxford