Nine out of 10 of you eat meat, writes Rural Affairs Editor Nathan Rous.

The waft of a bacon sandwich prompts an involuntary lick of the lips; a rib of beef surrounded by caramelised onions, roast potatoes and a deep red wine gravy sparks the sort of Sunday lunch marathon which can only be followed by a deep sleep in your favourite armchair.

Others will go further; sucking the marrow out of a bone to get their carnivorous kicks or enjoying a spoonful of brains on toast. Waste not want not.

Even those of you who don’t eat meat mould your tofu into the shape of a sausage or a quarter-pounder. That’s the power of flesh.

There was plenty of flesh on show at both the Royal Show and the West Mid Show, even though the scourge of bluetongue took a dramatic toll on entry numbers.

Prized Limousins, Herefords, Highlands and Charolais were led around their rings, holding their heads high as they flexed their muscles in impressive fashion.

Watching the farmers preparing their animals for the judges, the way they brush and polish and preen, underlines the undeniable attachment between man and beast.

But the paying public, stuffing polystyrene coffins filled with anaemic meat into their trolleys at the supermarket, don’t see this at all.

That is why the debate over bovine tuberculosis has been reduced to a simple argument: the public just don’t have any sympathy with farm animals.

A diseased badger, all black and white and inquisitive and cute, its heritage forever stamped on our hearts thanks to Wind In the Willows, connects far more emotionally than 40,000 cows which will meet an equally grisly end as a result of this killer disease.

Cows are reared for meat or milk anyway, say the populus. They are reared for the food chain and therefore about as emotionally attached to the nation as the east wing at HMP Broadmoor.

But why should a badger be worth more than a cow? Why should a cow be worth more than a badger?

The point here is that both animals are suffering as bovine TB takes a stranglehold on this country and something needs to be done to prevent any further spread.

Hilary Benn may well be more in the badger camp than that of the cow, but both animals are at risk if he continues to sit on his hands.

Last week’s leak that the Government will not entertain a badger cull has angered everyone in the farming community. Trust me, anyone who deals with animals, whether it’s for meat or for company, has a vested interest in their welfare.

Just listen to dear old Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall hark on about eating from nose to tail – a guaranteed way of ensuring that not one morsel of an animal is wasted in the eating process.

Mr Benn may be able to wait for the research to suggest a far less controversial alternative, but in the meantime bovine TB is claiming more and more victims and shutting down increasing numbers of farms; farms that have not had TB for 50 years suddenly brought to a halt by the disease.

Even if we put our emotions to one side, there is a huge financial burden to the taxpayer if TB continues to wreak havoc, with hundreds of thousands of pounds spent on compensating farmers for the loss (even though it’s nowhere near the true value of their animals).

The reality is that with food prices rising and farmers under pressure to increase production, the food chain needs all the help it can get to survive.

Either that or we’ll have to swap our beefburgers for loin of badger.