Veganism is the trendy new diet sweeping Australia.
But those who opt for a plant based diet may be surprised to learn that their lifestyle still results in the death of hundreds of thousands of animals each year.
Tasmanian Gourmet Farmer Matthew Evans said many people don't understand what is involved in producing crops and that many animals are just part of the collateral damage in modern farming.
Pea farming is just one example where animals are killed in order to protect and grow crops, Mr Evans explains in The Weekend Australian Magazine.
Tasmanian Gourmet Farmer Matthew Evans (left) said many people don't understand what is involved in producing crops
Pea farming is one example where animals are killed in order to protect and grow vegetables (stock image)
Collydean farm (not it's real name) is a 2,700 hectare farm in northern Tasmania produces about 400 tonnes of peas per season.
While there are wildlife fences in place to protect the crops, the farmers also have licenses to shoot animals that get through the fences.
Mr Evans said that while he was there, they were allowed to kill at least 150 deer, and annually kill 800-1,000 possums and 500 wallabies, as well as ducks.
'More than 1,500 animals die each year to grow about 75 hectares of peas for our freezers. That's not 1,500 rodents, which also die, and which some may see as collateral damage,' Mr Evans wrote.
'That's mostly warm-blooded animals of the cute kind, with a few birds thrown in.'
Mr Evans said the owners of the farm convinced him it's not financially
