GEN666 ... only after Noah’s sacrificial offerings did God say, “Any small animal that is alive shall be food for you, like green grasses.” [this verse] The sanction to eat meat is given the moment after God realizes “the human mind inclines to evil from youth onward.” Genesis 8:21.  Perhaps that was the violence God saw Noah’s generation commit.  The carnivorous drive of both man and beast so horrified heaven that the ducts of the deep were opened and the land welled over with torrential tears. We have both turned over the verse “You shall not boil a kid in its mother's milk” (Exodus 23: 19, 34:26; Deuteronomy 14: 21). In exodus 21, this verse follows verses on sacrifice, festival offerings, and choice first fruits. Biblical scholars understand it to be referring to ancient Egyptian sacrifices, not necessarily how we prepare our food. But we've also drunk from the Talmud and been fed by the commentators, who understand it as a prohibition against cooking milk and meat together. (By Zoe Klein, "Real Life / Real Food: A Letter to My Vegetarian Husband")  SACTAB 273-4