A response to someone who asked me about why I am a vegitarian

"it's pretty simple actually.

To give some back story, my parents were hippies. By the time I was born they were both vegetarians. They told me and my two sisters the same thing: "if you want to eat meat you are welcome to try it at any time but you wont find it here because we don't eat it". So I grew up in a vegetarian household where there was no meat. It was never for ethical reasons, my mum even used to lived on a farm when she was a little girl before she emigrated from england where she raised all the animals that would also end up on the dinner table and so she understands the cycle directly.

Anyway, after 21 years I have tried a few things some i've hated some i've liked and even eaten peperoni many times (when there is no alternative) but meat still is not a part of my diet. My father is a doc and almost 65 now and he looks like he's in his early 40s. Seeing him age compared to his father is probably the biggest reason to stay a vegetarian I've seen. Over the years I've read study after study of positive findings associated with vegetarian diets and in my opinion it is a healthier way to eat.
Dont get me wrong I would kill anything I could find if I was starving in the woods. I've shot guns and rifles, and I used to fly fish but I would always catch and release, why kill a fish I'm not going to eat.

To answer what I think you were asking, what it is I dont like about meat itself, psychologically I see meat as being that much closer to a human being. It's not so much an issue weather the animal is sentient or not I think it's an issue of biology, the cells that make up mammals, fish, birds etc are all the same kind of cells where as plants have a very different biology and are not so closely related. The biggest reason would be that most plants can survive being eaten (harvested), and in most cases eating vegetables, cheese, milk etc does not kill the plant or animal and it can live it's life.
It's really all about a live and let live philosophy at the foundation. And for the record a vegetarian is someone who does eat all dairy products but does not eat fish. A vegan doesn't eat any dairy at all."