ethical issues as well . . .

Disclaimer: We, my wife and I, were vegetarians for some 15+ years but began eating modest (maybe that is not a reliable adjective) amounts of seafood about 3 years ago. We have not intentionally consumed other animal flesh in over 18 years (there was the time when Grandma died - a most wonderful woman who lived to be 104 years old, but that is another post).

Here are some arguments on the consequences of eating meat.

According to Environmental Defense, if every American skipped one meal of chicken per week and substituted vegetarian foods instead, the carbon dioxide savings would be the same as taking more than half a million cars off of U.S. roads. See how easy it is to make an impact?

There is much more.

And by the by, this is by way of fallen monk.