"I respect anyone who DOES eat animal produce as long as they respect MY choice. The only thing that has yet to piss me off in being a vegan is peoples' reaction to telling them. They tend think you're some kind of a cultist or weirdo. Does disliking broccoli make you strange? No. Does disliking milk make you weird? No. So why should disliking meat?"
I think this comes under the I do not personally care for your choice but as long as it does not affect me (i.e. a group of people try to pass a law that affects my way of things) I could care less. The phrasing of that comes dangerously close the the right not to be offended stuff that I completely disagree with.
The food: assuming it is pure preference (allergies/intolerances) and assuming
As for vegan/vegetarian food I agree some of it is quite nice but for long term stuff I like meat.
Also just for fun: the replicator debate. Should the star trek style replicator (I feed in some elements and a bit of energy and out pops a steak) be made where would you stand (assuming elements/energy appear from the air/ground/are sustainable)?
RE: cows, some would argue that it is just modern cows that need milking and only through selective breeding (I will resist the urge to spin this into a GM debate) has such a position come to pass.
"Meat has a history of being a disease carrier"
I have a long list of plants carrying toxins.
".....automatically assures health and well-being"
A tough one, I have met many people with major problems due to bad choices in diet here 9
http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/1...journalCode=ijn ) . I guess the provisio if it is done properly but then that applies to everything.
Slaughterhouses.
I have been to nice ones and some fairly grotty ones, a bolt gun to the head followed by quick chilling and so on does seem a lot nicer than some of the "ritualistic" (as in kosher/halal ritualistic) stuff that I have seen.
"vaccines are too, so what"
*points to inoculation