for me, when i was trying very hard to be vegan, it was about my health. i failed miserably at it because i like cheese too much.

however, i also researched some of the ethical reasons that people give. one of them that stuck out and still makes the most sense to me (vegetarian), was environmental sustainability. it takes way more land to keep a herd of cattle or pig than it does to grow vegetables, legumes, and fruits, all of which contain the vitamins and minerals necessary to live a healthy life, if ou watch what you eat. deforestation in south america is occuring to make room for cattle farming. the runoff from those cattle farms futher destroys the environment, and the methane produced by cows, pigs, and other ruminants lowers the air quality, and contributes (though not as much as cars, factories, and poewr plants) to ozone depletion.

for me, that is the number one best reason to not eat animals. as far as not killing animals because they're cute, and they feel; that is a perfectly valid reason as well. animals feel pain, and i believe it is wrong to exploit them for profit (which is what huge livestock farmers are doing).

now, if the situation was such that eveyone would have to raise their own livestock to get dairy products and meats, i think more people would adopt a veggie lifestyle, simply because it's expensive to keep livestock healthy, and it's hard enough to kill wild animals, that i think most people would give up after an hour or three of trying...unless their livesdepended on it...then they (including me) would probably starve.

fun fact: ben franklin was vegan, AND straight edge.