Isn't it still killing to eat even if it's just a plant?

Plants don’t suffer.

apparently red meat kills that part of your brain responsible for spelling and good typing skills.

Based on what a vegetarian friend of mine claims, the methods of killing those animals and health are the real issues are rather than the killing itself.

Between me and you…beef is a good thing…

Plants do not have a cerebral cortex or brain stem, along with, seemingly, some of the people who use this sort of logic to criticize vegetarians.

Yes. Killing a plant requires killing. We kill lots of things every day: bacteria, mold, fungi, insects.

But you are completely missing the point. Let me ask you this: what is the difference between killing a bacterium in your gut and killing your mother? Your husband? Are these morally equivalent? They’re both killing, right?

Obviously, there is a distinction to be made based on what you are killing. The act of killing itself is not inherently evil. In the case of bacteria causing you illness or insects infesting your house, killing can be entirely justifiable.

So let me turn this around: why is killing your mother (/husband/child/girlfriend/best friend) wrong? What makes that act morally unjustifiable?

Eating Ozzy Osbourne would be an act tantamount to cannibalism would it not?

Plants do not feel, or have any kind of thought process. Animals feel pain, have thought processes (although very rudimentary by our standards), and are somewhat aware of their surroundings. Now yes.. technically it is killing to eat but the two are definatly NOT the same.

Here is where I draw the line:
You don’t kill and eat humans
You don’t kill and eat pets
anything that is killed to eat should be raised and or treated in the most humane manner possible.
The killing should be done in the most humane way possible.
I don’t care what you eat as long as you follow the above standards.
Plants are plants and although I do love them, I’m not going to feel like a torturer for mowing my lawn or eating a tomato.
Oh and as for using animal products, like milk and eggs, same goes. Treat the animal humanely.

That’s not why I’m a vegan – I don’t eat meat or animal products because animals are mistreated in order to meet the continually increasing demand for meat and the environmental and health impacts on our planet and species are measurably worse due to our methods of “farming” meat.

I don’t eat meat because I consider our agribusiness approach to raising food animals to be inhumane, unnatural, and unhealthy. I also don’t like to eat poop (which contaminates much of our meat). If an animal is treated with respect, has some modicum of quality of life during it’s brief life span, is slaughtered as painlessly as possible, and is processed in a clean manner, then I would have no problem eating meat.

Many plants are killed during harvest, but since they don’t have a nervous system (or what we would consider a nervous system), I don’t worry about it. What I do worry about is the loss of genetic diversity of crop plants because of our dependence on monoculture.

@syz Exactly. I love the taste of meat, but I always say some things are more important. Animal husbandry has an honorable history, it just seems we’ve lost our way in the last 80 years or so when we decided to treat animals like machines in a factory.

If something is considered alive and you are going to eat it then yes it is killing it that is just how the food chain works.