In most modern cultures eating, or not eating, meat is a choice, not an obligation. Our physiology makes that choice possible by virtue of its flexibility; and there is an abundance of non-meat protein sources in every supermarket.
I haven’t eaten meat in 18 years. I don’t spend any more time than most folks plotting my dietary strategy, and I seem to be in better shape than most guys my age.
All I’m trying to say is that people eat meat because they want to eat meat. We’re fooling ourselves by trying to make this choice seem like Nature’s mandate. I think we do that because most of us are, deep down, a bit uncomfortable about meat. Does anyone honestly think that they could watch the entire process by which a steak comes to their table without feeling uncomfortable along the way? That, of course, is why very few of us ever see the entire process. But we don’t have the same qualms about the vegies alongside the steak.
I don’t mean this as a criticism of those who choose to eat meat. Everyone gets to make that choice for themselves. But we owe it to ourselves to be intellectually honest about it.