This is a good and timely article.

Eating meat is cruel and I've been trying to give it up. It's goddamn hard (not just for the taste) but for convinience as well. It's almost like trying to learn another language as the one in which you speak is evil. I travel a lot on my job and sometimes find it impossible to avoid meat (how often can you keep eating the same Boca burger?). But I will keep trying. Wish me luck.

Also, I know many people who don't mind eating naturally raised (organic) animals. But one of my other friends raised an interesting counter, "I would never eat anything that was born naturally. It deserves a natural death. But the factory raised ones wouldnt have existed if not to serve my need. So I don't care".

IMO, all of us should first start with what we are comfortable while recognizing many contradictions that will exist. This is a complex issue and there will not be any easy resolutions. One also needs to draw a line somewhere and kind of let go a bit. After all, we kill hundreds of mircobes just by breathing!

It is wonderful knowing how many sensitive people there are debating about this issue. It is my hope that we will slowly move towards lesser violence and pain.