Point out how many thousands of animals--rodents, insects, birds--are killed to support agriculture. (Those, of course, don't count. Most of them aren't cute or friendly, so nobody cares how many gophers die for their salad.)
Monocultures of plants are incredibly dangerous to the environment; the Kansas Dust Bowl wasn't caused by sheep farming.
Being able to have a healthy diet without meat is a matter of environment and, to some extent, wealth; healthy vegetarianism is pretty much impossible with plants native to most of Scandanavia. Even in the areas where the climate & ground will grow enough protein-bearing plants to support humans, having access to those year-round is not universal; it takes a lot more effort to supply a family with enough soy & nuts to cover all its needs, than to deal with seasonal changes in harvest by having the occasional chicken soup.
Animal protein is available year-round; plant protein is available either in season, or through wealth. It's very, umm, classist, to insist that vegetarianism is more moral than eating meat.
|