Vegetarianism.

In The Animal Ethics Reader, the author lists prominent individuals from the past who lived a vegetarian lifestyle. For example, Henry David Thoreau, George Bernard Shaw, Susan B. Anthony, Albert Einstein, Plato, Gautama Buddha, Henry Salt, and many more, were all vegetarians. "Once it had been accepted that animals had feelings and therefore should be treated with kindness, it seemed increasingly repugnant to kill them for meat(page 5)." Because many people feel uneasy about eating meat, slaughterhouses are hidden from the public's view. However, it's no secret that animals are brutally killed for our consumption more often than not. So why are only five out of every 1,000 people vegetarians? (Vegetarian Times) Some people (53 percent, according to the Vegetarian Times) become vegetarian to be more healthy. Other reasons are to better the environment, to show respect towards animals, and simply because it is often viewed as wrong to eat animal flesh.

To me, eating meat is not 'right'. How can a person consume something with a beating heart? If a person cannot bear to kill the animal or even watch the animal being killed, how can it be put into his or her body? I'm not going to lie, when I did eat meat, I loved it. Nothing like a rare steak drowned in steak-sauce to please my taste buds. I get it, meat is yummy. Plus, we're the more powerful species and we've been eating animals forever, so why change these ways, right? I know it sounds like I'm advocating vegetarianism but I don't mean to push my views onto anyone. I just want to understand how eating an animal can be justified.

So that's my question: What valid reasons are there for justifying the consumption of meat?