++ [ originally posted by swag
] ++
When I was a grad student at Berkeley, I was a vegetarian for a couple of years. But that probably had more to do with economics than anything. (It's hard to be a carnivore on beef-flavored Top Ramen noodles.

)
There's something to be said about recognizing where your source of food comes from. Which is why I have a lot of respect for hunters and farmers in this regard as opposed to people who only experience their kill under cellophane on a styrofoam platter at the supermarket ... or as some disguised patty between two buns. I've been a "reformed" vegetarian for years now, but I can respect people who are aware of the what and the how of their food -- and take active responsibility for it.
But not all vegetarians are like that either. Many I know have horrible diets and approve and disapprove of some of the most irrational things. The worst are those who berate others for their eating decisions, as if some holier-than-though evangelical minister.
The best comeback there I've heard is that if you're going to kill and eat something, why go after all those harmless, innocent vegetables when you should be taking your wrath out on all those creatures that exploit those innocent vegetables? Talk about justice -- how more ethical can you get?