So you don't want to give up meat, huh?

Giving up meat is hard for many people, especially if its been a large part of their diet their whole lives. Giving their taste buds a new experience to save animals from a lifetime of suffering just doesn't appeal to some people. In all seriousness though, there are a couple things I'd like to say about giving up meat / going vegetarian.

First of all I'd like to mention that while giving up meat, or going vegetarian, is usually the first step that people take on their way to veganism (and an important one!) it doesn't necessarily mean that they're causing less suffering to animals than someone who was sort of the opposite of vegetarian - someone who ate only meat and no dairy or eggs. Here is a quote from Donald Watson, the father of veganism:

[A]s the vegan idea developed, we [Leicester Vegetarian Society] saw, or some of us did, that, although vegetarianism was a very useful "stepping-stone" to veganism, and one which we had all used to get to where we were, unless the consumption of dairy produce was limited, it could be an even more cruel diet than the orthodox diet, where the meat came from a large animal like a cow which was feeding one meat-eater for a year or two, whereas the milk drinkers -they were going back to the cow suckling (what a bizarre idea that is!) at virtually every meal and claiming to be leading the way to a more humane life!

[The full interview of Donald Watson]
So if you can't quit gnawing on the flesh of an animal, maybe you can still do good by swapping in some soy milk. [Edit: As xodarap pointed out, here is a more quantitative look at the number of animals which are killed to produce each animal product, suggesting that those concerned with the number of animals killed for their food should give up eggs.]

Second, in about 6 months you may be able to enjoy meat guilt-free thanks to the progress being made with lab-grown tissue!