There are tribes where cannibalism is acceptable. You eat who you kill.
We don't eat peoples in our society because we got the Lord. Ha. No, the cultural meme of our society is that humankind is the pinnacle of existence in God's creation and therefore, the most sacred. Even people who don't believe in a religion maintain the residue of this. Uh, even besides that cannibalism is probably not widely practiced because humans are such social animals that we rely on one another to live. (Religion probably serves to reinforce that concept since people have grown more competitive than collective in our living.)
While it is possible to eat a completely plant-based diet [ with no animals involved], it is not possible to eat a completely meat based diet [with no plants involved]. If you are a meat eater, you are either eating a plant-eating creature or a carnivore that eats other creatures, and somewhere down the line of the animal food chain there will be an animal who has eaten a plant that indirectly effecting your diet.
What do you think nourishes plant life? Dead flesh factors in there.
I prefer to not consume animals because I think they are treated extremely horribly in the process leading up to consumption.
If I knew how to hunt and lived off the land, I would certainly hunt for food.
Animals provide good sustenence, our bodies are structured to gain sustenence from them.
By eating a certain animal, our species is keeping the balance of life in check.. balancing overpopulation of one species..
At least, that's the way it's supposed to be. Nowadays, it is not. We are living off balance by exercising a tyranical attitude towards nature. MF referred to respect in the process of consuming a living thing. I don't think there is any respect in our culture's process of making animals into food.
I don't think there is anything inherently wrong in eating animals, it's just that agribusiness is very unpalatable to my ideals. mmmyes.