> It might be because they believe they have an ethical responsibility to limit the suffering of animals raised for slaughter, for example.
That sounds more like a religious argument. At the extreme, some people don't believe that it matters ethically how animals are treated, and there are certainly many people who adopt an "out of sight, out of mind" attitude, or try to only eat meat from animals raised and slaughtered as humanely as possible. People are of course free to make a value judgment on these attitudes, but preaching vegetarianism/veganism on those grounds sounds too much like religious proselytizing for my taste.
I think it's fine and useful to promote non-meat diets by arguing that meat production (as we currently do it) is devastating to the environment, but religious/emotional preaching is IMO what gives a lot of vegetarians/vegans a bad name.
I can't say I experience any preaching by vegetarians/vegans. Perhaps I see the odd advert on a website or TV, or occasional news articles but the vegan/vegetarian friends/associates I have, never have them preaching at me.
Where is everyone hanging out that vegans and vegetarians are constantly pestering them? And, if you're being honest to yourself, is it really an issue in your life?
I never claimed it was an issue in my life. I've definitely had the odd veg acquaintance who has been preachy, but those tend to be people who never make the acquaintance-to-friend transition for me. My veg friends don't care what I eat, or at least have the social graces to not pester me about it.
I don't think that applies here; I don't feel particularly guilty about my meat consumption. I would prefer that animals be treated humanely, but I don't lose sleep over it. I'm far more concerned with the environmental affects of livestock farms.
That sounds more like a religious argument. At the extreme, some people don't believe that it matters ethically how animals are treated, and there are certainly many people who adopt an "out of sight, out of mind" attitude, or try to only eat meat from animals raised and slaughtered as humanely as possible. People are of course free to make a value judgment on these attitudes, but preaching vegetarianism/veganism on those grounds sounds too much like religious proselytizing for my taste.
I think it's fine and useful to promote non-meat diets by arguing that meat production (as we currently do it) is devastating to the environment, but religious/emotional preaching is IMO what gives a lot of vegetarians/vegans a bad name.