I think I understand what you mean, Emily. I don't think it is unethical to kill and eat an animal, under more natural circumstances. If I were living in the idyllic country setting with chickens outside the barn and cows in the pasture it would be different; if I were a hunter-gatherer it would be different - a lot different from getting factory farmed meat at the supermarket. There is a natural foods store around here that sells local, pasture grazed beef. It is very expensive, and most people are not willing to pay three times as much for something like that than they pay at the regular supermarket. If I were to buy beef, maybe to prepare for someone else, I'd pay the extra money for pasture-grazed and have my conscience be happy.
My reasons for avoiding meat are that with our huge population we can't have everybody eating meat frequently and have the animals raised humanely. At the same time, I think that one can be a consciencous and practical sometimes-meat-eater. For example if you have an old dairy cow that's about to cash in her chips, why not get some use out of her and feed and clothe some folks by making hamburger and leather shoes rather than giving her a decent burial, or ????
Anyway, as far as the original question goes about switching: I think the Moosewood Cookbook would be a good first step. It is not vegan, and there's a lot of cheese involved, but the recipes are delicious.
I have an ethical dilemma with eating a lot of cow-dairy becasue I don't want to indirectly support the veal industry (where a lot of the males calves go) so I get almost all goat-based dairy.
Back to the Moosewood cookbook -With the dairy, there may be some overlap in there between low-carb and vegetarian also.
Good luck! It is always heartening to hear more and more people making food choices based on ethics.
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