There are three concepts that animate my decision to eat a vegan diet.
First

Eating a vegan diet applies the “Golden Rule” across the species barrier. Most people seem to understand this concept where dogs and cats are concerned — most of us would recoil at the idea of eating Fido or Fluffy, absent some apocalyptic scenario. I see chickens, pigs, fish, and cattle in the same way — there is no moral difference between eating a dog or a pig, a cat or a chicken.
Second

Eating a vegan diet means that every time I sit down to eat, I’m choosing to support a less cruel world. Where I can make choices in opposition to violence and killing, shouldn’t I? There is a lot of suffering in the world, and the vast majority of it is beyond our control. But choosing to eat a plant-based diet is something we…