Shemp: Forget about karma; even on a common sense, intuitive level, doesn't that just not jibe? Isn't this intuitively yucky to even the most jaded meat-eating redneck? Millions upon millions of cows are treated as such every year. This has got to be one hell of a build-up of karma.
John: Also, he said that meat eating is the main cause of wars throughout the world. No. Meat-eating causes high pitta aggravation among the people, thus making them extremely susceptible to violence. Also, according to Prabhupada, meat-eating causes the bad karma of violence, which the animals experience during their death. ================ And meat eating is one of the major causes of human-activity contribution to global warming. Deforestation and cow farts. Some say (maybe shemp did, but I have read it independenly) that becoming a vegan, on average reduces carbon as much as giving up your car. And meat production significantly raises the price of grains and beans. It takes ten times the to produce the feedstock for livestock, compared to the equivalent protein from straight from grains and beans. Lots of people, particularly with today's high and rising food prices, are malnutritioned due to affluent countries gorging on meat. So being / becoming a vega is a threefer -- end war, global warming, (and) food) poverty. When will a leader of the affluent countries dare to step on the third rail and champion the demise of meat eating. he/she won't win Iowa.