[madaxe_again]

Forgive my ignorance, but is the presence of a nervous system really the defining factor? What about mycelium in mushrooms, which operates as a signalling network?

I know a guy who will only eat windfall foods - plants that have died a natural death or fruit that have fallen from the tree (super hardcore fruitarian), and won't eat germplasm (I.e. Seeds - wheat, nuts, etc.) which seems to me, if the reason is ethical, to probably be the right place to draw the line.

Personally I'm an omnivore, but try to keep my meat consumption generally very low.

[crustygirl]

Central is the key word. Mushrooms have no chance of being sentient in any sense we consider significant.

Baby cows can be traumatized by separation from their mother and scarred for life. Cows are also mourning the loss of their best friends for a long time. Many other animals that human use for agriculture clearly fit the description of sentient beings that have a "wish" to live.