[ChatGTP]

What do you suggest people eat then? Air?

The context was, even killing plants is wrong, so we should cook and enjoy those to the best of our ability.

You can say "plants aren't self-aware" or something, but there's no way out of it. Plants might even be home for insects or other creatures which die when you take the plants. Plants are living organisms and you shorten a beetroots life when you tug it out of the ground.

I think the point still stands. Be grateful for each meal and do your best to enjoy and savor it. It's not about "celebrating killing" you injected that into it. It's about showing respect.

[rafaelero]

Minimizing pain means eating less animals with developed nervous systems and more plants.

[sph]

You can make all the rationalisations you want and operate however you see fit, but Homo Sapiens Sapiens is an omnivorous apex predator of the highest order.

Meat eating and tool use, borne out of the need to maximise the amount of calorie-dense food available are the reason we are here today discussing the finer points of vegetarianism.

Instead of being a blind zealot, I try to understand that life is a series of paradoxes and compromises. Balancing the fact that meat is good for me while minimising suffering for any plant and animal that crosses my path does feel more human than altogether discarding evolution, our DNA and place in the ecosystem for a wishy-washy ideology that only exists for people leading rich and comfortable lives.

Vegetarianism is a fine and commendable personal choice, as long as it doesn't devolve in proselytism.

[rafaelero]

The simplicity of my position hardly invites rationalization or blind belief. Even if you assume plants feel pain, you would still end up agreeing that vegetarianism is the correct choice, since it still minimizes the pain that would be caused by feeding animals with wasted calories from plants. On the contrary, it's you who is attaching yourself to misconceptions about what humans require to lead healthy lifes, even when you know (I mean, you can't be that blind) that plant diets can be as healthy (or arguably even more healthy).