even though this question being posed to a vegan/vegetarian community yields mostly  the same "f no" response, i am thrilled with the attitudes being changed due to docs like "food inc" becoming mainstream.

i've been working on my mom (who cooks the dinner) about giving up meat for YEARS.  eventually i gave up because i was turning into a militant and all my lectures were falling on deaf ears, despite the fact that i was very conscious about trying not to be preachy.

I've backed off a bit, but still recommend books and docs that I find interesting.

GUESS WHO CALLED ME TODAY TO SAY THAT SHE HAS GIVEN UP RED MEAT and has never felt better.  WOOT!  Please bear in mind, they live in the midwest and it's not really considered dinner (or lunch or breakfast) if it doesn't include meat.

She also said she will be buying chicken from local farmers, no longer supporting Tyson and Purdue.

I'm a little hesitant to even post this, because I know there will be some who are going to say "that's not enough".  But I started off vegetarian, eventually sliding into veganism, so my mom (and thus family) may very well follow suit after they adjust to their healthier way of eating and feel the benefits of it.

I don't think an all or nothing approach is going to work, if the goal is to encourage people to eliminate all animal-sources from their lives.

AP: I live in the Midwest, and I think it's kind of hard to do anything different, including semi-vegetarianism. I gave up red meat when I was 11, and I was absolutely slaughtered in elementary school for being different (now I look back and think that wasn't even a baby step in the right direction!). It takes small steps sometimes, especially when you're going against the grain so profoundly. I'm proud of your mom. It makes me laugh, because I can tell my parents all day how bad meat is and it it falls on deaf ears. Then they hear a report on The Today Show or something stupid like that, and all of a sudden they're trying to be healthier and whatnot! It just can't come from us, for some reason!

I've avoided this thread because hypotheticals elevate my blood pressure, but I realized a concrete answer (which you probably discussed on page 2):  I wouldn't eat meat.  I'm much healthier getting protein from non-cholesterol, non-saturated fat sources.  It wouldn't make sense to backpedal my health.  I don't think you can kill humanely, so that part is a definite no, but not even if it was test tube meat.

eta:  This is way before I even get to the ethical considerations, which become irrlevant.

no, I would not.  Killing is killing no matter how painlessly it is done.  Even if an animal feels no pain, I would still be taking away his/her life. 
I hate hearing people justify their meat/cheese/egg/chicken eating by "I buy grass-fed, or organic, free-range when I can." Today on my campus there was some kind of agricultural meeting with all of there animals. There was a calf in a little fenced in cage and all of these people oohing and ahhing at how cute it was.  I never know what and how to say things in these situations without people writing me off as radical or pushy but when the guy next to me was like "thats why I pay extra and only buy grass fed beef" I mentioned, (politely,) that there are not many regulations guarenteeing any kind of humane treatment of the animals.  And that they would all end up in the slaughter house anyways.  I asked if he ever had tried seitan or "fake meats" and even told him to check out vegweb for recipes. 

Nice 'everyday activism'!  ;)b

thanks Aggplanta, that encounter is what inspired me to make that thread.  I hate those situations, I just tend to freeze up and wish I said something differently...I always end up feeling like a wimp or a bitch

It doesn't really bother me when people eat humanely raised animals, or animals they hunted themselves, but I personally wouldn't do it.

No, there is no such thing as "humanely slaughtered". It's as big an oxymoron as you can find. I don't even like to kill any kind of bug that gets into my house.

No, there is no such thing as "humanely slaughtered". It's as big an oxymoron as you can find. I don't even like to kill any kind of bug that gets into my house.

What about killing that's done in the interests of the subject that is being killed? AKA Euthanasia.

I don't consider euthanasia as slaughter. It's a personal choice.

Euthanasia's a sticky one. Sometimes it's done because of money, sometimes because of serious, incurable suffering (or both). Sometimes it's *not* done because the person isn't ready to say goodbye, even though the animal is in serious, incurable suffering. In my opinion, it can be unethical to euthanize and it can be unethical not to euthanize.

Sometimes it's clear. Sometimes a person comes in with an animal they no longer wish to care for, and they want them euthanized, rationalizing that it will happen anyway if the animal goes to the shelter. Sometimes a person comes in with an animal hit by a car, and the wounds are completely survivable, but either does not have the money or does not want to bother.
But other times, it can be an animal who has a chronic, terminal illness, but still has a good quality of life. The person wants to euthanize both for that reason, and because it's getting to be too much money and they don't want to have to deal with the inconveniences, like incontinence or vomiting or just coming to the vet. Is it ethical to euthanize if you know that the animal will ultimately die of this disease, even if there are a few good months to a year left? This type of thing happens pretty often, unless the guardian stays at home a lot and is well off, or willing to go in debt.

Working with animals used for food is generally different, though. These animals are slaughtered because production has waned or because they're ill, and the cost of treatment exceeds the profit that they will yield if they survive. Sure, sometimes there are incurable diseases that these animals are euthanized for, but I'd say the majority it's just about economics. It is for that reason that I also cannot support dairy or eggs in any form, because it just is never worth it treat the animal (like you would any other) in the face of valuing the animal for production, not for life itself. Unless someone has a pet cow or chickens and the sale of the products is just a hobby, taking care of these animals properly will cause a farmer to lose money, and it's a business, so that's not going to happen.