You know, Cecil, you've really touched on the essence of this
discussion. Many times I have contemplated the killing of plants
for my general sustinance and have wrangled with the cosmic
implications of eating other living organisms as a way of
maintaining my life force. However you may construe it, plants
give up their existance, their `life' to my whims. 

What all of this really implies is that to impose  morality for
the eating of one substance over another is hipocritical to your
cause. 

What we're relly talking about is the transferance of energy to
maintain our organism's comfort zone. Ultimately, life forms on
this plane of existance rely primarily on changing solar
radiation into some form of energy to sustain its life cycle. 

And that's why I like to chew on plants, 'cause they're closer to
the source. It's like a more direct fix from the sun. I don't
want any other organism to pass solar energy through its
digestive system, transfer it into its own unique animal-based
energy form, and then give its life form up for me to re-convert
the sun back into my energy shell. 

Man, if I could be like some of those yoga-gurus who can
maintain stasis with just air and water, then by golly I would
have so much more time and energy that I wouldn't need to waste
on harvesting, preparing and eating!!!

.