I went meatless for a year and discovered that a lack of animal protein seems to exacerbate my PTSD symptoms. It did make me a lot more creative with veggies, though.
I definitely think there’s something to be said for the average meal contributing to the torture and slaughter of less than one animal per year versus contributing to hundreds.
What a horrible equation to have to consider. We really are, as a species, pretty monstrous. We normalize all the horrible shit people do to other living beings, to the environment, and to one another, but it’s seriously worrying behavior. If you don’t grant us the charity of looking from within a framework of the primacy of human needs, we really kinda make our fantasy monsters seem pretty laid back and non-violent by comparison.