My reasons for not eating meat (excluding fish and free range meat, the later of which I can never find, so I actually haven't had any):

1) Factory farming practices are deplorable. Disgusting. Cruel. Awful. Anyone who knows how most of our meat is produced and thinks that's fine... Wow. That's pretty telling. This is my main reason for avoiding meat.

2) The amount of meat humans are currently eating is hurting our bodies. Humans are supposed to be eating 2 - 3 servings of meat (or nuts) a day. A serving is about the size of a deck of cards: two to three ounces. We're eating eight to sixteen ounce steaks for dinner, plus a bologna sandwich, sausage for breakfast... Heck, even just the giant steak is too much. Meat is only good for us in small amounts because it's difficult to digest, and actually stagnates and rots in our systems before we excrete it. And even in small amounts how good it is for you is arguable. The only thing you can't really get without meat is certain amino acids, which can be found elsewhere.

3) The amount of meat humans are currently eating is hurting other's bodies. If Americans reduced our meat consumption by 10% (still above the daily recommended amount) we would free up enough farm land to feed sixty million hungry people.

4) The amount of meat humans are currently eating is hurting our environment. Animal poop is fertilizer, right? Well very little of it is actually used for that. Most of it just stays where the cows are at, getting packed down, and in a number of places it's contaminating fresh water. Also, the amount of water consumed by the farm animals is drying up natural aquifers (underground water sources) inland. Once those are dry, they don't refill, and often cave in. Not only are these natural resources gone then, but they sometimes cause a house to fall into a hole or some such thing.

Uh... That's the basics anyway. I don't think it's cruel to eat animals, just cruel to be uncaring gluttons. Sadness.