I'm a meat eater, but I do care about how the animals feel. I'm trying to be better. Really.
For example, take one of the most common foods these days - chicken. The conditions they're brought up in at places like Perdue and Tyson are pretty fuckin' bad. So then I read about this place called Bell & Evans, who lets chickens reach their slaughter size naturally, without any hormones or anything. They're kept in roomy and comfy places instead of being packed into one of those football-field sized cages that holds god knows how many. Everything about their chicken raising is humane. Now, the chicken costs more, but it's not prohibitively expensive, and I have a relatively clean conscience when I bite down into a burrito packed with their meat. We <b>are</b> higher on the food chain, and I have no problem with eating animals. But if there's a more humane way to do the whole raise & slaughter thing (and there is), I'm all for it.
More info at
http://www.bellandevans.com