You're making the mistake all non-vegans make. Whenever I go to a party, the meat-eaters either apologize for the meat on the table, or they wave their meat in front of my face, thinking it will upset me. They seem to think that a vegan cannot stand the sight or smell of meat. It's very interesting, because they're really saying something about themselves: that they like the taste of animal flesh so much that they're afraid they could never give it up, that if they ever tried avoiding meat, just seeing or smelling it would cause them to have a melt-down.
What's disturbing is not the sight or smell of meat or fish. It is the sight of the desperation in the eyes of a cow peering through a tiny circular air hole in the giant truck shipping her to slaughter. It is the sight of cows grazing in a field. I am disturbed because I can't save the poor animals, because I can't stop the horror that awaits them. I am disturbed that so many people mindlessly contribute to this senseless violence.
Most vegans grew up eating animals. Most vegans decided to stop eating animals in order to stop contributing to animal cruelty. Before going vegan, I liked meat. I liked fish. I liked cheese. I liked milk. I liked eggs. I didn't stop eating them because I didn't like the taste. I stopped eating them because I don't want to support the factory-farm industry with my dollars. I don't want to have anything to do with the torture that is inflicted daily on chickens, pigs, and cows. I don't want to contribute to the destruction of the oceans by eating seafood. Eating vegan versions of these foods harms no one. Am I supposed to avoid them just so that meat-eaters can continue to tell themselves that liking the taste of meat is a good reason to contribute to torture and suffering?
What is objectionable about meat is not the way it looks and tastes. It's the violence and suffering that produced it. (It's also what it does to your body, but that's another topic.)
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