To eat meat or not is a debate environmentalists have been hashing out for decades. Everyone agrees that no meat from a feedlot is good for the environment, but many believe that livestock play a crucial role in creating diverse forms of agriculture that imitate nature. The Huffington Post has a great interview with Nicollette Hahn Niman, a rancher and the author of Righteous Porkchop, on the role meat plays in a sustainable world. 
“All food from animals — meat, dairy, fish, eggs — should be treated as something special. Anyone raising food animals in the traditional healthy way without relying on industrial methods, drugs and chemicals, is someone who will benefit from people embracing this approach.
We think Meatless Monday is part of a shift in attitude about meat. Towards something that is precious, not something consumed without thought, or in enormous quantities.”
“If we really want a sustainable healthful food system, we need to take the dollars we’re putting into agriculture and shift it towards good methods. I support the use of public funds for agriculture – but I don’t understand why we’re not putting it towards a food system that is environmentally benign and producing healthy food.”