Dan -
This is a great question. I've often thought that eating meat is just eating trauma. Same goes for consuming dairy products! We are consuming the cortisol and adrenaline produced by the animals as they are slaughtered or handled during milking. That Native Americans and other cultures have rituals to thank the animals for their sacrifice makes sense. Many studies show our means of mass-slaughter coupled with our carbon-creating meat-based diet are not sustainable. I'm obviously not an expert on any of this. I am very interested however.
I bet you'll have some good response to this post. Following!