Good morning all of you beautiful humans!

I'm coming at you today from a magical little piece of forest near the Oregon coast, and I don't plan on spending nearly as much time online today as I often do, so I thought I'd finally fire off this little contest I've been sitting on.

One of my favorite things about Steemit since first coming here has been how open, honest, and constructive the conversations can be (at least what I've observed for the most part [and as long as you're staying away from topics where folks have money involved]).

I decided it would be fun to open up a little contest, help create exposure for some folks, distribute some rewards, and push, test, and question my own thoughts & understandings. No better way to find increased clarity around something than to get a bunch of intelligent, thoughtful humans to discuss it.

Your Challenge

The idea here is simple, though you can certainly expand out if you would like.

I am asking you to defend/explain why you do or do not participate & believe in the ownership, subjugation, and murder of animals for the feeding of humans. As far as I see things, there are 4 main facets of this argument, so please address at least one of them specifically, if not all four:

Morality (Is it moral to kill when it's not necessary to survive/thrive?)
Health (Which diet is better for the human body?)
Environment (Which diet has a lower negative impact on biodiversity, water quality, and air pollution?)
Economic (Where is our money going, who are we supporting?)

It doesn't matter which side of the argument you are on, the goal is to see the best logical & moral points from both sides, so that all of us can be making a more informed, conscious decision. To help demonstrate this, I'm splitting the prizes between both sides.

How To Enter

Up-vote & Re-Steem this post
Write a 250+ word comment below explaining your stance. (The cut-off will be the payout time of this post)
If you would also like to go in-depth & create your own full post on the top, you are welcomed & encouraged to do so. If you do so, please tag it #toveganornot, and remember that your post should be in addition to the comment on this post.
Enjoy the conversation, and up-vote the comments you find the most value in.

Who Wins

I will be selecting the winners myself, and I will be looking at the number of votes each comment has received and taking that into account in my selection process as well.

The judging will not be highly focused on grammar/spelling/etc, but it will be a factor. If I can't read what you said or understand what you meant, it's not going to win.

The judging will be most focused on logical consistency, fact-based arguments, and explaining things calmly. Clear, open communication is the key here folks!

Prize Structure

I'm starting the prize pool with 20 STEEM, do be distributed like so:
- 5 STEEM to the #1 best response
- 2.5 STEEM each to the next 3 best pro-vegan arguments and the next 3 best anti-vegan arguments
After the contest ends (when this post pays out), I will make a follow up post, featuring the best responses here (as many as there are), and split the liquid payout of that post evenly among all of those who were chosen.
All responses that are clear, thought-out, and on topic will receive a 1% upvote from @TribeSteemUp (worth ~$.50)

Conclusion

Remember folks, this is meant to be a peaceful, logical, friendly conversation. If I see you jumping in yelling at someone, using ad hominems, or otherwise trying to stir up trouble or being disrespectful, I will not hesitate to flag your comment(s).

Thanks for reading everyone; I hope to read your thoughts below!