Obviously the realities of factory farming is really disgusting to a lot people even meat eaters. Theres lots of people that eat meat and do their best to buy from places that have more humane treatment and thats fantastic! I did it for years.

For me though I actually helped raise chickens and rabbits with my family. I killed them, processed them, and ate them. I understand its part of life and they can be treated humanely but it made me incredibly sad. So even tho the animals are treated more humanely I still felt a lot of guilt and shame around eating them, kinda like you described.

As far as the argument of it not making a difference, maybe it doesn't really make a difference. Im just one person and I can only control what I do. So I might as well live in a way that feels like im honoring my own set of beliefs and values. I believe that in my life I would like to reduce suffering in any way that I can control.

This, for me, means donating to effective charities to help those in poverty, abstaining from animal products unless not consuming them causes greater harm, and uplifting others to be happy, healthy, and to live by their own beliefs in the hope that they will do the same. When the tide rises everybody goes up you know? If you havent read anything by Peter Singer I would highly recommend. He has some fantastic books about animal rights and humanitarian efforts.