YoHoHoandaCupofTea

Granted to all of the above. But there's still a big difference between a deer shot dead without warning, and a factory-farmed piglet.

I had to explain to him that all companies treated the animals the same.

This is not true. Free-range, grass-fed, hunted, and roadkilled animals are available; they're just more difficult and often expensive to acquire. Not everyone is willing to go vegan: the flesh-eater is weak and all that.

Do you own any carnivorous pets? If so, how do you reconcile continuing to fund slaughterhouses (and/or unsustainable fishing) by buying pet food? If responsible meat is okay for pets, why not for people?

Not OP, but the way nonfarmers react to seeing animals slaughtered (even humanely raised barnyard chickens) suggests the answer is no. People draw a hard and fast line between "pig" and "pork" that isn't there for plant products.

This is probably dumb, but how does one tell if a conference is prestigious? Is there an impact-factor equivalent?