When we eat fruits or nuts, no life is lost. This is nature's way of dispersing seeds for continued survival. Fruit and nut trees continue to grow and thrive even after the edible portions are harvested. When we eat corn, beans, wheat, lettuce and spinach, we consume these grains, legumes and vegetables near the end of their natural life. Lettuce is harvested in the final week of its short life, yet cattle are slaughtered when they have 25 years of their natural life remaining.
Animals are sentient beings.
This means that they have full consciousness. They see, hear, breathe, communicate, and care for their young. And when we kill them, they shed blood. We should always be mindful and aware of all life, including plants. When we live in a way that seeks to incur the smallest level of karmic debt by eating those things with the least developed sensory systems, we live a life of compassion, and least disrupt the harmony of the world.