Non-Jews have prohibitions against eating kosher or halal foods (thinking that these ultra-pure, and/or rabbi inspected foods are somehow unclean). On the TV show, "King of the Hill," their son Bobby Hill loved to eat Jewish cuisine, but it was concluded that it has germs (that might cause gout), so it was unfit for human consumption. Such propaganda has ostracized Jews for centuries.
Orthodox Jewish dietary laws also include not drinking the milk of the animal that is consumed because that would be too cruel.
Some gripe that Jews have a ceremony of ringing a chicken's neck. They think that is cruel if the chicken is not to be eaten. It is a reminder that chickens can be killed quickly for humane purposes.
Jews are taught to inflict as little pain as possible on animals.
Kosher and halal meats are from animals that are killed quickly (which prevents adrenaline), and are drained of blood. It is the blood that causes meats to taste funny and rot quicker. In the middle east, many techniques (like salting) were used to prevent rotting before the advent of modern refrigeration. Camel caravans transported foods for months across the burning desert sands, and the foods were preserved to prevent rotting. Thus, kefir cheese lasts for months, as opposed to Philadelphia cream cheese (which almost tastes the same) lasts only for a couple of weeks.
In America, cows are butchered at 8 months old because it is too expensive to feed them for another year. Sometimes they are shocked to death with an electrode inserted in their butts. Chickens are often raised in cages too small to stand up in...for their entire lives. This is one way to keep roosters from crowing (they only crow if they can raise their heads). Diseases are rife in crowded conditions. California recently passed laws forcing chicken farmers to let them run free for a few hours per day, and restricting human consumption of horse meat (because a horse was a noble beast of the old west).
Vegetarians must be careful to eat a balanced diet of the proper proteins, vitamins, and minerals. Certainly, they are more humane than any.
