People are kidding themselves if they think there is an ethical argument for meat consumption. Several posters have brought up food miles as a justification for claiming that no one diet is more ethical than another. It’s a comforting lie people tell themselves - that because of food miles, a vegan diet is worse for the environment than an omnivorous one, and so their choice to eat meat and animal products (so long as locally sourced) is an ethical one.
The truth is that a vegan diet is infinitely better for the planet, even if you were to exclusively eat produce from your own farm. You can read about it here if you’re interested: https://ourworldindata.org/food-choice-vs-eating-local
Food miles are only a very small part of the environmental cost of the food we eat, and the environmental cost of locally produced meat products vastly outweighs the environmental cost of things like avocados and bananas (which tend to be among the most environmentally damaging vegan foods).
Even vegan foods which do have a tangible negative impact on the environment, like almond milk, are significantly less environmentally harmful than cow’s milk.
That’s not to say eating local isn’t a good idea. I’m suspicious of just how local most people’s produce actually is - I doubt whether the majority of posters claiming to only eat local produce are actually consistently doing so - but it is better to eat locally than not. But even eating local produce doesn’t come close to equalising the environmental impact of animal products compared to vegan products.
And I’m not even vegan! I eat some dairy, and I keep my own chickens whose eggs I eat. So I’m fully aware that many people, myself included, follow diets that aren’t based on an ethical justification. But there is so much misinformation perpetrated by people who want to eat the diet they like and simultaneously feel morally superior to those who chose to follow a different diet for ethical reasons. If you want to eat meat, do it. Literally nobody is stopping you. But if you want to eat meat and simultaneously argue that people choosing to be vegan for ethical reasons are getting it wrong because of something spurious like food miles, you’re just completely misinformed and should be aware of the true position.