Meat is an excellent source of protein, B vitamins, zinc and iron. Unless you are a very adventurous legume and vegetable-eater with a lot of variety in your diet you probably fall short in those categories (and B vitamins are impossible to get through a vegetarian diet).
Meat gets a bad rap because of the saturated fat that people tend to associate it with. Just because you eat meat does not mean that every serving of meat you have is laden with saturated fat (ie: hamburger). In fact, most cuts of meat are lean and i believe that chicken, turkey, lean beef and fish are staples to any healthy diet. Another mistake people make when eating meat is portion sizes (the size of your palm is one portion).
I have nothing against vegetanarianism and vegan diets. If done properly, they can be very effective and healthy diets (but just because you are vegetarian and vegan doesnt mean your diet is low fat and healthy! There are many high fat, high sugar-eating vegatarians out there who dont eat enough protein or get enough nutrients). But please do not equate eating meat with things like cigarette-smoking or eating a high fat diet, because meat eaters may follow diets that rival those of non meat eaters. Keep in mind that someone's choice to eat meat is their own and that meat has a secure and important place in healthy diets everywhere.
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