A man can live and be healthy without killing animals for food; therefore, if he eats meat, he participates in taking animal life merely for the sake of his appetite. And to act so is immoral.
It's not immoral for a novelist to tell lies. In fact, the bigger the lies, the better lies, and the more the common folks and critics will praise you.
If it were absolutely necessary to choose, I would rather be guilty of an immoral act than of a cruel one.