People MUST construct heirarchies of value in order to do anything, be it live in a culture, behave what they consider to be "rightly," or even sustain their existence. Every time you eat a vegetable you actively assert, "It's either the vegetable or me that's going to go and I choose the vegetable." The same goes for meat-eaters when they eat animal parts, the added tragedy here is that the animal is sentient and is probably capable of thinking similar things about you.
It's nice to say that life shouldn't be valued heirarchally but nearly impossible, if one desires to live, to practice what one preaches.
I do have profound respect for those who say that "Life in all forms is precious," because it really is. It is best when people recognize that eating is a necessary evil and are thankful for the sacrifices other living things must make to sustain them.
Whether the necessity of heirarchies is distasteful is another matter...
None.
