"There is also the argument that plants are living beings and to grow and eat them for food is also causing loss of life and pain, (we don't know if plants feel pain in other ways besides the way we understand pain)."
There are ways to eat the plants offerings and be in a partnership with the plant (positive loosh). There is also the proven way to get nutrition directly from the prime source, the sun. We have been trained into thinking that we need the negative loosh approaches to sustaining our existence.