being a "vegetarian" is sort of naive i think, unless you're doing it for purely health-based reasons. because, as with most things, it is not black and white and not as simple as not eating meat. if your reason for not eating meat is that it causes undue suffering to animals, then wouldn't it be better to eat a free-range hamburger made from the meat of a cow killed as humanely as possible, then say eating a non-free range egg from a chicken that spends years of its in a small cage surrounded by its own feces?
yes, you could be a vegan, that would eliminate a lot of the ambiguity, but not completey. say for instance someone spent years of their life, since that is what it would take, designing a single experiment that would require the lives of 20 animals, but could potentially save the lives of even 100 people. is it worth it? then, being a vegan does not answer the question, because being vegan does not mean, i don't think, that you should suffer more than animals.
there is of course the less important factor that you if you are a vegan in this society you will undoubtely suffer more than if you are not a vegan.
if nothing else, the whole notion of specieism is an amazing thought experiment that can consume hours of your time that you would have otherwise spent watching tv and commercials abour flame-broiled whoppers. mmm whoppers.