As far as being vegetarian goes, Prabhupada told us about a Jain monk who came to meet him in Berkeley, America. When Prabhupada had asked him what the results of his preaching were, the man replied that he had converted one million people to vegetarianism. But Prabhupada didn't give him much credit for that. Although the Jains advocate nonviolence, Prabhupada pointed out that being vegetarian is violence, since one has to kill the vegetables. Nor does being vegetarian or nonviolent mean one is on the spiritual platform. Garuda is the personal carrier of Lord Visnu, yet he eats snakes; and Krsna ordered Arjuna to kill his enemies. He said that the real point is to follow the order of Krsna.

From Hari-sauri Prabhu's Transcendental Diary