are vegetarians more ethical by not eating meat?

[littleendian]

Do you think that our shift from small farm life and slaughtering our own bacon was the result of growing repulsion to the act of slaughtering animals, or would you say that the growing repulsion to the act of slaughtering animals is an effect, rather than the cause, of our desire for convenience?

This is a chicken-or-egg question, you could also ask: Do you think that our shift from small farm life and slave-ownership was the result of growing repulsion to slave labour, or would you say that the growing repulsion to slave labour is an effect, rather than the cause, of our desire for equality?

No, the slave owners didn't grow tired of sitting in the shade, sipping a margarita while watching the black men and women do the heavy lifting. It were people who were not profiting from the slave labour to the same extent as the Southerners were who finally started raising questions about this.

Same here, it is the vegetarians who don't profit from the exploitation of animals who now raise questions, while it should be those engaging in the practice who have the moral duty to raise and better well answer all the hard questions about the justification of their acts. Yet all you get is, in essence, "meat is tasty" and "I'm the stronger/smarter", quite similar indeed to how the slave holders would've responded: "slave-labor is convenient" or "I'm the stronger/smarter". I guess time will tell...

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What about cannibalism? Is it unethical?

If people engage in the practice when starving then I personally would not attribute this any moral value. Anyone can and may do anything to keep him/herself alive, this is neither ethical nor unethical, its outside the scope of ethics or morality. Ethics start where we have a free choice that doesn't involve our own death or physical integrity.