Vegans and Buddhists- my two homes

I am subscribed to a listserve for vegans in the Bay Area. Yesterday I sent the list a link to a new blog I started: vegansangha.wordpress.com. This is one reply that I received:

Hi Jerlina,

In my experience, Buddhists don't seem open to veganism. Do you have any idea why not, since they are always talking about 'doing no harm' and not stepping on bugs, etc...? I've been interested in Buddhism but this issue keeps me from getting more deeply involved. They just don't seem to get it.

Esta

Reading this made me sad and confused. Why do these two "identities" appear to be mutually exclusive? Well, they aren't always, just usually. =(