Buddhism adamently supports vegetarianism.
Christianity on the other does not (Judaism has the sacrifice of animals used as a symbol of the redemtive work of Christ.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism#Principles_of_Buddhism
"The ultimate goal of all Buddhists is to attain nirvana, the extinction of all desire, passions and individual identity."
Contrary to Christianity, God gave us "desire" and yearnings for specific things, why should our individual identity be extinct, we were made in the image of God.
I don't have time to go into all the details but here is a good website that will explain Buddhism.
http://www.christiananswers.net/evangelism/beliefs/buddhism.html
Not very familiar with Eastern Christianity are you?
Orthodox Christians (and the member of the lesser Eastern Churches, as the Copts, Armenians, Chaldeans. . .) abstain from all products from vertebrates (meat, fish, dairy, eggs) on most Wednesdays and Fridays and during long fasting periods (all told just under half the year), in imitation of the diet permitted in Paradise. (I think the exception which allows eating invertebrates is due to John the Baptist, who at locusts and wild honey.)
Are you sure God gave us desires? Or are they a result of the Fall?
(The true answer is both, but it requires a bit of explanation.)