Seriously...I think that needs to be made more clear to new vegans...though some of the tofurkey pizzas I've eaten are pretty good.Apart from warn him how disgusting vegan cheese is,
I think for some it is a case of minimising. In my local experience, both animal and vegetable farming do damage, but the cattle industry(locally) does more harm. Also, the prices of meats that were produced ethically are unaffordable for some, though that also goes for soy based products. My husband isn't vegan, but eats very little meat due to this. On the other hand, we can find local vegetables that were grown thoughtfully for a reasonable price(in their correct seasons).[I really am interested in why those who choose to exclude all animal products from their diet get their heads around the concept of monoculture agriculture (soy) or pest control because anyone who has ever grown their own food knows just how difficult it is to keep the slugs,snails, mice, bird and rabbits off their veg. Is it a case of minimising their effect or is it sticking ones head in the sand and believing not eating meat means no harm to animals?
Health can also affect it. As some need to have meat to stay healthy, others don't do well with animal products. I'm still doing dairy on occasion, but dairy tends to make me pretty fat pretty quickly. I'd like to kick it completely, but yeah...that whole vegan cheese thing... My dad(who was very much a meat and potatos guy) has also recently discovered he does better on a mainly vegan diet. Health needs are as individual as we all are, of course!
Agreed.I do believe the west eats far far too much meat and we should be consuming more vegetables and less meat. I also believe that the meat should be of the highest possible quality as well as more wild meat such as rabbit and pigeon.
Thank you, Horizon, for starting the thread 
a very bad tendency for reading exam questions), so I was surprised to see people posting about vegetarian and omnivorous diets addition to their vegan (dietary and otherwise) experiences. That's the nature of forums, though; unless you're a moderator of a thread, people are going to post what they choose to with enthusiasm, freedom, and impunity (as they also can with drinking Guinness! 
sorry, been trying to find a place to use that smilie 
I like them way too much I think) This allows for a wide variety of topics and points of view to be brought to a single discussion and that's a great thing, but the risk of meandering, tangents, and sometimes complete topic derailment is inherently present also.
And it would be open and welcome to reposts/reposting pieces from this or other threads so that people don't need to manually retype things they've already posted.
