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Notes -
Not sure if this is better for SQS but - What is the steelman argument against vegetarianism/veganism? I am especially interested in claims that aren't health-based, as I know quite a few very intelligent and well-sourced vegans who have thoroughly convinced me that most health based claims are false.
I'm not a vegetarian myself but I'm reasonably convinced that I should be one, it's more of a moral failing on my part that I eat meat, not a logical stance.
If you don't mind, I would actually like to speak to the health aspect:
My wife and I tried a vegan diet. We planned to go for a month and see how we felt and possibly keep it up for a while if we experienced the results some people were claiming. In reality we lasted less than 7 days. The issue is not that the claims we heard were lies, they may have been true but we needed to stick with it longer. The issue was not that vegan meals are somehow less healthy or taste bad or anything. The issue was the effort. If you eat a standard diet, even a vegetarian one you will manage to almost accidentally get all the stuff you need to the point that nothing bad is going to happen for years (or maybe never: maybe something not related to your diet gets you instead). With a vegan diet this takes radically more effort and we simply weren't in a position to put in this effort.
For me, I did find the health aspects compelling: I do get all kinds of injuries working out, so if this is some kind of inflammation that happens less (or not at all) on a plant based diet that would be sufficient reason for me to switch. I'm not moved by the arguments about ethics. Animals should be treated better than they are but you can already signal your concern about this by purchasing products that send these signals (even if the product is lying, you're still sending a signal by purchasing it).
Interestingly I did feel more alert, but I guess this was because I can only drink coffee with milk and all the milk replacements tasted so awful in coffee I just gave it up instead. The meals we did eat were fantastic. My wife just didn't have time to break out a spreadsheet and ensure that all the really important stuff (e.g. calcium) was being sufficiently covered (which absolutely can be, just not by accident) and I was scared to continue on a diet where some critical things might be entirely absent. We could probably have gone on for a few more weeks as we were without any permanent damage but even what she was doing was just a lot more effort and clearly not sustainable no matter the health effects.
EDIT: I guess that's not steel man but it's a practical truth for us and probably plenty of others as well.
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