The Vegan Society brought this to my attention on facebook. It's disappointing, infuriating but more so because of the comments than the contents of the article. I feel like he is making the same point as Michael Pollan has made in the past and which we've discussed on this forum previously. However, many people have seen it as a green flag to consume meat with a clear conscience - brilliant! 

It echoes the sentiments of some of our friends who refuse to buy organic because it's more expensive and 'doesn't taste any better'! These are intelligent people and how they can be so shortsighted blows my mind.

Anyway, if you do leave a comment make sure to not give them ammunition - any mention of animal rights and you'll simply be dismissed as a vegan quack. Obviously the envirnomental argument has been poo pooed by the journalist in question so it looks like all we have left is health - good thing there's some pretty strong evidence in our favour. 

Why does it always feel like two steps forward, three steps back?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/sep/06/meat-production-veganism-deforestation

um, not sure why it isn't visible.

here it is again:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/sep/06/meat-production-veganism-deforestation

Aine, I skimmed the article as well as some of the comments below.  This is quite normal for any article that speaks of vegetarianism or veganism.  It is infuriating and shows how ignorant most people are about the food they eat and the intelligence of animals.  The one man says that the animals that we eat are about as dumb as stones or something to that effect.  We all know this is untrue, but thinking this makes them feel justified in what they are doing for some reason.  I think many people post these comments just to get under vegan's skin because they know that we will be reading the article.  They infuriate me, so I have to look away . . .

I should've given a bit of background about the author - he used to be an advocate of veganism:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2002/dec/24/christmas.famine

Also, his sister was a vegan who happened to be a champion arm wrestler (curious) who tragically died in an accident.

He's also very interested in environmental issues, which is why the article is such a surprise. 

I absolutely agree that the comments are typical of both meat eaters and vegans (some of the comments hinder the cause rather than help) but I think it's vital we find a way of communicating why a plant based diet is better. 

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I agree, we need to get the message across.  The people who comment on these articles though are so outrageously against veganism most of the time.  I see great posts from vegans and vegetarians some times and they just get made fun of . . .there is always the "People Eating Tasty Animals" comment and whatnot.  There was just an article on CNN.com about a huge study by NIH showing meat-eaters die sooner from numerous diseases.  There was the whole battery of ridiculous comments below all about how soy is so bad and how it was probably funded by the soy industry.  Apparently people ignored that it was at funded by the NIH.  One of the most irritating things was that they all assumed that to be vegan or vegetarian you must rely mostly on soy.  That perception is false as well and scares a lot of people I think who are wary of faux meats.  I rarely eat that stuff myself, just like many people on this website.  I can't tell you how many posts talked about soy. 

It makes me sad that people don't care about their health; that people would rather poison their bodies and live on 20 pills just so that they can keep their "normal" life.  It is amazing how the body can heal itself when given the chance, but so many people just want convenience.  Also, so many people think that because they don't see an effect yet, that they are fine.  It's just so frustrating sometimes.  I wish I had the answer as to how to get our point across, but sometimes I just can't stand to read their backlash at the truth.