Well said. It really is the easiest problem: just eat less meat and dairy. Of course, that's from the perspective of a (relatively) affluent male Westerner, with plenty of food sources and no health problems such as anemia.

I try to think of it as a range of possibilities. Depending on food availability in your area and any dietary restrictions, you can:

-- Eat less meat and dairy. (Maybe you don't need meat three times a day, for starters!)

--Be "flexitarian": eat meat and dairy only occasionally. (Perhaps to avoid an uncomfortable conversation with relatives...)

--Be lacto-ovo vegetarian

--Be vegan

They all help.

It also depends on where the meat is coming from. Don't buy meat and dairy from the supermarket if you can help it. Get it from local farms. I also hunt and eat wild turkey and deer. I have chickens and eat their eggs. But when I cook food from a grocery store, it's 100% vegan. Which is where the real demystification lies: people think veganism is so difficult, but cooking vegan is really just swapping a few flavorful ingredients for butter and cream and making sure to include nutrient dense foods and complete proteins (all nine essential amino acids) such as quinoa. A little cheese here and there helps keep B12 intake strong (but so does eating vegetables from your own garden) and drinking fortified plant milk.

Thanks for the article, keep spreading the word.