As a vegetarian for decades, it's also cheaper, often healthier, and isn't difficult at all once you find some new recipes you like. You also don't need to switch all at once. Ease into it by cooking one vegetarian meal a week and then increase it as you find ones you like.
We need to greatly reduce meat consumption in order to make our planet sustainable for human life. You can start at your own pace, but it's easier than ever with all of the meat alternatives these days.
I love eating beef and whatnot, but my body seems to respond better to eating less of that in a given sitting. As someone growing up in the 80s, it seemed like that diet should be a 50/50 mix of beef and spinach...
I think they are going to have a hard time convincing people to feel crummier... it's much healthier and cheaper to stick to that old "pack of playing card portion"
Unfortunately, I don't think that's true. Here's some US data I found with one quick search.
To add to that, as underdeveloped areas become more modern and income levels increase, it tends to follow that meat consumption increases along with it.
I imagine costs would be the main thing driving down consumption if anything. Until we subsidize alternatives like we do meat, and the prices of meat alternatives are cheaper, people will have incentives to eat real meat.
It would cost us less to subsidize them long term, and it would lower costs of meat... And help the environment. Wins all around, yet people will vote blindly against it.
It also explains why Big Dairy was trying to make almond milk be labeled "nut juice" and protect the term "milk".
I really do think the SAD will be one of the last things to fall in our path toward progression - and that's assuming we steadily progress. Seeing donnie and his supporters doesn't exactly lead me to believe that about ~30% of this country wants any progress. The reactionaries have been doing nearly all they can to deride, mock and hold back any and all forms of reduction of our ridiculous levels of consumption of dairy and dead flesh for years and years. I even still run into some of them that think being a (male) vegetarian will turn you into a woman or something, because "protein", LOL.
There is a lot of propaganda to overcome on the path to getting Americans to eat a properly healthy diet AND to curb the massive global warming from their current diet already - and dumb fad diets like eating all-steak like Peterson or the "paleo" diet are not helping at all.
When it comes to progress, the SAD will be one of the last things to fall, IMHO.
Even swapping out the same thing by creating clean meat has the anti-woke warriors all aflame and clutching their pearls about how they'll all turn into "soy boys" if they aren't killing something in order to "get their protein"...imagine going full plant-based, my word.