Okay, on the subject of protein I don't think we disagree all that much. I really was reacting to the OP, and you seemed to be supporting her, but now you seem to agree protein is needed. How much? Well, it seems to me you ask a thousand nutrition experts you get a thousand answers. What works for some people will be wrong for others.
Morality:
You got to stick with your convictions, but it's an interesting stance for sure. I don't see how you could say it's immoral to kill anything that doesn't want to die, yet kill plants to eat. Plants want to live. That may be a little ridiculous, but seriously, you can't get through life without using and benefiting from something that caused the death of animals. Live in a house? Drive a car? Use any medication? Have leather shoes?
You really can't avoid it. However, if you have a moral conviction I believe you should stick to it. It only rankles me when you try to force your morality on me. If you can convince me, okay, but to flat out say I'm wrong for disagreeing is the height of arrogance, especially when we're discussing something that all humans everywhere have always accepted as normal until very recently, and only in societies where people live in conditions that monarchs would have considered opulent.
Environment:
I'm not sure who you are arguing with your opening paragraph, but it isn't me. I said literally none of those things, and don't think any of those things are true.
As for your map, did you miss that the purple includes crops grown for fuel? Don't think that's important?
Anyway, you're buying into fear propaganda. Seriously, where I live they pay farmers not to grow crops on their land. There's no shortage of farmland. Not to mention the fact that as new farming techniques are developed the farmland we are using becomes ever more productive. This is a false worry driven by people who hate people, and want to reduce the world's population. The earth can support us all.
The problem isn't with what is being raised as food, but how. All those grains that are being fed to farm animals are a problem for sure, but like you I don't think those farm animals should be eating grains. Again, it's the corporatization of the industry that drives farmers to feed animals grain, mostly corn around here, to fatten the animals up prior to selling to maximize profit. It's not good for the animals or the people who eat them.
I try to buy grass fed, organic beef when I can. I think it's the responsible, moral, and healthy way to go. However, I flat out can't afford to eat like that all the time. I wish I could, but the facts are what they are. I'm not going to go around telling people they are morally wrong for eating at McDonalds when they pull up in the van with 10 kids in it just because I see problems with the food supply.
You sound like a very careful person. You seem to check what you buy very carefully to ensure it is healthy for you. That's great, but not everyone has the luxury to live like that. Do you really think everyone can afford $4 toothpaste? BTW, do you check all those products for animal testing?
It's cute how you speak for most vegans.
Flexitarians? I guess I need to do a little research on that, but I've never heard of that before. I have run across plenty of vegans, and various forms of vegetarians, but not flecitarians. I'll take you at your word that there's a lot of them...
Again, you should investigate the overpopulation fear porn. It's not true that the planet is heading towards overpopulation. In fact, many parts of the world are having population crisis because of too low birth rates. The planet can sustain a bunch more people, and the growth curve isn't exponentially expanding anymore. I could post some articles, but it's better to find it on your own. Just try to read some stuff that wasn't written and posted by people that have an agenda they are pushing, like all the articles you posted.
The meat only diet isn't something I'm an expert on, and as I understand it most people do it for medical reasons. However, you can absolutely get everything you need from meat. Animals eat plants, and the nutrients from those plants are in the meat. You just have to consume organ meat a lot more. I'm not recommending it, I was merely pointing out the ability of the human body to survive on a diversity of diets. That alone should be enough to show that it is at least a viable dietary choice to eat meat.
Again, though, everyone has to follow their conscience. I disagree that there is no morally acceptable way to slaughter animals for food, and I think I've heard all the arguments. I do however think there are major moral issues with the way most farm animals are raised and killed at the moment. Again, it's pretty difficult to be that picky when buying food unless you are one of the wealthiest people in the world, which if you have a house, computer, car, and can drive to the grocery store to buy organic tofu: you are.