My problem with it isn't so much their stance or how far they'll go for it, it's that they don't act to achieve their stated goals.

Factory farming is legitimately horrifying, it's so deeply wrong that one day we'll teach children about it in a somber tone. When you start digging into it, it's almost cartoonishly evil... It just keeps getting worse the more you learn about it

It also is extremely carbon intensive to produce so much meat, and not very healthy to eat so much

But if your problem is essentially torturing animals, why is hunting wrong? The animals live free, the ecosystem requires apex predators (which we've mostly wiped out), and if it doesn't instill a respect for the animals you eat, at least it makes you look them in the eye

If your goal is reducing animal suffering, why are you sitting out there shaming people getting lunch? The problem is production, go after Purdue who forces these conditions as the supplier

If your goal is to reduce consumption, why do you draw a hard line? People in general won't accept cutting out meat, but I think most could be convinced to cut their consumption in half.

You don't have to have meat in every meal, or every day. You can even be mostly vegan, but have a steak occasionally.

But too many people demanding everyone meet you where you are or labeling them murderers has led to a taint on the terms. People can eat a meal with no meat and never really think about it, but then feel attacked if you mention it's actually vegan.

The problem is vegan and vegetarian culture doesn't seem to be about harm reduction or even cultural change - it seems to come from a place of moral superiority. The loudest voices screeching at random individuals is what most people hear. The message is "look at this horrible fact about factory farming, this is why you're a terrible person so stop eating meat right now"

They make the whole movement hardliner and therefore easily defeatable. I genuinely think it might be astroturfing by the meat lobby