Yes, the typical industrial-world diet includes *way* too much meat, and is bad not only for the health of the meat-eaters but of the planet as well.

However, I don't think strict veganism/vegeatrianism is the appropriate reponse. Meat is our only source of *complete* protein, and humans are, and have always been, omniverous animals. We just need to eat a lot less meat, using it as a small but essential component of our diet rather than as the main feature.

Look at all great peasant cuisines from around the world. Lots of grains and greens, with a little bit of meat and seafood. The ever-popular Chinese food is a good example, as are Mexican, Cajun, etc., etc.

All these different peoples around the world learned to combine beans with rice, which is the only combination of vegetables yielding the full spectrum of amino acids. They didn't go into a laboratory to determine that this combination made a uniquely nutritious dish, they learned from experience, independently in various places around the globe. I suppose this is what is meant by the "folk process."

And, of course, combined with your beans and rice, you include a modicum of flesh -- "seasoning meat," as we say in Louisiana. The Cajuns, who are only a couple of generations removed from a pre-industrial hunter-gatherer culture, can remember when the available meat or seafood component was determined by the season of the year: shrimp in the spring, fresh pork in the fall, sausage (preserved meat) in the dead of winter, etc. All in moderation, of course; a diverse and healthy diet maintained in balance with nature.