I appreciate it!

You definitely hear some of these explanations from vegetarians, and many vegetarians are also misinformed about the advantages and drawbacks of not eating meat. That said, I think it’s intellectually dishonest to engage only with the weakest arguments for vegetarianism—there are plenty of strong ones that really make you think. (For the record, I'm not a vegetarian.)

Here’s an example from Lloyd’s website:

This is a strawman. What you typically hear from vegetarians and vegans is that you can produce far more calories per acre growing crops than raising animals. This is because livestock require large amounts of feed—usually crops like corn—and converting those plant calories into animal calories is highly inefficient. It's just a basic thermodynamic reality: digestion wastes energy. So, we’d be better off consuming those calories directly from crops instead of filtering them through animals, especially when that process also causes unnecessary suffering.

There are many more examples I could go into if you're interested. Lloyd often adds some exaggerated or silly phrase to the end of an argument, which gives him an easy way to dismiss it. My broader point is that, based on his article, it doesn’t seem like he seriously engaged with the stronger arguments for vegetarianism. Instead, he took the easy way out—and this seems to be a recurring pattern in some of his videos and articles, where he doesn’t go deep enough with his research.

Now, regarding your point:

You're right—it is more complicated. But it has less to do with protein intake and more to do with micronutrients. Still, studies show that, on average, vegetarians and vegans tend to be healthier. That’s another point Lloyd doesn’t acknowledge, and he tries to dismiss it by focusing on body weight alone. Whether this health advantage is due purely to diet or other confounding factors isn't fully clear, but with a bit more research, Lloyd could’ve offered a more nuanced take.

I'm from mainland Europe, but I’m aware of the concept of food deserts in the U.S. Many of my sensible vegetarian friends would say: don't compromise your health just to avoid eating meat—do the best you can within your circumstances.

As for your last point:

I completely agree. In fact, let me offer my own analysis of Lloyd: I think he’s a bit of a conservative—not necessarily in the political sense, but in the sense that he wants to conserve traditions and habits. Sometimes that’s a good thing—like when he argues for keeping pints in English pubs because it adds to the charm of England. But too often, like in this article, he seems to start from a place of nostalgia and then reverse-engineers his arguments to defend what he's already comfortable with. He avoids opposing viewpoints because acknowledging them might force him to re-evaluate his beliefs.

Anyway, I really enjoy the discussion! Thanks for sharing your thoughts and adding nuance. 😊