In all honesty, I don't lay the full blame at the feet of many of the individuals who are engaging in the type of thinking you described...
(I don't know how old you are), but I'm 34 and people in the approximate age range of my parents grew up in the generation that was subject to a lot of misinformation about diet, nutrition, and food in general.
From 1920-1960, the beef industry doubled their production numbers (and their marketing campaigns suggesting that their product was a staple of a healthy diet)
From 1935-1965, the same can be said of the dairy industry.
From 1950-1980, it was the pork industry's turn.
Healthy, plentiful, and low-impact (but also low-profit) plant based dietary foods went by the wayside, and people growing up in that time period were taught by educators, "experts", and scientists-for-hire (thanks to under-regulation) that the 3 products listed above were not only good for you, but so essential that you needed them in your diet or you wouldn't be healthy. People, once they get to my parents age, can tend to be set in their ways and have no intention of changing. I remember them passing along that information to me. We weren't allowed to leave the table after each meal until we finished two glasses of milk, and every meal my mom prepared was 75% meat (usually something like meatloaf or pork chops), and a few veggies on the side.
Beef & Dairy are the real culprits in terms of environmental impact...
Thankfully, more and more people are becoming aware of this and beef and dairy consumption is on the decline. Chicken is on the rise, beef, dairy, and pork have been on a steady decline for about 10 years now and that trend is expected to continue. That's a good sign. Both for the environment, and for human health.
The last remaining domino that needs to tumble is to remove the vast lobbying power the beef and dairy industries have. The beef industry has been paying to hold up the release of some very marketable beef alternative products in FDA approval limbo. The big is going to be the Impossible Burger. Right now, it's in limited restaurants around the country, but it hasn't been approved for home consumption. There's a restaurant by me that has them, I can say as a former heavy consumer of red meat, they taste legit and their 100% plant based and have more protein than a beef burger. Products like that could change the industry.
...and the dairy industry is still releasing bogus studies about the mythical negative impacts of soy milk and have started to attack almond milk as well. Thankfully, this generation is gradually starting to see the situation for what it really is, and is making some meaningful dietary changes.
From a personal standpoint, over the last few years
- I've completely eliminated all beef
- Consumed no dairy milk, the only dairy I have is the rare cheese on a pizza for a "cheat meal"
- Reduced pork consumption by about 75%
- Reduced chicken consumption by about 50%
- Replaced that with higher protein plant-based foods
(and I've never been a fish person...could never get passed the fish smell enough to actually enjoy eating it)
I was someone who had success and loved being on the paleo diet when I did it...I absolutely loved eating lots of meat at every meal, so if I can do it, anyone can