Sam,
A person can be healthy on a diet that contains some meat, and on a diet that contains none of it. No arguments there. All people need grains, vegetables, legumes and fruit. A healthy non-vegetarian diet will probably be closer to a vegetarian diet than an unhealthy non-vegetarian diet.

But a vegetarian diet isn’t as hard as you may think. Yes, vegans do need to come up with an alternate source of Vitamin B-12, but that’s the only thing a 100% vegan diet can’t provide. Many vegans take a synthetic B-12 supplement. Vitamins and amino acids are on the minds of ALL healthy people, and it’s not any more difficult to get a healthy variety as a vegan than as a non-vegetarian. For example, beans and rice, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches can all be prepared vegan. Some vegans have discovered they pushed themselves into that healthy variety without consciously intending to when they cut out animal products.

Since the health aspects of veganism don’t require more work than a healthy non-vegetarian diet, the real work is in the social settings. It can be difficult for a vegan to find appropriate food at restaurants designed for non-vegetarians. It’s usually easier to be vegan when the person does all or almost all their own cooking and grocery shopping. But really… who goes to a restaurant when they want optimal healthy food, anyway?

With regard to the animal cruelty aspects, like you noted, that’ll depend on Allyson’s reasoning. If she wants to steer clear of humans using animals, period, then veganism is the best way to accomplish that. If she just wants to cut down on the most aggregious abuses, then buying from a local farmer is a good route to go. Still, that’ll work best if she does all her own cooking and grocery shopping.

Given your motivations, I’m not certain that being vegan (or even vegetarian) is the best way to achieve them. (Of course, I’m not vegetarian–so I would think that.)

It’s generally (so far as I know) easier to eat a healthful diet if your diet includes SOME animal products. Note the some; most of us eat far more animal products than needed to achieve that goal. But with NO animal products, you have to start thinking about vitamin supply, amino-acid balance, and so on; it’s very possible, but requires a good deal more work.

And if preventing animal cruelty is your objective (and you don’t think confining animals, or killing them, is necessarily cruel), get your animal products from a farmer who you know treats his animals well. (It will cost more, and you’ll probably end up eating less animal products; that trades off easily with the health goals.)

I’m currently lacto-ovo vegetarian. Someday I’ll be vegan. I’ve been a vegetarian for seven years, no thanks to the almost complete lack of other vegetarians in my area. (I live in a small city in northern Ohio.) LA probably has a lot more vegetarians than here. If you need some online support, you’re always welcome on http://www.veggieboards.com. I’m a moderator there, but don’t let that put you off. ;-) We have a variety of types of vegetarians, from newbies to life-long vegans. A significant portion of them are so because of the animal ethics. Naturally, in-person support is much better than the online kind. Even if you don’t become a member, you can check out the recipe section on VB and also over at http://www.vegweb.com. VW has tons of recipes. I’ve used it many a time.

also, why did you decide to become a vegan? i’ll bet it wasnt easy…i’m trying to become one and it’s been difficult, mostly because there are just too many foods involving meat and dairy that i love too much. my reasons are mainly because i’m very against animal cruelty and i also have read about health benefits resulting from a vegan diet. if you have the time to give me any tips or personal experiences i would love to hear about them. thanks, and i’ll see you in april :)

p.s. i’m actually bummed that you won’t be in class next week :/ you probably aren’t though, haha