People aren't going to care enough unless its significantly cheaper than meat and equally as much effort for the consumer but a lot of vegan alternatives to meat aren't. It should be cheaper for all of the same reasons that it's more environmentally friendly. Plus why full vegan? It's more likely that people will move in small steps vegetarianism is still an option. We lose so much with the all or nothing approach.
That's kind of the direction I started going in, veganism for environmental reasons, rather than health or moral/ethical reasons. I've gone about it somewhat slowly, picking different food items to restrict from my diet and looking for non-meat/non-dairy equivalents, mostly just trying to remove any beef or dairy milk from my diet. It seems to have gotten easier in the past few years as other options have opened up.
Yeah thats a problem I have. I like some plant based meat/dairy alternatives but can't justify paying so much. Meat and dairy should be quite a bit more expensive compared to plant based.
A vegan (or low-meat diet, for that matter) does not equate to substituting meat to processed meat alternatives. Other recipes that do without any fake meat exist.
Having tried both, I found it better to do without the meat alternatives and see what tasty delights are possible without them. Replacing meat with meat replacements won't quite scratch the itch at first because the palette remembers.
Experimenting with just vegetables and plants will lead to a lot more variety than chips and plant burgers. I think that experimentation makes it much more sustainable because you realise just how many flavour combinations are possible when meat isn't dominating everything.
What's your favourite meat- and meat-replacement free recipe?