The first part of four (with an addendum) articles providing an overview of pre-modern agriculture, how it functioned and the constraints it placed on society.
They're slightly long reads, but I think the author's does a great job of getting across the various ways in which historical material conditions affect pretty much every aspect of life.
I might be missing something, but is it the case that we won't be able to discuss veganism? I'm vegan for ethical reasons so I do get where you're coming from with this, but I think there might be perspectives you're not seeing.
I became vegan something like six years ago and prior to that I was vegetarian for my entire life. I was vegetarian because I had a moral problem with killing things. I became vegan because I eventually ended up actually listening to vegans' arguments for why dairy etc. aren't hugely different morally speaking from meat. If you want to create more vegans - and thereby reduce suffering - vegetarians are probably some of the most receptive people to these points, assuming they don't get alienated.
Assuming I'm not missing something and it is the case that we'd be able to have friendly discussions with people about why we believe veganism is a better moral choice, I don't really see what's so wrong here.