you could do a post on the destructive environmental effects of monoculture grain farming (including organic monoculture grain farming) and how its causing a "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico and how 60% of America's topsoil has been depleted since 1960 due to the increase in this kind of farming and how there is no such thing as a vegan because plowing kills numerous animals that live in the soil, not to mention the ones that used to live in the dead zone in the gulf. And while I'm not sure quite how many flies a cow's tail swats in 2 seasons and I'm not sure how many animals die in hay production, I'm pretty sure one big animal dying (instead of many tiny ones) feeds many people for a long time and that animals pooping on the land is good for us all.

Though, I suppose that might just make them even more vehement.

edit: of course, the above ONLY applies if you are eating grass fed and grass finished beef!

On my blog (www.urgeschmack.de) I use three methods

1) delete if insulting

2) ignore if insignificant

3) ask about credible sources if they make any claims about health issues.

The trolls never come back.

Those who are seriously interested usually reply and so so far I got along very well with all of them. That might be because they keep their eyes open and immediately see that we're actually on the same side when it comes to health or animal welfar - we're just using different approaches.

I, like you, don't mind what people eat, it's their body, their choice. However if I do happen to have a vegan or vegetarian for that matter try and criticise my animal centric diet for moral reasons I generally roll out the 'Least harm principle'.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/972951/posts

V: "How can you have animals killed for your food. Humans don't need animal in their diet. You're a monster!"

Me: "Well, would you say a field mouse life is worth the same as, say a cows life?"

V: "Yes, of course"

Me: "Well how about a bug, say a cricket or grasshopper, are they worth the same as a field mouse?"

V: "Ahhh...... well, yes."

Me: "So then you'd agree that the bugs life is worth the same as the cows life?"

V: "......... yes."

Me: "Well then I'd suggest you stop eating cereal grains and take up pastured ruminants. Compare all the bugs, mice, birds and other critters which are inadvertently killed for your grain production to the relative few ruminants that I consume, and you my friend, are a monster".

V:.......................................... :0

Or something along those lines...
(Of course this wouldn't work with a raw vegan who doesn't consume grains, but I'm yet to come across one of those who wants to tell me how to eat).

Ah, C'mon.. Throw em' a bone

I have one regular reader who is a vegetarian, but she's very respectful of me and my diet, as I am of hers. Other than that, none of the veg*an nutjobs have found me yet and if (more likely when) they do, I'll simply moderate my comments. It's my blog, after all! Yes, it would be a huge pain in the tookus, but it will allow me to allow only comments that actually contribute to the conversation - which by no means requires that you agree with me.

Why can't we just declare war on vegans and kick their scrawny butts once and for all?!

But seriously, it's the Internet, purportedly the most democratic medium in history, so we have to put up with people we disagree with. However, if they become so nasty that dialog becomes impossible, first ignore them then block them.

Make them back up everything they say. Do it in a nice manner, almost overly nice, kill em with kindness. Say something along the lines of "I would like this to be a place of open discussion and learning for all, and while I respect your opinion, I would love to see some science that backs it up." Give em homework and I doubt you will see most of them return.

Inform them that computers are not vegan. From vegsource.com: "In today's society it is impossible to be totally "free" from animal products. Steel, vinyl, plastics, and rubber all contain animal derivatives. Film, videotapes, musical instruments, and computers all contain some sort of animal product also."

“A fool finds no pleasure in understanding but delights in airing their own opinions.” Proverbs 18:2

If they're 'nasty' and not open do discussion but would rather bite my head off, I'd rather not 'deal with them'. I'll be respectful and go on my merry way. I don't find the need to argue with close-minded people. No one gets anywhere. I'll save my paleo rational for people that aren't so surly (which I think is what the OP is alluding to when she says 'nasty', 'vegan flamers', etc).

I think it's kind of funny, the whole vegan thing. As my handle suggests I was once a vegan, but at the time I knew F*ck All about nutrition, and most vegans are definetly ignorant in their knowledge of nutrition. It's a ethical decision not a nutrotional one. Alot of people are baffled by my change from vegan to paleo, I just explain that once I began looking into the nutrition I relaized how much the vegan/vegetarian thing was bass ackwards. I still think that if you are concerned with ethics vegan is the best thing in the world, I just decided I would rather eat animals than slowly kill myself. Low fat + high carb = HELL.

Anyone with a rudimentary understanding of nutrition can slam any PETA humping vegan.

Oh man, I had the honor of getting my first Twitter troll a couple weeks ago! She was pretty easy to deal with- all the links she sent me were to vegan websites, not very impressive... I did send the girl one post from Mark's Daily Apple, but I'd try to stick with peer-reviewed journal articles. If they're just there for the flaming, maybe just ignore the trolls and they'll get bored and go away.

Anyhoo, here's a good one about heart disease and saturated fat- http://www.ajcn.org/content/91/3/535.abstract

A couple of political blogs I read have a good solution to the problem of know-it-all jerks, in the case of these blogs, liberals: save the best/funniest posts and put them on your blog for all to see just what pinheads they are. Don't comment on them yourself, just post them. Your readers will probably get a kick out of the more dimwitted ones.

Don't feel compelled to respond to every comment. If you want to moderate out ad hominem attacks, do so, but you can significantly reduce your effort by simply ignoring many responses that aren't worth your time.

One of the blogs I read--not nutrition but more along the lines of peak oil and "the long emergency"--gets a fair share of hate mail. He simply keeps a link to "_'s Hate Mail" where he posts it without comment. I don't know if he has received less hate mail since keeping that archive, but it seems like it might be worth a try.

If it's opinion or random ad hominem hooey, ignore it, no response. If responding can become "a teaching moment" for all of your readers, respond with the facts, just the facts. And don't lose sight of the fact that you have the gratitude of many readers who do not write.

Look I'm all about civil discourse. Really, I am. It is always first choice. But I will NOT back down to anyone trying to push a vegan agenda in the name of their own personal beliefs about what I should and shouldn't eat and why. I will not eat a human person, somebody else's pet (probably wouldn't eat my own pet either), or an endangered species that is illegal to kill (unless of course it means my survival. at that point, it's survival of the fittest baby!). Those are pretty much the only "don't eat" rules I will accept.

But I will always give everyone the benefit of the doubt until they give me a pointed reason not to, even someone who's opinion fiercely opposes mine. Many vegans/vegetarians are nice people that are just misinformed, seriously. There is no reason to 'hate on' vegans any more than there is reason for them to hate on us. If someone wants to say something in disagreement with eating animals and animal derivatives, I am fine with that, so long as their comments are made with good rationale. But the surest way to let anyone control you is to allow their willingness to be unrational and shameless to defeat your desire to remain in balance with the same. Simply put, sometimes you gotta get a lil' indignant to stand up to opposition... the ol "Nice guys finish last" dealio. I am not a mean person, but I am a fighter. Whimps get annihilated.

Just turn off comments and let them stew in their own stick figures if they get too obnoxious.

I like bringing up Omega 3 and omega 6 ratios... I'm also a big fan of avoiding food that has the potential to be dangerous ala gluten.

Throw them in the fire! More meat for the other meat eaters!

Wrestle them. And I always win even though I only weigh 108 lbs!

Seriously though, ignore, ignore, ignore. Unless you can manage a public witty put-down, I always enjoy those.