I currently eat meat and enjoy it, love a BBQ, eat beef, chicken etc. but I would probably get used to it if a government came in that banned the meat industry.
Livestock, especially cows, take up so much of the worlds farmland that could be better utilized growing crops and also places like the Amazon are shrinking due to grazing.
Animal suffering is another thing, most animals which are used as livestock can feel pain and suffer in that job role. There may be a large initial cull but the benefit over time will reduce suffering in the long run. We can survive by eating non-meat foods, not necessarily vegan but not meat, there are lots of other protein sources and many people around the world are vegetarian and are not malnourished. One example which could be a counter-argument is that 30-40% of Indians are vegetarian and there are high levels of malnutrition in the country, but this is more a socioeconomic thing i.e. general food intake due to being poor, as well as the types of foods people eat such as cereals over things with more protein like eggs, as richer vegetarians in India are not generally malnourished.
Also red meat specifically has been linked to increased risk of some cancers, although of course the counter could be "what doesn't cause cancer these days amirite!?"
So it would probably be better for the environment, suffering of the animals and our general health
I can't dispute your argument. Even Albert Einstein agreed with it.
But why wait for the long term? Why wait for the government to tell you what you can and can't eat? Why not reduce your meat consumption today? If everyone in America had three meatless days a month, it would be as if 10% of the population became vegetarian.
Edit: I just thought of one. People could eat bugs, which are healthy and less damaging to the environment. They are technically meat. Also, I'm not sure where you stand on lab grown meat, but that's also an option. (Personally, I would consider them to be vegan because you wouldn't hurt any animals to make it. As such I don't think it would count.)