Extreme Vegetarianism and the Buddhist views of the Middle Way

The usual question I am asked is whether veganism follows the principles of the middle way. Often people see veganism as an extreme form of vegetarianism, and therefore in conflict with general principles of the middle way. We are told that the Buddha Sakyamuni spent time amongst the forest ascetics practicing extreme austerities and later rejected such practices for the Eightfold path of:-

Right View
Right Thoughts
Right Speech
Right Action
Right Livelihood
Right Effort
Right Concentration
Right Mindfulness

It is possible that veganism is rejected as an austere practice in the same way as the Buddha rejected the forest ascetics path. But veganism encompasses much of the eightfold path and is only refuted if you hold the incorrect view of it as denying yourself of animal based food. Seen as embracing ahimsa (non-violence) and incorporating conscious awareness of the karma associated with the suffering of other sentient beings, veganism supports the path of right views, right action and mindfullness.
Bodhidharma spent 9 years in a cave in meditation, for many of us spending 2 hours in zazen seems extreme but we still may hold Bodhidharma's practice in high esteem. So why would we label veganism as too extreme a practice of ahimsa?
I think culture has a lot to do with it. In Japan and in Tibet many buddhist rejections of vegetarianism is implicitly linked to cultural schemas and patterns of lifestyle. In Tibet, admittedly sources for a vegetable diet can be scarce and pose difficulties for practitioners. Yet the venerable Patrul Rinpoche is always acknowledged in stating that we should always choose the difficult path, whilst Milarepa was well known to live on eating nettles alone. It is documented that in Japan, the relaxing of monastic dietary rules allowed for greater accessibility for monasticism within the culture.
Is it because overtime we've lost the emphasis of specific principles of practice that we fail to acknowledge that veganism upholds the middleway or is it that we are so embedded in cultural norms its easy to dismiss a vegan diet as extreme and conveniently use notions of the middleway to support such a view?

No doubt we all want to be the most spiritual 'bestest' meditator or practitioner and sometimes doctrine and principles are applied incorrectly to help us ignore the flecks in the mirror that would otherwise dissolve such a view of ourselves. But whatever tradition or set of beliefs you may hold, practice or adhere to you must not forget they are culturally informed and every once in awhile it is good to question or audit them. In this we give ourselves opportunity to experience new things and shed negative or unhelpful schemas or beliefs we cling onto.

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