I have actually talked to a friend of mine who is a Vegan as I was transitioning to vegetarian.... we do get plenty of protein... nuts and greens... especially spinach has loads of it. Or black beans... nom. We have plenty of places to get protein. Remember the food industry regulates a LOT of what information is out there.... they regulate the FDA too... with enough money you can regulate what you want.

The World Health Organization puts a lot of work into figuring these things out (for pretty obvious reasons). I also feel like they're perhaps less subject to the lobbying efforts of the meat and dairy industries, which I worry about with US FDA recommendations (I'm from the U.S. so that's my governmental reference). There is a detailed report here http://whqlibdoc.who.int/trs/WHO_TRS_935_eng.pdf with a table on page 87 for ratio of protein calories to total calories for adults and children of different ages and body sizes. My reading is their recommendations are all under 10% of calories from protein. Most vegetables and whole grains easily make this mark. Although you have to be careful, because added fat upsets this balance pretty quickly. For example, if you're sauteing vegetables in oil (which isn't bad in moderation), the oil adds a lot of calories, and no protein.

On a personal level, I don't always make the best choices. I eat veggies and whole grains, but I also eat a LOT of fruit (I eat almost no eggs or dairy). Just to be sure, I take an essential amino acid supplement, and, when I'm active (which is most of the time) I supplement with concentrated rice and pea protein. This has less to do with being vegetarian, and more to do with activity level though. My husband who is an omni does the same. It seems like I get stronger, faster, and am less sore with the added protein, but it might be the placebo effect too. I'm sure I could do this without the supplemental protein, but it allows me to keep up my bad fruit habit.

As for the 1g of protein per pound of lean body mass, I personally have very little idea what my lean body mass is, and my understanding is that estimates are either costly or error prone.

I think a healthy balance of protein and carbs - especially for those of us who exercise - is essential. Protein helps us keep fuller for longer, therefore we eat less and this enables us to lose weight. Making sure that we have protein gives our bodies the ability to build muscle, which burns more fat, which makes our bodies lean and sexy. You shouldn't only eat protein or only eat carbs, you should eat both. The problem with the vegetarian diet (and I've been a veggie for 21years) is that it's too easy to rely on the 'easy' protein sources that take no effort - nuts and cheese. Beans and pulses take effort and that's why a lot of veggies don't eat them, the issue being that the easy sources are high in calories and fat and the other sources are normally low fat and lower cal!

Ideally any dairy we consume should be organic because the cows are grass-fed and not full of pesticides / herbicides / hormones that corn-fed cows are subjected to. Admittedly this isn't possible for everyone but the more organic food we get into our vegetarian diet the healthier we'll all be.

I was a vegetarian for two years in my twenties, back in the dark ages of the mid 1970's, but gradually gave it up because it was very difficult in those days and I didn't have the personal strength to keep it up. I fully returned to it three and half years ago in my fifties after gradually giving up animal products until I just wasn't eating them anymore. The 'protein question' has been around as long as I can remember & I've read lots of 'research' and opinions about it as they've changed over the years - and changed they have. I agree with Mellisant about trying to find objective sources for info that don't have a financial agenda and with queenmedusa that balance/choosing the right proteins is key. I personally found John Robbins' books, especially his later ones, to be great sources for understanding this whole issue.
In most of the United States today we are lucky to have more great options than ever before for proteins from plants (soy, rice and almond milks, a huge variety of greens, tofu and other soy products, sprouts, beans, nuts, diverse grains, and more) and we can easily meet all our protein needs this way. It does take some work to figure out what we need individually, especially if we're exercising. But then I'm guessing folks who join the vegetarian club are generally people who are not choosing 'easy'...
Thanks for having this group!

I actually get more protein in my diet since becoming vegan than I did when I ate meat.