Problem.
Chimps eat meat.
Often still alive and screaming meat.
If meat was going to cause the brain to suddenly grow larger and gain intelligence then Chimps should be up there right along with humans.
But they are not.
And like most people you confuse vegan (a totally stupid new fad diet) with vegetarian (a balanced diet that dates back thousands of years).
Because they have not yet been Genetically Modified yet as we were in the past. Give it a few more thousand years... And they will.
Veganism has been around for a long time as you incorrectly stated. It is very easy to stay in a balanced diet if you know what you are doing.