Keeping Kosher in a non-Kosher World

An interesting perspective comes from Rabbi Barry Leff, who has since made Aliyah from Toledo to Jerusalem
http://www.tek-law.com/neshamah/dairyteshuva%20v3.htm

An interesting shiur from Machon Meir:

Eating in non-kosher restaurants (1):
http://www.machonmeir.org.il/english/archive_id.asp?language=English&id=381

Eating in non-kosher restaurants (2):
http://www.machonmeir.org.il/english/archive_id.asp?language=English&id=380

I have always felt that the tendency towards extreme stringency among certain groups has had the effect of making Kashrut non-observable in its deepest sense. If there is not a simple bar to follow, then Kashrut is another example of the tyranny of the minority in Jewish practice. After all, installing filters to keep out microscopic animals implies that Chazal could not have kept kashrut at all!

That said, the real problem from my perspective is the idea that keeping the mitzvot have some kind of physical effect upon the world rather than just character development or being part of the community. If one believes that their actions have a physical effect at a distance it is hard to part with even the greatest stringency. If however, one takes the Maimonidean view and ascribes mitzvot like Kashrut to a type of character development then it is possible to deal with Kashrut in a non-kosher world.