I think corporate outreach has had, and will likely continue to have, a wider impact on animal welfare than getting rid of battery cages although that’s certainly one of the bigger wins. As to your second point, I think you’re right that this parameter depends on culture and regulation; although I want to be optimistic, it might be somewhat overly optimistic to think that alternative proteins will ever capture 100% of the market. This also ties into your fourth point on the barriers to shifting to alternative proteins. I’d have to look for the research on this but I’m confident that many people, today at least, would say that they’ll never switch in the future, even if taste and cost were the same (maybe down to tradition, fear of UPFs etc). So social norms will likely play a big role here, and shifting social norms can never be guaranteed—certainly not within a short time frame.
Corporate outreach almost guarantees small wins (when compared with ending, or almost ending, animal farming) today, so investment is low-risk. The chance of this kind of advocacy hugely reducing the number of farmed animals overall though seems almost negligible. Alternative proteins, if everything goes well, could result in a much bigger win, but the risk seems pretty high at the moment—it must be higher than many people are comfortable with.
I think corporate outreach has had, and will likely continue to have, a wider impact on animal welfare than getting rid of battery cages although that’s certainly one of the bigger wins. As to your second point, I think you’re right that this parameter depends on culture and regulation; although I want to be optimistic, it might be somewhat overly optimistic to think that alternative proteins will ever capture 100% of the market. This also ties into your fourth point on the barriers to shifting to alternative proteins. I’d have to look for the research on this but I’m confident that many people, today at least, would say that they’ll never switch in the future, even if taste and cost were the same (maybe down to tradition, fear of UPFs etc). So social norms will likely play a big role here, and shifting social norms can never be guaranteed—certainly not within a short time frame.
Corporate outreach almost guarantees small wins (when compared with ending, or almost ending, animal farming) today, so investment is low-risk. The chance of this kind of advocacy hugely reducing the number of farmed animals overall though seems almost negligible. Alternative proteins, if everything goes well, could result in a much bigger win, but the risk seems pretty high at the moment—it must be higher than many people are comfortable with.