This is a very nice post. I very much agree with these statements:
“This means that the relative value of donations to cellular agriculture research and animal activism at any given point will largely be constrained by how promising cellular agriculture appears at the time, and its need for funding.”
“This does not mean the mix of strategies which constitutes animal activism at present is optimal. For instance, the non-negligible possibility of cost-competitive cellular agriculture may imply the need for a greater balance of liberationist messaging, as this kind of approach will be strengthened if CAPs are available to replace factory farming.”
I’m not sure I entirely agree about the second sentence here, if you’re talking about the absolute number of funders: “As approaches to reducing animal suffering, cellular agriculture and animal activism compete to some extent for funding. There is some reason to believe overlap in potential funders is not too great.” Though there’s a lot of VC money that appears ready to fund private ventures, I believe a large amount of the funding going to research (e.g., what New Harvest recommends or to New Harvest) is coming from those individuals who are choosing between organizations and efforts to reduce animal suffering. My sense though is that the Dutch government’s prior funding outweighs all of that in sum though.
Small correction: New Crop Capital has not invested $25 million yet. They’ve invested $5 million of $25 million and will invest the remaining $20 million over the next four years.
This is a very nice post. I very much agree with these statements:
“This means that the relative value of donations to cellular agriculture research and animal activism at any given point will largely be constrained by how promising cellular agriculture appears at the time, and its need for funding.”
“This does not mean the mix of strategies which constitutes animal activism at present is optimal. For instance, the non-negligible possibility of cost-competitive cellular agriculture may imply the need for a greater balance of liberationist messaging, as this kind of approach will be strengthened if CAPs are available to replace factory farming.”
I’m not sure I entirely agree about the second sentence here, if you’re talking about the absolute number of funders: “As approaches to reducing animal suffering, cellular agriculture and animal activism compete to some extent for funding. There is some reason to believe overlap in potential funders is not too great.” Though there’s a lot of VC money that appears ready to fund private ventures, I believe a large amount of the funding going to research (e.g., what New Harvest recommends or to New Harvest) is coming from those individuals who are choosing between organizations and efforts to reduce animal suffering. My sense though is that the Dutch government’s prior funding outweighs all of that in sum though.
Small correction: New Crop Capital has not invested $25 million yet. They’ve invested $5 million of $25 million and will invest the remaining $20 million over the next four years.
Thanks a lot! I’ve made the correction you pointed out.