Executive summary: This exploratory post argues that, under a pragmatic and consequentialist interpretation of vegan ethics, including sardines and anchovies in an otherwise plant-based diet may reduce overall harm and better support health, environmental sustainability, and animal welfare than strict adherence to conventional vegan purity.
Key points:
Nutritional rationale: Sardines and anchovies offer highly bioavailable nutrients (e.g., EPA/DHA, B12, iron) often missing or hard to absorb from plant-based diets, and may enhance long-term health outcomes more reliably than supplementation alone.
Environmental impact: These small, wild-caught fish require no land, feed, or freshwater inputs and have significantly lower greenhouse gas emissions and ecological disruption compared to other animal or plant-based proteins.
Animal ethics: Although many individuals must be killed per calorie, sardines and anchovies likely have lower moral weight than many animals harmed in crop production, and their deaths via purse seining may be less painful than natural deaths from predation or starvation.
Societal implications: A pragmatic approach that includes low-sentience animal products could promote broader moral concern, reduce dropouts from veganism, and align more closely with effective altruist principles aimed at net harm reduction.
Movement strategy trade-offs: While such a view may weaken message clarity or group cohesion, it could also attract a wider audience to animal advocacy by offering a flexible and less dogmatic ethical framework.
Transitional ethics: Sardines and anchovies may serve as an ethically preferable interim option until plant-based or cellular agriculture fully mitigates harm from food production, making them a potential bridge toward a more sustainable food system.
This comment was auto-generated by the EA Forum Team. Feel free to point out issues with this summary by replying to the comment, and contact us if you have feedback.
Executive summary: This exploratory post argues that, under a pragmatic and consequentialist interpretation of vegan ethics, including sardines and anchovies in an otherwise plant-based diet may reduce overall harm and better support health, environmental sustainability, and animal welfare than strict adherence to conventional vegan purity.
Key points:
Nutritional rationale: Sardines and anchovies offer highly bioavailable nutrients (e.g., EPA/DHA, B12, iron) often missing or hard to absorb from plant-based diets, and may enhance long-term health outcomes more reliably than supplementation alone.
Environmental impact: These small, wild-caught fish require no land, feed, or freshwater inputs and have significantly lower greenhouse gas emissions and ecological disruption compared to other animal or plant-based proteins.
Animal ethics: Although many individuals must be killed per calorie, sardines and anchovies likely have lower moral weight than many animals harmed in crop production, and their deaths via purse seining may be less painful than natural deaths from predation or starvation.
Societal implications: A pragmatic approach that includes low-sentience animal products could promote broader moral concern, reduce dropouts from veganism, and align more closely with effective altruist principles aimed at net harm reduction.
Movement strategy trade-offs: While such a view may weaken message clarity or group cohesion, it could also attract a wider audience to animal advocacy by offering a flexible and less dogmatic ethical framework.
Transitional ethics: Sardines and anchovies may serve as an ethically preferable interim option until plant-based or cellular agriculture fully mitigates harm from food production, making them a potential bridge toward a more sustainable food system.
This comment was auto-generated by the EA Forum Team. Feel free to point out issues with this summary by replying to the comment, and contact us if you have feedback.