My best guess is that decreasing the consumption of animal-based foods is harmful. I estimate School Plates in 2023, and Veganuary in 2024 harmed soil animals 5.75 k and 3.85 k times as much as they benefited farmed animals.
I forgot to account for the increase in cropland caused by the replacement foods. Thanks to @MichaelStJules for noting this! I have now updated the post assuming replacement foods require “5.49 m2-year/food-kg, which is the mean between the values for tofu and peas, the 2 legumes analysed in the source I used to estimate the increase in cropland linked to the animal-based foods”. The results remained practically the same. I estimate School Plates in 2023, and Veganuary in 2024 harmed soil animals 5.42 k and 3.58 k times as much as they benefited farmed animals.
I forgot to account for the increase in cropland caused by the replacement foods. Thanks to @MichaelStJules for noting this! I have now updated the post assuming replacement foods require “5.49 m2-year/food-kg, which is the mean between the values for tofu and peas, the 2 legumes analysed in the source I used to estimate the increase in cropland linked to the animal-based foods”. The results remained practically the same. I estimate School Plates in 2023, and Veganuary in 2024 harmed soil animals 5.42 k and 3.58 k times as much as they benefited farmed animals.