I think animal advocates have been trying these symbolic gestures for years and it’s not clear how much they’re now helping farmed animals, and it doesn’t seem like much (but counterfactuals are tricky). There’s still a lot of this kind of work going on, because non-EA advocates are willing to support it.
Furthermore, EAA has been supporting some of these, like the Nonhuman Rights Project and Sentience Politics, just not betting huge on them. NhRP was previously an ACE standout charity for several years, although now I think they basically only get Movement Grants from ACE, which are smaller. There’s work to try to get octopus farming banned before it grows. I think we still support bans on fur farming, foie gras, etc. when good opportunities arise. And corporate welfare campaigns also have symbolic value and build momentum, and the fact that they’re so often successful and even often against pretty big targets probably helps with the momentum.
And we have taken big bets on plant-based substitutes and cultured meat for years, with little apparent impact for animals so far.
I think animal advocates have been trying these symbolic gestures for years and it’s not clear how much they’re now helping farmed animals, and it doesn’t seem like much (but counterfactuals are tricky). There’s still a lot of this kind of work going on, because non-EA advocates are willing to support it.
Furthermore, EAA has been supporting some of these, like the Nonhuman Rights Project and Sentience Politics, just not betting huge on them. NhRP was previously an ACE standout charity for several years, although now I think they basically only get Movement Grants from ACE, which are smaller. There’s work to try to get octopus farming banned before it grows. I think we still support bans on fur farming, foie gras, etc. when good opportunities arise. And corporate welfare campaigns also have symbolic value and build momentum, and the fact that they’re so often successful and even often against pretty big targets probably helps with the momentum.
And we have taken big bets on plant-based substitutes and cultured meat for years, with little apparent impact for animals so far.