Animal Welfare Advocacy

Plant-Based Diets and Animal Welfare: The Evidence

Adopting plant-based or reduced animal product diets is one of the most direct individual actions available for reducing animal suffering at scale.

Key Facts

The average UK diet is responsible for the lives of approximately 100 animals per year
A vegan diet reduces animal product consumption to near-zero
Reducing meat consumption by 50% roughly halves the number of animals in ones food system
Plant-based foods are increasingly affordable and widely available
Health outcomes of well-planned plant-based diets are comparable or better than omnivore diets

Welfare Considerations

Individual dietary choices aggregate into the demand signals that drive livestock production. Reducing consumption of the highest-suffering animal products — those from factory farmed systems — has direct welfare impact by reducing demand for that production. Plant-based and reduced animal product diets are increasingly accessible, affordable, and health-compatible, removing practical barriers to welfare-motivated dietary change.

What You Can Do

Reduce consumption of factory farmed animal products as a welfare action
Try Veganuary or similar challenges to explore plant-based eating
Replace one meat-based meal per week with a plant-based equivalent
Share evidence-based information about plant-based diets with your social network