Transforming food systems toward sustainability necessarily intersects with animal welfare, as intensive animal agriculture is both an environmental and welfare concern.
Food system transformation is one of the most significant policy levers for improving animal welfare globally. Intensive animal agriculture concentrates billions of animals in conditions that cause widespread suffering while generating substantial environmental externalities. Policies that accelerate the transition toward more sustainable food systems — reducing intensive animal product consumption, shifting to higher-welfare production where animals are kept, supporting plant-rich dietary patterns — tend to benefit animal welfare simultaneously with environmental goals. However, the relationship is not automatic: some sustainable farming narratives promote extensive livestock on marginal land in ways that may or may not improve welfare depending on management quality. Welfare advocates and sustainability advocates benefit from explicit collaboration to ensure that food system transformation improves outcomes for animals as well as the environment.