Farm Animal Welfare and Food System Transformation

The food system is undergoing transformation driven by climate, health, and welfare concerns - ensuring welfare is prioritised in this transition matters.

Key Facts

Global meat consumption is projected to decline in high-income countries as plant-based options improve
Cultivated meat is approaching commercial scale in some markets with potential to dramatically reduce farmed animal numbers
The transition creates risks including displacement of welfare-improving animal agriculture with lower-welfare alternatives
Some plant-based products drive demand for high-welfare animal co-products reducing financial viability
Policy support for food system transformation must explicitly include welfare safeguards
The protein transition is the most significant structural change in animal agriculture in a century

Welfare Considerations

Food system transformation creates both welfare opportunities and welfare risks. A transition that reduces the number of farm animals while improving welfare for those that remain would be highly positive. A transition that displaces certified higher-welfare production with uncertified lower-welfare production, or with plant-based systems that ignore welfare externalities, would not achieve welfare gains. Welfare-literate food system policy is essential.

What You Can Do

Support food system transformation organisations that explicitly include animal welfare
Engage with debates about alternative protein and food system change from an animal welfare perspective
Advocate for welfare standards to be maintained and improved during agricultural transition
Choose food products that support both welfare improvement and sustainability
Donate to organisations working on welfare-positive food system transformation