Looking forward to listening to this!
Ending factory farming as soon as possible
11–20 of 83 posts
Re: Ending factory farming as soon as possible
#12I think lab-grown meat (if it ever becomes economically feasible) is the only thing that can ever put a dent in factory farming.
Why doesn't a billionaire just buy up 95% of all the factory farms and start converting them to free range, while lowering output and raising prices? Why don't we as a society subsidize the cost? Would save a lot of lives from suffering. Whatever argument you make against this can also be made in favor of making more cramped prisons and working human prisoners to the bone. Capitalism is designed to exploit externalit…
Couldn't the old owners just open new factory farms and outcompete the now-free range ones by being cheaper?
Re: Ending factory farming as soon as possible
#13Earlier quoted context omitted.
We talk about that a bunch! I agree, though it's possible before that we'll figure out how to combine plant products in ways that make them taste very similar to meat. Impossible Foods is already impressively close.
> though it's possible before that we'll figure out how to combine plant products in ways that make them taste very similar to meat I think the major barrier to mass adoption of this will be convincing the masses that they should try it. Too bad it can't be marketed as meat, at least not for long before getting caught.
Yes this is a problem, though also serious for 'clean meat'. :)
Interestingly, consumers are more likely to try out vegan products if they don't say they're vegan on the front of the package...
Re: Ending factory farming as soon as possible
#14Just pointing out an unintended consequence I saw in a cartoon: As soon as nobody farms cows for meat, milk, and leather, cows will become an endangered species/extinct because nobody will pay to keep them alive. And there's not much space where they could survive on their own in the wild.
I don't think the main issue is with farming in general, but with factory farming. Raising farm animals in a humane way is a huge improvement.
Re: Ending factory farming as soon as possible
#15Just pointing out an unintended consequence I saw in a cartoon: As soon as nobody farms cows for meat, milk, and leather, cows will become an endangered species/extinct because nobody will pay to keep them alive. And there's not much space where they could survive on their own in the wild.
Ending factory farming does not end farming. People still have horses despite them not being as useful as they once were.
Ending factory farming would likely actually increase the variety of cows and other animals, which will generally help their health.
Re: Ending factory farming as soon as possible
#16Just pointing out an unintended consequence I saw in a cartoon: As soon as nobody farms cows for meat, milk, and leather, cows will become an endangered species/extinct because nobody will pay to keep them alive. And there's not much space where they could survive on their own in the wild.
I don't think the main issue is with farming in general, but with factory farming. Raising farm animals in a humane way is a huge improvement.
Right, I'd expect the same thing as with horses and other work animals: once the tech makes them obsolete and the current generation dies out, they'll still be around, but for more niche, boutique uses (racing, riding around the ranch, visiting schoolchildren), not the dystopia they had been put through before.
Re: Ending factory farming as soon as possible
#17I think lab-grown meat (if it ever becomes economically feasible) is the only thing that can ever put a dent in factory farming.
Why doesn't a billionaire just buy up 95% of all the factory farms and start converting them to free range, while lowering output and raising prices? Why don't we as a society subsidize the cost? Would save a lot of lives from suffering. Whatever argument you make against this can also be made in favor of making more cramped prisons and working human prisoners to the bone. Capitalism is designed to exploit externalit…
Not sure how serious your suggestion is, but one quick answer is that a lot of the factory farms are owned by billionaires and publicly traded ag conglomerates who are making good money and wouldn't just need the capital back, they'd need an investment that gave the same steady returns.
Re: Ending factory farming as soon as possible
#18Just pointing out an unintended consequence I saw in a cartoon: As soon as nobody farms cows for meat, milk, and leather, cows will become an endangered species/extinct because nobody will pay to keep them alive. And there's not much space where they could survive on their own in the wild.
Ending factory farming does not end farming. People still have horses despite them not being as useful as they once were. Ending factory farming would likely actually increase the variety of cows and other animals, which will generally help their health.
There were 21M horses in the US in 1900. In 1960 there were 3M.
https://history.stackexchange.com/questions/12516/how-common...
Re: Ending factory farming as soon as possible
#19Just pointing out an unintended consequence I saw in a cartoon: As soon as nobody farms cows for meat, milk, and leather, cows will become an endangered species/extinct because nobody will pay to keep them alive. And there's not much space where they could survive on their own in the wild.
There's projects to breed cattle into something closer to the Aurochs, with the eventual goal of having herds in the wild.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurochs#Breeding_of_aurochs-li...
Re: Ending factory farming as soon as possible
#20I think lab-grown meat (if it ever becomes economically feasible) is the only thing that can ever put a dent in factory farming.
I'm all for lab-grown meat but I do question if you'll ever fully satisfy the meat lovers. In my opinion, a better approach would be a hybrid meat/fake meat option which would still make a huge dent in factory farming but appeal to the palates of those who love their cheeseburger.
If we can cut down "real" meat consumption by even half, you could in theory make all cows free range.