RSPCA International

In a world that often feels deeply polarized, it is rare to find a topic where almost everyone agrees. The treatment of farm animals is one of them. Surveys across many countries show that a strong majority of people, regardless of their diet, oppose common practices in animal agriculture. In the chart you can see survey data from the UK. Given these surveys, and with the increasing availability of plant-based meat alternatives, one might expect people in these countries to be shifting away from consuming animal products. But the data shows a different story. At a global level, meat consumption is not only high but also increasing. Each year, hundreds of billions of land animals, fish, and crustaceans are farmed and killed to produce food. There is a clear gap between what people want — meat produced without suffering — and what the food system delivers. Understanding this gap is the first step to closing it. In a new article, Pablo Rosado makes the case that one of the biggest opportunities of our generation is to build a system where the food we eat reflects the values we already hold.