We often forget that everything is interlinked. For instance, when hearing about animal welfare, you probably would not think about economics. And yet, it is precisely when you can intersect diverse topics such as morality, economics, and climate science to an issue that you can recognise its importance.
An inspiring economist at the University of Edinburgh—Dr. Sean Brocklebank- took it upon himself to encourage students to view economics differently, to think outside the excel sheets and demand curves. As he puts it: “I wanted to run this course on sort of what were the world’s biggest problems.”
Therefore, when he first decided to lecture on animal welfare, it wasn’t out of long-held expertise: he recalled; “Animal welfare just regularly comes up in the conversation as being, you know, at least potentially, one of the world’s major problems.” It should thus deserve attention, even from economists.
Brocklebank admits that he initially tried to find someone else to deliver the lecture. “Originally, I didn’t actually want to do the lecture myself because this is not my area of expertise,” he said, “But I couldn’t find anyone who would agree to do it.” After weeks of reading and research, he became convinced that, if no one else would do it.
In 1997, he became a vegetarian. This personal journey began for less academic reasons; “Originally, I was trying to impress a girl,” he laughed. “It didn’t work out — she ended up dating my brother.” What began as teenage bravado became a lifelong commitment to reduce consumption of animal products. “Over time, I’ve become more convinced that eggs are probably quite bad from an animal welfare perspective… my egg consumption is probably down about 90 per cent in the past few years.” He’s hopeful about the success of plant-based milks, which he calls “an easier win,” but cautious about the limits of plant-based meats. “We need convergence on price in order to start seeing people switching,” he said. He does, however, occasionally enjoy a vegan burger.
The climate stakes are undeniable. “The global meat industry is more than we can realistically emit going forward to meet our climate change goals, even if we got everything else to zero,” he warned, explaining that “carbon-negative technologies” will have to be developed if we want to keep our planet habitable. Decarbonising the global meat and agriculture industry is fundamental.
One of his key insights is that change doesn’t always have to be absolute. Thinking like the economist he is, he explains “Five people who each eat 20 per cent less meat do about as much good for the world as one vegetarian.” It is true that incremental reductions can collectively make a large difference.
On the role of activism, Brocklebank believes pressure works best when directed at corporations rather than consumers. “Direct-to-consumer marketing of animal welfare standards… doesn’t seem to have much effect,” he noted. “Most people want to avoid thinking about this.” According to him, the psychological side remains stubborn: “People have a fair bit of cognitive dissonance, if you ask them how important cats and dogs are compared to pigs and cows, they say there’s not that much of a gap… but in practice, they act as if there is a huge gap.” Thinking about it, it is true that stories about pet mistreatment make headlines, while farmed animals who get “even much worse treatment” are unlikely to ever make the news.
Instead, campaigns that push large brands , “the McDonald’s and the KFCs and the Tescos,” to adopt cage-free livestock farming or higher-welfare practices should be leveraged to force industry-wide shifts to protect reputations.
As an economist, when asked the question of how investments in animal welfare could have some impact, Brocklebank didn’t hesitate: “If you were giving me money in the billions, I would want to spend it mainly on R&D for developing food alternatives.” For smaller sums, he said, “I might be more likely to go for the sorts of campaigns… like cage-free campaigns and other ways to basically put pressure on current practices.”
Ultimately, Brocklebank believes lasting change must be gradual. “People just don’t like being forced to change,” he said. “But if we raise welfare standards and charge a carbon price, traditional meats would become more expensive, people would consume less, and it would be a better world for both of those things.”
Photo by Dr. Sean Brocklebank