“Chicken reforms and veg advocacy may contribute to the Small Animal Replacement Problem -- it’s not just environmental strategies” by Jim Buhler

EA Forum Podcast (All audio) - A podcast by EA Forum Team

Recognizing the small animal replacement problem (SARP) led many animal advocates to, broadly, warn against strategies to help animals that build upon environmental and/or health arguments (see, e.g., Carpendale 2022; Sokk 2021; Bryant 2024; Hazo 2022; Ozden & Dullaghan 2022). More specifically, this includes strategies such as advocating against red meat consumption (see Mathur 2022; CE Team 2018; Rouk 2022) or against subsidies for meat and other animal products (Ryba 2022), and pushing for a food carbon tax (Zeijlmans 2025; Springlea 2022).

EA-inspired animal advocates therefore strongly favor strategies such as promoting plant-based alternatives to animal products and reforming the chicken farming industry (see, e.g., OPP's farm animal welfare page; Sarek et al. 2024; ACE 2024), assuming these do not contribute to SARP.[1] This post very briefly questions this assumption. (Don’t expect a detailed argumentation. I’m just throwing some thoughts.)

Why veg advocacy might also contribute to SARP

Humane [...]

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Outline:

(01:29) Why veg advocacy might also contribute to SARP

(02:11) Why chicken reforms might also contribute to SARP

(02:52) Conclusion

The original text contained 2 footnotes which were omitted from this narration.

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First published: June 3rd, 2025

Source: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/zdFFnm8fWqPY8zsa4/chicken-reforms-and-veg-advocacy-may-contribute-to-the-small

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