A report was released this week showing that wildlife numbers have been decimated by 73% in the last 50 years. The study was published by the WWF and the Zoological Society of London, two organisations that, as a vegan, you might have trouble supporting. The WWF because it holds a view that trophy hunting “has been proven to be an effective conservation tool” that “can generate substantial economic benefits, community and political support” (see WWF Policy and Considerations on Trophy Hunting July 2016) and the ZSL because they are perhaps most famously known for their zoos.
However, the data in the report is indisputable. There has been a catastrophic 73% decline in the average size of monitored wildlife populations in just 50 years (1970-2020) and the report identifies that “Habitat loss and degradation, driven primarily by our food system, is the most reported threat to wildlife populations around the world.”
The use of the phrase ‘driven by our food system’ is the biggest problem with this study. As a vegan, you know exactly what that means: animal agriculture. There are currently more than 92 billion animals in our food system and they need feeding. The ever-increasing space, resources and water needed grow the crops that feed those animals is wiping out huge areas of habitat. But to the average journalist or member of public, that phrase is at best euphemistic and at worst it can feed the narrative of ‘vegans drinking soy milk is destroying the rainforests’ (80% of soya production is used to feed farmed animals).
A revelation like this should be the death of animal agriculture. If we can’t get people to care about the farmed animals themselves, surely they will take notice that society’s reliance on meat and dairy is wiping out our world’s wild animals too. But for the brief half a day that the story made it into the headlines, the mainstream media positioned it as a ‘climate change’ story – a topic that wider society has been trained into not caring about. I mean, in the UK we’re handing out five-year jail sentences to climate protesters now as a deterrent to others following their example.
Animal agriculture is a far bigger problem for our world than just the animals that suffer within it. But it’s a multi-trillion dollar global industry, and the shear weight and influence of that industry means that even the WWF can’t directly point their finger at it in a report showing the fall-out. The solution is clear: the world moving to plant-based diets. The route to achieving that, whilst you have such entrenched and well-funded industries opposing that move for commercial benefits, isn’t as clear. But it probably starts with people like you and me.
David’s thoughts from the week, published every weekend for members only.
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