Animal welfare economics

I decided to split my previous post into two posts on similar topics. This is part two.

Animal welfare legislation is helping to abolish the use of animals in at least one way: Money. When the animal handlers have to provide more space for the animals, this will cost them money, which will either cut their profits, or more likely, raise prices. This will reduce demand, further destabilizing prices.

Why else would the egg industry be spending so much to stop the animal welfare legislation in California? They don't care about ethics, they're a business and this cuts into their bottom line.

When animals are given the freedom to live as they would naturally, as most people want them to have, it becomes more expensive/less profitable for those that exploit them. As people can, unfortunately, ignore ethical arguments about their purchases, when the tofurkey slices are cheaper than the animal stuff, people suddenly decide being ethical isn't so bad.

Once the vegan alternative food products are cheaper than their animal-based counterparts, the markets will shift. Why aren't they already cheaper? It takes more resources and labor to raise and kill animals. The answer is in subsidies, volume/market share, and competition. When vegan products sell in higher volume, the prices will go down as mass manufacture and competition rise.

There is a concept called 'true cost economics', which was created because most products are sold at the price of getting the product to the consumer, without regard for costs incurred after purchase. Oil is sold below 'true cost' because the environmental and health issues from burning the oil are not included in the purchase price. The same is true of animal products. Animal handlers are not cleaning up rivers or land polluted by the animals they raised, and they certainly aren't footing the medical bills for the millions dying from heart disease every year. This would be another good piece of legislation. Businesses must be responsible for the messes they make, instead of putting burden on the public.