Correctly realizing that "Go Vegan!" has failed (to put it kindly), a number of people are focusing more on welfare reforms. This has taken the form of encouraging people to "offset" their support of factory farming by donating to efforts for welfare reforms. Here is a good overview by Kenny Torrella.
As noted by Kenny, Lewis Bollard helped raise millions of dollars for these "offset" efforts with one podcast. I am thrilled this money didn't go to "Vegans" (or AI "risks,"* or just sit in bank accounts), but will also note that one podcast probably raised more money than One Step for Animals has brought in over the course of its entire existence.
It seems to me unlikely that One Step's reasoning and advocacy are currently doing less good per marginal dollar than more funding for welfare reforms. I could be wrong.
To see why, here are some excerpts from a recent Robert Yaman column. His context is climate change, which readers know I care less than zero about. But Robert's statistics are worth considering when deciding how to best make a difference in the world; please click if you agree:
Mortality among broiler chickens currently stands at roughly 6%. Over 500 million chickens die before slaughter in the US each year (which, for perspective, is more than all the other land animals that we actually eat)
Broiler mortality has increased from 3.7% to 6% over the last 12 years.
Chickens raised for meat are bred to grow extremely quickly, which puts intense pressure on their legs, often leading to bacterial infection in their developing bones and joints. One major consequence is lameness—poor leg health that makes it agonizing for birds to walk. The pain is often so intense that a chicken will die of thirst rather than walk. Up to 225 million chickens in the US die each year from this condition.
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