According to ABC in Australia, the animal agriculture sector could lose up to $3.2 billion by 2030 if it does not “meet changing consumer attitudes to animal welfare.” The Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) said that 84% of this loss will be due to rising animal advocacy and an increase in veganism.
Meat and Livestock Australia’s community engagement manager Jacqueline Baptista spoke at the Victorian Farmers Federation about “challenging the rising vegan movement” and told beef, sheep and dairy farmers that about 84% of a $3.8 billion loss will take place due to veganism, suggesting that farmers should respond to animal advocates.
Victorian Farmers Federation livestock group president Leonard Vallance advised the farmers to respond to animal activists:”Use your phone, film for evidence,” he said. “Turn-on your phone and ask them to leave, continue to film and if they don’t leave, call the police.”
The “animal rights movement is young and is only getting stronger,” he said. “With the ever-increasing availability of plant meat protein, which the MLA itself states is “increasingly meat-like… in appearance, taste and even smell” — as well as the increasing awareness of ethical issues in animal farming, and the destruction caused to our environment, the movement will no doubt continue to grow.”
