Interesting post. I wonder if the bigger question isn't whether consumers choose cultivated meat, but whether producers do. If it can eliminate disease outbreaks, antibiotic use, biosecurity risks, slaughterhouses, and other costs and risks, the economics may eventually drive adoption.

I've struggled with the same question. I care deeply about reducing animal suffering, but I often find myself more drawn to solutions that create viable alternatives than those that rely primarily on changing people's minds.

I also mostly agree with your point about advocacy. While I think advocacy and awareness-building matter, I'm skeptical they can achieve the scale of change we need on their own. My intuition is that giving the world's meat eaters better alternatives is likely to have a much larger long-term impact.

That said, I think corporate campaigns have demonstrated real impact, and getting governments and regulators on board will be crucial as well. These approaches seem complementary rather than competing.

I also have a tremendous amount of respect for activists doing this work. Immersing myself in footage from factory farms and the often-hostile reactions to it has had a real impact on my mental health. I've found it difficult to engage with that content day after day. For me, it's easier to stay engaged through cultivated meat and alternative proteins, where I feel a greater sense of hope. But I deeply appreciate the people willing to do the difficult work of confronting animal suffering directly and asking the rest of us to pay attention.

That's one reason I'm so interested in cultivated meat. I think it may be one of the few paths with the potential to reduce animal slaughter on a truly massive scale. If the largest meat companies eventually make the transition, I suspect it will be driven less by concern for animals and more by lower costs, less disease risk, greater supply chain stability, and better economics. At some point, it may simply become the better business decision.

I've been a monthly donor to GiveDirectly for years and recently considered moving those donations entirely to GFI. In the end, I decided to do both.

Thanks for the thought-provoking post.

P.S. I also thought the recent Peter Singer, Lives Well Lived podcast/Youtube episode with Bruce Friedrich from GFI was a great listen and worth checking out.