"Behind every dish, there is death, and people only close their own eyes to it" - Alex Atala

Although there exists a growing market for responsibly farmed foods, the average person's pantry has become so distant from the farm that it is unreasonable to expect people's desire for better animal welfare to create a difference on the farm through market forces. I think the way to change this would be to join the growing movement in shrinking the distance the farm and the consumer.

Personally, I have never worked on a farm. I could not even name someone I know personally who has worked on a farm. If I wanted to see someone milk a real cow, I don't even know where I would start yet, I manage to put milk in my coffee every single day. There exist some networks to help connect ordinary people with farmers needing help. WOOLF, for example, which primarily connects people and farmers looking to exchange room and board for short-term labor. I think there could be a more robust network ranging in scale from something like the Peace Corps., where people take 1-3 years to dedicate themselves to a project, or an organization I was involved with in college called MedLife, which organizes spring-break alternative service trips for college students to poor countries where they provide hands-on basic medical aid to underserved communities.

I think this kind of program to connect everyday consumers to farms would be especially popular in the coming years for two reason. The first, as I mentioned above, I think there is an existing and growing movement for responsibly farmed foods and young people are seeking ways to learn more about how they can contribute to that cause. Second, I think a post-Covid-19 renaissance will include many young people leaving their small city apartments seeking a rejection of their 24/7 digital life. I think a robust network that can carry a resume-worthy reputation which connects young people and college students to mid-or long-term, hands-on farming opportunities would be quite sought-after.

In the long term, I think this will bring the farm closer to the consumer. A growing proportion of the population will at least know someone who has worked on a farm and could relate more to how their food is produced. To reference Alex Atala's quote, I think changing the norm and inviting people to open their own eyes to the origins of their food will only help leverage market forces to improving animal welfare in a widespread way.