All of banx's Comments + Replies

In this vein, I'd love to see an analysis of how eggs from hens meeting CH+PR standards stack up against other animal products in welfare terms, especially since it's become very easy to find these eggs at supermarkets (at least in my corner of the US) in recent years.

>I'm distrustful of "cruelty-free" branding because so many standards for that kind of thing are false or misleading, but with further research I expect I could find more harm-minimizing options there too.

Thinking mostly about eggs, I've concluded that "Animal Welfare Approved" (first choice) and "Humane Certified"+"Pasture Raised" (second choice) probably significantly reduce suffering compared to alternatives. There's also Whole Foods' GAP levels but I'm less familiar with those. No fancy analysis here, just "these labels set standards actually focuse... (read more)

4
banx
9mo
In this vein, I'd love to see an analysis of how eggs from hens meeting CH+PR standards stack up against other animal products in welfare terms, especially since it's become very easy to find these eggs at supermarkets (at least in my corner of the US) in recent years.

Do you have any thoughts on why these gaps haven't been / won't be filled by OpenPhil?

For GiveWell and its top charities, excluding GiveDirectly, I think a lot depends on whether you expect GiveWell to have more RFMF than funds anytime in the near future. The obvious question is why wouldn't OpenPhil fill in the gaps. Maybe if GiveWell's RFMF expands enough then OpenPhil won't want to spend that much on GiveWell-level interventions?

GiveWell gives some estimates here (Rollover Funding FAQ | GiveWell) saying they expect to have capacity to spend down their funds in 2023, but they admit they're conservative on the funding side and ambitious on... (read more)

Thanks! For eggs in particular, I've concluded that none of the standards require the producers to avoid buying hens from hatcheries that cull male chicks, or to ensure that they are culled in a particular way, or to let laying hens live out their lives once they're beyond their prime laying age. Also that there are essentially no hatcheries that do not cull male chicks, but there is apparently a commitment from 95% of egg producers to stop culling by 2020 by using sex-selection technology to avoid creating male chicks altogether.

Does anyone here have opinions on the higher quality labels for farm animal products, such as "Certified Humane"? (see here for a comparison of labels by ASPCA: https://www.aspca.org/shopwithyourheart/consumer-resources/meat-eggs-and-dairy-label-guide) I am particularly interested in egg labels.

4[anonymous]5y
Future Perfect put out an article on this recently.

Does anyone have any thoughts on giving to AMF vs giving to GiveWell? It sounds like GiveWell still believes that donations to GiveWell are more effective. I believe that they are being honest about this, but I wonder to what extent I should take into account the biases inherent in self-evaluation. I am also unsure how, if at all, the existence of Good Ventures should influence this decision.

1
lazyhappygood
8y
Last year I directed most of my donation to GiveWell without restrictions, because I feel our goals overlap to the extent that I was comfortable with them serving as my proxy and/or using the funds to further their research and advocacy. I believe GiveWell has to be relatively circumspect about self-promotion in order to avoid undermining their credibility with skeptical consumers of their research. I'd give to them if you trust them as much as you seem to, and don't disagree with the premises of their analysis sufficiently to want to tweak the dollar allocations. They expend a lot of mental effort trying to avoid completely overriding the preferences of their influenced donors (for example, if you want more money to go to SCI and less to GiveDirectly).