2022 Anti-Ag Trend Predictions
The past two years, I’ve published columns right around the new year with my predictions for the anti-ag agenda in the upcoming year. Following suit, today, I will give my 2022 predictions for what I believe the anti-ags will attack agriculture with.
More Protests
I said it last year and I’ll say it again this year: we’re going to see more protests. Now that COVID-19 is somewhat settled down and the world is somewhat back to normal, I think we’ll see more in-person protests.
I know, I know, there’s some of y’all who will argue “but what about the new variant?” And I’ll agree, it may deter some people from participating in protests but from what I’ve seen, the radical anti-ag community has a bad case of cabin fever. They’re sick of sitting “idly by,” and “watching precious animals be murdered,” and want to do something other than attend virtual sit-ins to support their cause.
The Expansion of Alternative Protein Options in Fast Food
I would bet $100 that every fast-food chain in the United States will announce fake meat options in 2022.
Many fast-food chains already have alternative protein (or “fake meat”) options on their menus such as Burger King, Wendy’s, Dunkin’ Donuts, McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, Subway…the list goes on and on. I believe that after December 31, 2022, I won’t be able to walk into a major fast-food franchise without seeing Beyond or Impossible on the menu.
Honestly, I wouldn’t be up in the bridle over the popularization of alternative proteins if they were made by companies who didn’t actively speak out against animal ag. I get it from a marketing standpoint: that’s their brand, it caters to a large portion of their customers. But to everyone else out there, neigh, the ranchers and farmers who rely on animal ag for their income, it could ruin us.
Less Focus on the Environment
I know, going vegan to save the planet has been all the rage for 3-5 years now. However, I haven’t seen any new environmental posts in my vegan and anti-ag Facebook groups for months, so hear me out. I have two theories as to why this is.
The first theory: it’s old news. The bigger studies often referenced to in these arguments are outdated (and falsified to promote anti-ag narratives and further “ag is evil” propaganda). I feel like the environment argument is played out — it’s all people talked about for so long. Coming from someone who was sick of seeing this and spouting off the same statistics over and over again, it’s refreshing to see the tried and true “end speciesism” and “you are MuRdErInG pReCiOuS aNiMaLs” arguments again.
My second theory: shutting down for a few months in 2020 was a benefit. Carbon emissions went down because many people weren’t traveling across the country or even leaving their house — but we had the same amount of cattle. This didn’t go unnoticed by the general public and it dang sure didn’t go unnoticed by the environmental vegan community. Although the Environmental Protection Agency had the facts to debunk the “ag is bad for the environment” argument for years, it took people seeing carbon emission lower with their own two eyes to make it clear.
