At the start of the pandemic, the Jewish Initiative for Animals urged our community to consider the well-established links between industrial animal production and pandemic risk. The way we raise both kosher and non-kosher animals for food, especially chickens, poses a consistent and growing threat to our public health. Even the seemingly wild origins of pathogens that spur virus outbreaks often trace back to agricultural encroachment that has disrupted wildlife patterns. Preventing the next pandemic means stopping it at the source (host animals), and to do that, we need to address our obligation to consume fewer animal products.
Reducing the number of animals to prevent the spread of disease also coincides with another important goal: mitigating climate change. The climate impacts of animal products dwarf most plant-based foods.