A Novel Consideration for New Omnivorism

Abstract New omnivorism is a novel view in food and animal ethics that stipulates that relative to a vegan diet, we ought to scale back arable farming by substituting plant foods, such as wheat, barley, beans, and potatoes, for animal products, such as beef. We should do this, counterintuitively, in virtue of animal welfare considerations. Specifically, we should scale back arable farming because it harms non-human animals. In this paper, I provide a novel consideration which counts against new omnivorism. I start by highlighting that new omnivorism assumes that scaling back industrial arable farming will reduce overall harm to non-human animals. I then argue that we have reason to doubt this assumption in light of the alternative outcome for field animals – their existence (and death) in the wild. Thereafter, I note that this underexplored consideration has significant implications for the extant objections to new omnivorism. Finally, I consider possible objections to the consideration I offer.