Paul Shapiro is vice president of policy engagement at The Humane Society of the United States, founder of Compassion Over Killing, and author of a forthcoming book about the clean meat movement. He’s also a wannabe professional athlete and an astrophile whose interest in space far exceeds his knowledge about it.
Q – What part of MFA’s work is closest to your heart?
A – I’m always impressed when an organization gives a voice to the most ignored and most abused animals, like chickens and fish. These underdogs, or underbirds and underfish, if you will, suffer just as much as “charismatic animals do. But too often they’re ignored, even by many animal protection groups.
Q – What inspired you to support MFA?
A – I’ve been a supporter since its inception, primarily because I know that farmed animals need a strong movement fighting on their behalf.
Q – What changes for farmed animals do you most want to see?
A – Sadly, there’s no shortage of campaigns to wage for them. But fortunately, the number of charities and companies working hard to both reduce their suffering and render their exploitation obsolete in the first place is growing by the month. What’s probably exciting me most right now is the explosion of plant-based protein companies and clean animal product companies (makers of real meat without the animals) that will hopefully outcompete the factory farming model in the near future.
Q – Which of MFA’s successes do you feel happiest about?
A – The organization’s had a lot of success, and one of the more innovative advancements it’s made recently is creating The Good Food Institute. The power of ethical business to help prevent animal cruelty is enormous, and GFI has so far made some very promising moves in this respect. What Henry Ford did for horses after millennia of exploitation for transport, the companies GFI supports may one day do for farmed animals.