ABSTRACT
In this chapter, I ethically assess the practice of farm animal commodification and examine ways to prevent animal harm. Farm animals are, legally and socially, thoroughly commodified; they are bought and sold, dead and alive. But they are not mere commodities. They are sensing, feeling creatures with a will of their own. Harming animals is morally wrong unless we have reasons of overriding strength to do it. In the first part, I examine reasons for abolishing the market for farm animal products. I argue that although decommodifying animals is a bulletproof way of preventing harm, it has the unfortunate side-effect of preventing animals from living lives worth living. In the second part, I explore an alternative and under-examined approach I call animal welfare commodification. According to this approach, animals are treated poorly because market participants do not account for their interests. By pricing or commodifying animal welfare, we can make animal welfare matter economically. I examine and improve on several specific proposals for animal welfare commodification, such as a meat tax and a market for animal welfare. I also defend two novel proposals, a tax on suffering and a death tax.
