Speciesist AI, factory farming in the church - and misinformation all around

Five new organisations take a firm stand on what’s wrong with our food system. They were incubated through Kickstarting for Good, a new programme by ProVeg International.

“I'm sorry, but I can't assist with that.” This is the response you get when you ask ChatGPT - just for the sake of it - for a “dog recipe”. The widely-used conversational Artificial Intelligence (AI) is way more talkative when you ask about chicken, rabbit, or goat recipes (or any other animal commonly consumed). “Sure, here's a tasty recipe for delicious baked chicken”, is the casual answer. 

“Current AI systems have severe speciesist biases'', says Sam Tucker, founder of Open Paws, a new non-profit organisation based in Australia that’s working on an open source approach. Open Paws is providing free technical support to nonprofits and working with major AI labs to ensure that this innovation benefits all sentient beings. “The AI we’re building now will have a significantly greater impact for animals than all my previous years of activism combined”, emphasises Tucker, an animal advocate for more than 15 years.

On a quest for transparency

Tucker is one of ten impact entrepreneurs who graduated in 2023 from Kickstarting for Good, an incubation and acceleration programme by the food awareness organisation ProVeg International. “We help entrepreneurs worldwide who want to transform the global food system with their organisations”, explains Sebastian Joy, Founding President at ProVeg International. “Kickstarting for Good is a dedicated programme for such ventures.” 

Carsten Halmanseder was also part of the inaugural cohort at Kickstarting for Good. His newly founded nonprofit Will-Kirche-Tierschutz.de is challenging the two big churches in Germany with their 40 million members across 23,000 congregations. “Around 96% of all meat products in Germany come from factory farming. Is this the same for the Catholic and Protestant churches? The official position is to clearly criticise factory farming, but the churches fall very short of their own animal welfare claims and admit to it." The Freedom Food Alliance (FFA) is another recently launched animal advocacy organisation. It was founded in London by Robbie Lockie, who is also a co-founder at Plant Based News. FFA equips consumers with science-backed information through reports, the watchdog website foodfacts.org, and international campaigns to shed light on food industry malpractices. “We are on a quest for transparency, accountability and a more informed consumer-base”, says Lockie.

Courage, resilience and grit

Reporters For Animals International (RAI) has similar goals - but a very different approach. RAI is a new network to support farmed animal investigators with resources, knowledge, exchange and mental support. Founders Kathrin Plaschnick and Hendrik Hassel - based in Australia and Germany - are currently preparing their first series of expert webinars and training, among other tailored services. Vegan Thesis is another graduate of the Kickstarting for Good programme. The platform connects academia and animal advocacy. It empowers research for a more humane future by bringing together students, supervisors, and research topics. Vegan Thesis provides access to a growing research database. Scholars can suggest new topics and get inspired by success stories. 

Launching a new nonprofit organisation requires courage, resilience and grit. Are you ready to rock the food world as an impact entrepreneur who wants to transform the food system - or know someone who could be a fit? Kickstarting for Good is open for applications until 9 June. Find out more and apply at www.kickstartingforgood.org.