You're thinking of this as some sort of ethical issue. It's just business.

What happens to businesses with fixed or declining demand? Consolidation.

The bigger players start scooping up the weaker ones. Bigger players have more regulatory muscle. There are a thousand examples... aircraft is probably a decent one. You used to have Lockheed, Boeing, McDonnell, Douglas, etc... Now you have Boeing as "Team USA", who has the political and market power to do things like ship airliners that crash for avoidable reasons.

If they disappear, of course they won't be an issue anymore.

But I'm assuming he means that with a reduced demand for meat, it would mean that factory farms are going to have to find ways to reduce costs. And they're already doing their best to operate at the bare minimum. So any cost cutting measures will come at the expense of animal welfare.

The point is - there really is no animal welfare in the factory farm industry.

We want the cheapest meat - don't care how. Caring for an animal's welfare is counter to that.

If demand for meat goes down it means environmental damage is reduced and fewer animals have to be born, which means fewer animals have to suffer.

You'd be surprised at the depths we can sink to if we really put our minds to it.

I think the argument is that if you squeeze the meat industry they’re going to get even more desperate to cut costs at the expense of the animal’s welfare.

I don’t really buy it.

Correct, animal welfare in factory farms is already at an diabolical level.

You just have to ask yourself why AG-GAG laws exist.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ag-gag

Right which is why I don’t buy the argument that we can’t reduce people’s meat intake because then meat producers will be forced I tell you to treat their animals worse.