Justice for Non-Human Animals in agrifood system transitions: perspectives from animal-free sustainable agriculture standards

The growing body of scholarship on just transitions in food systems includes careful consideration of what justice means in the context of climate-friendly agrifood system transitions, and for whom it might be realized. Among these contributions are frameworks for examining food and agricultural visions and practices for their commitment to non-human justice in agrifood system transitions. Our manuscript seeks to extend this perspective by inquiring about the more-than-human justice implications of animal-free sustainable agriculture (also referred to by terms including stockfree organic, vegan organic, and veganic). In this context, the paper puts forward this question: If we are to work toward agrifood system transitions that are climate-friendly and fair , what does justice look like for Non-Human Animals in these transitions? Addressing this question, we identified and interrogated three agricultural standards that guide forms of animal-free sustainable agriculture (namely the (i) Stockfree Organic Standard; (ii) Veganic Standard, and (iii) Biocyclic Vegan Standard). Text of the three standards was coded for dimensions of justice (recognition, distributive, procedural, restorative) using an analytic framework developed through a literature review. Our findings led to several lessons vis-a-vis transitions out of animal-based agriculture that take justice for Non-Human Animals seriously. These include: considerations about the breadth of the spectrum of Non-Human Animals due moral regard; the importance of farmer politics and values; and the influence of external agrifood system stages, sites, and actors.