The progress we’ve made for farmed animals is due to the support and dedication of animal welfare advocates all over the world. And it is truly transforming the cruel status quo.
For instance, in the U.S., 25 years ago, not a single state had enacted bans on extreme confinement for farmed animals. Today, 15 states have passed legislation against this cruelty.
Last week, we held a virtual Protecting Farmed Animals Town Hall. More than 300 attendees learned about our fight to protect farmed animals and defend the world’s strongest law for farmed animals, California’s Proposition 12.
Protecting farmed animals and advocating for a more humane and plant-based future is really an all-hands-on-deck issue. And there was a ringing consensus about one thing at that town hall: People want kinder, more humane systems for animals and they want to take action for these animals now.
Here are five things you can do right now to help farmed animals
- If you live in the U.S. and you haven’t already, call and write to your federal lawmakers about the Farm Bill, urging them to reject the absurdly named Save Our Bacon Act. The SOB Act is the pork industry’s Hail Mary play for language to eviscerate some of the strongest animal welfare laws in the country, California’s Proposition 12, Massachusetts’ Question 3 and related state-level animal welfare laws that address the cruelties of extreme confinement. While the SOB Act is currently included in the version of the Farm Bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this year, there is still time to make your voice heard to not include this dangerous language in the final version of the Farm Bill.
Konrad Lozinski/We Animals Media
Your voice is critical
The "Save Our Bacon Act" is bad for animals, consumers, and farmers. If it is enacted, hundreds of state laws protecting animals and addressing disease control, toxic materials, food labeling and more could be destroyed.
- Tell Kroger to keep its promise on cage-free eggs. Major grocery chain Kroger has failed to meet its public commitment to consumers to sell eggs sourced only from cage-free hens by 2025. The company refuses to enact a new policy on moving toward a 100% cage-free egg pledge. On egg factory farms that use cage systems, as many as 10 hens are crammed into a wire cage roughly the size of a microwave to live their entire lives, unable to even spread their wings. Each hen is forced to eat, sleep and defecate in the same limited space and is denied almost everything that is natural to her. You can add your name to a petition urging the company to change its course and honor its commitment.
Frank Loftus/Humane World for Animals
Animals deserve better
Sign this petition to Greg Foran, the CEO of Kroger, urging the company to keep its animal welfare promises and stop profiting from animal cruelty.
- Sign up for Beansday. Every individual can make a difference for animals and play a part in creating a more humane world. That is the foundational belief at the heart of our advocacy for animals. And in that spirit, earlier this year we launched Beansday, built on a simple truth: small, repeatable actions add up. By making at least one intentional choice to swap meat for beans each week, anyone can be part of creating a more humane food system.
Coty Tarr/
Get your bean on
This Wednesday and every Wednesday is Beansday, the day we swap meat for beans to help spare animal lives. It’s a simple switch that can make a big difference for animals, people and the planet.
- Start planning a plant-based holiday season. As we approach the holidays, such as Thanksgiving in the U.S., we can be reminded of how difficult it can be to change cherished traditions. But the end of the year can also be a time to reflect about who we are and what we value. Here are some resources that can help make the holiday fests more humane:
- Browse our plant-based recipe database.
- Get some tips from chefs for swapping out meat and dairy loaded plates for plant-based counterparts.
- Stock up on staples for a plant-based pantry.
- Share your passion for plant-based eating and protecting farmed animals with your family and friends. Whether it’s sending them a delicious plant-based recipe or explaining why cage-free eggs are a better choice than eggs from caged hens, start taking action for farmed animals by making it a topic of conversation every day.
To be invited to our supporter town halls in the future, you can sign up for email updates.
Kitty Block is president and CEO of Humane World for Animals. Follow Kitty Block on X. Sara Amundson is president of Humane World Action Fund.
