Meet Maeve Smith, our inaugural Bill Ferguson Farm Transitions Fellow. This role honors the late Bill Ferguson, an Alabama chicken farmer who did something extraordinary: he walked away from the contract growing system and transformed his operation into Riley Creek Farms, a sustainable crop production model that’s thriving today under his family’s leadership. Bill showed us what’s possible when farmers …
Today we’re releasing something that took courage, patience, and months of meticulous undercover work—our return investigation of Cooke Aquaculture’s Maine salmon hatchery. Back in 2019, we exposed shocking cruelty at this facility. The company promised reforms. Industry certifiers gave their stamp of approval. But here’s what actually happened: workers openly mocked our first investigation while continuing to brutalize fish. One …
The USDA is considering proposals that would increase line speeds at chicken slaughterhouses from 140 to 175 birds per minute and at pig facilities to unlimited speeds. That’s nearly 3 birds killed every second. Animal Outlook is joining forces with leading organizations to fight this deregulation for chickens and pigs—and we’re taking this all the way. Why this matters: The …
Later this month, three members of our leadership team are heading to Toronto for the AVA International Summit—and we’re already anticipating what a moment this will be. Warren Egersheim, MPA, Angela de Freitas, and Erin W. don’t usually seek the stage. They’re the ones building sustainable funding models, sitting across the table from farmers ready to transition, and coordinating undercover …
Our legal team just filed what we believe is the first-ever lawsuit challenging battery cage egg sales against a company’s claim to uphold the Five Freedoms of animal welfare. The defendant? ALDI Inc. Here’s what went down behind the scenes: Back in 2016, ALDI made a very public promise to go 100% cage-free by 2025. They promoted it everywhere—press releases, …
Cultivated (or “lab-grown”) meat is virtually identical, in terms of cellular structure and nutrition, to meat produced by raising and slaughtering animals: the difference is, it is produced by growing animal cells in a controlled environment, rather than raising and killing animals to produce each product (Good Food Institute). The process begins with obtaining stem cells from an animal, which …
What happens when you challenge people to guess which milk uses the most water? 🌊 Last week, our California chapter leaders Kristine M. and Katia Antonova brought our newest interactive game to two Earth Day events, and the results were fascinating. The setup was simple: arrange milk bottles by water consumption. Most people guessed almond or rice milk would be …
Last week, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals heard oral argument in Animal Outlook’s challenge to the American Heart Association’s paid “Heart‑Check” seal on certain meat products — a certification that, we allege, contradicts AHA’s own science and misleads consumers.⚖️🌱 Here’s what’s really happening: The AHA has publicly acknowledged in its own peer-reviewed journals that higher meat intake is …
Water footprint is the total amount of water used to produce something or support an activity (Hogeboom, 2020). It includes all the water consumed during each step of the process. Many people assume that personal water use comes from things like showering, washing dishes, or watering the lawn. But in reality, only about 4% of humanity’s water footprint comes from …