Industry

Perspective

How the Media Greenwashes Industrial Pig Farming in Malaysia

Media coverage often misses the root cause of factory farm pollution.

Food•9 min read

Explainer

Does Animal Agriculture Cause Climate Change and Pandemics?

The global animal agriculture industry rakes in billions of dollars while putting the environment and human health at risk.

Food•18 min read

Reported

From Meat to Plant-Based, One Factory at a Time

Finland's Meeat Food Tech is accelerating food system change by converting existing meat facilities into plant-based protein factories.

Food•9 min read

Reported

Animal Rebellion to Block U.K. Dairy Supply Until Demands Are Met

Animal Rebellion is pledging to block dairy deliveries until the government agrees to support rewilding and plant-based food system transition.

Food•7 min read

Investigation

Here’s What Happens Behind Closed Doors at an Intensive Goat Dairy

A new undercover investigation by Animal Justice Project shows how goats are treated on a large dairy farm.

Food•5 min read

Reported

New Singapore Partnership Aims to Boost Cultivated Meat, But With Chicken

A poultry processing company in Singapore offers up its waste to cultivated meat companies. But should they use it?

Food•5 min read

Explainer

Meatpacking: A Closer Look Inside a Secretive and Dangerous Industry

On factory farms, animals are subjected to stress, confinement and physical harm. But the meatpacking industry is also harmful to humans caught within it.

Food•3 min read

Perspective

Poultry Industry’s Response to Avian Flu Raises Red Flags

Safely disposing of the dead birds and implementing effective safety measures to prevent the next outbreak prove to be a significant challenge.

Food•5 min read

Analysis

Latest Updates From the 2022 Avian Flu Outbreak

The first human case of avian flu was confirmed in China last week. But over the past three months, millions of birds have died.

Food•8 min read

News

KFC Adds Beyond Meat Fried Chicken to the Menu

KFC has a surprising number of vegan options. Recently, the fast food chain tested a new plant-based product, Beyond Fried Chicken, in select stores.

Food•7 min read

Reported

Factory Farming’s Toxic Relationship With the Pesticide Industry

A new report reveals that an estimated 235 million pounds of pesticides were used to grow feed crops for factory-farmed animals in the U.S. in 2018.

Food•6 min read

Explainer

How Long Do Chickens Live on Factory Farms?

The vast majority of chickens spend their entire lives in the confinement of a factory farm. Farmed animals live for about six weeks before they are slaughtered.

Food•7 min read

Reported

JBS Takes Steps to Prevent Another Catastrophic Outbreak

A team of third-party experts will help seven JBS plants reduce employee coronavirus exposure and prepare for future outbreaks.

Food•4 min read

Perspective

What This Guardian Article Got Wrong About Avian Flu

Sentient Media’s Associate Editor Claire Hamlett critiques the Guardian's coverage of avian flu in an excerpt from our brand new, special-edition newsletter, The Correction.

Correction•2 min read

Feature

10 Exciting New Plant-Based Products Hitting Shelves This Year

Plant-based foods are one of the food industry's top-selling items. Here are a few of this year's trends, from "meatier" meat to plant-based seafood.

Food•7 min read

Explainer

Do Cows Have to Be Pregnant to Produce Milk?

To produce milk, dairy cattle need to be impregnated. The typical dairy cow is bred every single year, giving her body no break from producing milk or carrying a baby.

Food•8 min read

Reported

Bird Flu Spreads at Astonishing Rate, Forcing More Culls

The H5N1 virus continues to spread through poultry farms across the U.S. and around the world, forcing farmers to cull record numbers of birds.

Food•5 min read

Perspective

Meat Producers Have a New Animal to Farm

The edible insect market is projected to hit $1.2 billion by 2023. But advocates are questioning the motives behind this surprising new trend.

Food•8 min read

Perspective

Is Smart Farming Making Life Worse for Farmed Animals?

New technology is making farmers' lives easier, but the increased efficiency they bring often comes at the cost of farmed animals.

Food•6 min read

Perspective

How ‘Farm-to-Table’ Was Co-Opted by Big Meat and Dairy

The farm-to-table movement promised better, more sustainable food. But the idea has been co-opted by meat and dairy producers, who exploit it for their own financial gain.

Food•5 min read

Reported

Campaigners and Duck Farmers at Odds Over Future of Industry

“We are calling upon the [UK] government to ban this cruel industry,” said one campaigner. “There is no place in Britain or anywhere else for it.”

Food•5 min read

Reported

In Vietnam, the Call for Factory Farm Divestment Grows Louder

The International Finance Corporation recently invested $26 million into Vietnam's pig farming industry, spurring new calls for divestment.

Food•7 min read

Explainer

What You Should Know About the World’s Top Dairy Companies

In the U.S., dairy farms generate $628 billion annually. And while they add to the GDP of many countries, they also cause harm that cannot be undone.

Food•8 min read

Explainer

What Happens to Dairy Cows When They Get Old?

In the dairy industry, a cow’s life is segmented into predictable, routine steps to help farms make the most profit. We took a closer look at what happens next.

Food•8 min read

Reported

Experts Say Dairy Farming Is ‘Hardly Natural’. The Industry Doesn’t Agree.

The dairy industry will say almost anything, and we mean anything, to protect its image. Experts say this time it has gone too far.

Food•5 min read

Perspective

The Cruelest Part of Dairy Farming Is Totally Legal

Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the inherent cruelty behind dairy farming, but farmers are quick to come to its defense.

Food•5 min read

Explainer

The State of Mink Farming: What Changed During the Pandemic

Advocates have worked for decades to educate the public about the danger of mink farms. During the pandemic, their work became hyper-relevant.

Food•9 min read

Reported

The American Farm Bureau Federation Claims It’s the ‘Voice of Agriculture.’ These Groups Beg to Differ.

With millions of members, the American Farm Bureau Federation says it represents "divergent opinions." But the farmers outside its circle believe it leans "heavily towards corporate interests."

Food•13 min read

Explainer

What Happens Behind Closed Doors in the Egg Industry

The egg industry is a dark, complicated place. We took a closer look at the mistreatment of birds on egg farms and what you can do to help.

Food•7 min read

Reported

In Zimbabwe, Poultry Farmers Face a New Foe: Antibiotic Resistance

The rapid increase of antibiotic resistance is threatening the future of poultry farming in Zimbabwe. Experts say education is the root of the problem.

Food•4 min read

Reported

Rise of Antibiotic Resistance Threatens Farmers’ Way of Life

Farmers say they’re not to blame for the abuse of medically important drugs in animal agriculture. The problem, as they see it, is much more complicated.

Food•6 min read

Explainer

Is This the Beginning of the End for Foie Gras?

Foie gras directly translates to “fat liver,” which is exactly what it is. Learn more about the birds who suffer so that people can eat this so-called delicacy.

Food•7 min read

Explainer

Antibiotic Resistance and Animal Farming: What You Need to Know

Experts believe that drug-resistant bacteria, many of which are born on factory farms, could be the cause of the next pandemic. We took a closer look.

Food•2 min read

Explainer

The Truth About Duck Farming: What Happens Behind Closed Doors

On large-scale duck farms, thousands of ducks are crammed together with no access to water. The rest of their lives is increasingly unnatural.

Food•11 min read

Reported

Inside the Dramatic Rise of Factory Farming in Africa

While factory farming is most prevalent in the Global North, it is gaining political support in Africa, and animals are paying the price.

Food•6 min read

Explainer

How Power and Influence Corrupts Big Food Companies

Big Food is characterized by the domination of major food markets by a few large companies. In the food industry, the lack of competition leads to a host of problems.

Food•12 min read

Explainer

What Life Is Like for America’s 10 Million Dairy Cows

Dairy cows are kind, emotional, and social creatures. However, the dairy industry sees them as nothing more than sources of milk.

Food•12 min read

Perspective

Interview: The Future of Pet Food With Ryan Bethencourt

Sentient Media recently sat down with Ryan Bethencourt, CEO of Wild Earth, to talk about how his company is shaking up the pet food industry.

Food•6 min read

Reported

How ‘Landless’ Pig Farms Break Animal Welfare Rules and Get Away With It

The rise of intensive animal agriculture in the EU has created a new phenomenon: the landless farm. Exempt from key welfare protections, these farms pose a serious threat to farmed…

Food•5 min read

Reported

Emails Show Meat CEOs Lobbied Federal Officials During Pandemic

The leaders of pork company Smithfield Foods and chicken producer Perdue Farms were in regular contact with government officials as the coronavirus began sweeping through their plants.

Food•7 min read

Reported

The Firms Keeping Big Ag in Business

Between 2015 and 2020, financial institutions gave over $478 billion to meat and dairy corporations around the world, largely without scrutiny.

Food•5 min read

Perspective

A Shortage of Butchers Is the Least of the Pork Industry’s Problems

A shortage of butchers in the UK has left slaughterhouses operating at decreased capacity, forcing many farmers to kill their pigs themselves.

Food•5 min read

Investigation

Major Animal Pharma Industry Group Forced to Remove UN Logo from ‘Misleading’ Briefing on Livestock Climate Impact

United Nations distances itself from “distortive” and “biased” animal pharma livestock briefing that used UN sustainable food summit logo.

Food•10 min read

Explainer

What’s Really in a Chicken Nugget?

Chicken nuggets are a staple of fast food chains and grocery store freezers, but there's more to the simple nuggets than meets the eye.

Food•10 min read

Explainer

Pig Farmers Know Best: Even Cheap Meat Comes With a Price

Over the past 50 years, mega-corporations have placed a firm hold on the pork industry, leaving many pig farmers in financial ruin.

Food•1 min read

Explainer

Why Egg Farming Practices Spread Avian Flu

And will continue to do so.

Food•17 min read

Reported

Farmers Caught in the Gears of Agricultural Industry

Farming was a sustainable way of life until corporate agriculture came knocking. Now, farmers are caught in the gears of an industry that prioritizes cheap crops and labor above all…

Food•18 min read

Explainer

Dairy Farmers Find Themselves at the Center of a Troubled Industry

Dairy farmers work long hours in dangerous conditions, while animals are constantly impregnated and then separated from their young.

Food•10 min read

Reported

What Happens When Big Ag Comes to Town

Big Ag didn't just put small farmers out of business. They changed a way of life in rural America and made it harder to fight climate change.

Food•20 min read

Reported

Expansion of Cattle Farms Leads to Rise of Armed Conflict in Colombia

A special investigation into the expansion of cattle farming in Colombia has found a connection between illegal deforestation and the rise of armed conflict in the region.

Food•5 min read