Explainer
Since its inception in 1861, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's primary function was to serve the interests of farmers, often at the expense of public health and the environment.
Food•9 min read
Explainer
So much of our lives are oriented towards other humans instead of animals. But learning these facts about animals may help you better understand the world we share.
Research•12 min read
Explainer
The popularity of vegan meat substitutes in supermarkets in the United States and around the world is growing. Check out a few of our favorites.
Diet•14 min read
Explainer
More and more consumers are choosing cage-free eggs, but producers are still unsure of what the term even means. That could be bad news for layer hens.
Food•7 min read
Explainer
Human activity is threatening marine animals' way of life. Instead of asking ourselves how we can fish more sustainably, we should ask what we need to do to ensure their…
Climate•12 min read
Explainer
The shark fin trade claims the lives of 73 million sharks per year. What exactly is shark finning, and why does is it pose such a danger to the oceans?
Climate•9 min read
Explainer
There's a lot of misinformation and poorly researched content available online claiming to debunk the common misconceptions about veganism. But what’s the real story?
Diet•10 min read
Explainer
Despite the industry's best efforts to hide behind labels that make chicken farming appear more eco-friendly, it still has devastating consequences for animals and the environment.
Big Meat•17 min read
Explainer
As transformative and applicable as biochar may be, it will have little effect on the overall sustainability of our food system if agricultural practices otherwise remain the same.
Big Meat•8 min read
Explainer
How do vegans get protein, you ask? Surprisingly, a balanced vegan diet contains more than enough protein to meet one’s nutritional needs.
Health•15 min read
Explainer
If you share your home with a companion animal, you might be asking, can animals catch coronavirus? Here's what you need to know to keep your pets COVID-free.
Health•8 min read
Explainer
Can humans become hosts and infect animals with COVID-19? To answer that question, you need to understand where the novel coronavirus came from.
Health•6 min read
Explainer
Milk pollution in rivers is a serious problem. About 2.1 billion people still do not have access to safe drinking water, and many of them have the dairy industry to…
Climate•7 min read
Explainer
Environmentalists have been at odds with corporate agriculture for years, and while dairy farmers often slip under the radar, they're not off the hook. So we asked, how does dairy…
Climate•10 min read
Explainer
The ethics of eating fish are lost on most consumers because they rarely stop to think about what—or who—they are eating.
Diet•9 min read
Explainer
McDonald's animal cruelty record is far from perfect. The company has been under fire after multiple investigations exposed cruelty at its chicken suppliers.
Food•6 min read
Explainer
Live animal export is one of the single greatest threats to animal welfare. Every year, billions of animals are crammed into cargo holds, and many don't make it out alive.
Food•8 min read
Explainer
Fish farming was supposed to be a more sustainable way to meet the global demand for seafood. But as aquaculture gains in popularity, so does its environmental impact.
Fisheries & Aquaculture•8 min read
Explainer
Factory farming poses a serious pandemic risk, which begs the question: Did animal agriculture cause COVID-19?
Health•9 min read
Explainer
Factory farms are filthy and unnatural, housing tens of thousands of animals at a time. These conditions increase the spread of zoonotic diseases from animals to human beings.
Health•8 min read
Explainer
Today, corporate agriculture raises broiler chickens by the billions, producing birds that have not only outgrown their own bodies but are capable of outgrowing the industry itself.
Food•9 min read
Explainer
Plant-based meat is growing in popularity around the world. Could it reshape the future of food, helping both the climate and animals alike?
Diet•7 min read
Explainer
One of the most overlooked factors of accelerated climate change is animal agriculture. Could changes to the human diet help us slow down the climate crisis?
Big Meat•8 min read
Explainer
Wet markets can be places of profound animal suffering, out of which arise life-threatening diseases like the novel coronavirus. And they exist all over the world.
Health•13 min read
Explainer
Farmed animals represent an ever-growing number of animals that are raised, exploited, and slaughtered for fashion and food. These are animals who have few rights and zero freedom.
Food•23 min read
Explainer
Human sentience is widely understood and accepted, while the sentience of other species, including farmed animals, is increasingly recognized.
Science•4 min read
Explainer
The latest pandemic COVID-19, is caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2. How does it spread, how did it start, and what do you need to know?
Health•21 min read
Explainer
Animal rights and religion overlap in more ways than are currently spoken about or reported on. Here are what the most practiced religions say regarding animals rights.
Culture•10 min read
Explainer
CO2 gassing is standard practice among the world’s largest pork producers, but not because it’s more humane, as the industry promises.
Factory Farms•5 min read
Explainer
News anchors broadcast about it, scientists are scrambling for ways to reverse it, and consumers unknowingly contribute to it. What is it? Climate change.
Big Meat•17 min read
Explainer
Climate scientist Ryan Towell from the Climate Reality Project explains which foods will be harder to produce as a result of climate change - and which foods are making it…
Climate•2 min read
Explainer
Eating less meat and dairy is the single best way to reduce your climate impact. How does your diet stack up?
Climate•6 min read
Explainer
Plastic consumption is on the rise, but so are the innovative ways to ditch it. This guide will help you to reduce single-use plastic and set you up for plastic-free…
Climate•8 min read
Explainer
JBS USA is a leading American meat processor responsible for some of the worst recalls, environmental scandals, and animal cruelty cases ever seen before.
Food•14 min read
Explainer
Tyson Foods produces 20 percent of the United States’ chicken, pork, and beef products. Their market dominance is won at the cost of cruelty to animals, harm to the environment,…
Food•12 min read
Explainer
An estimated 121 million pigs are slaughtered every year in the United States, and one pork producer is responsible for over 15 million of those deaths.
Food•12 min read
Explainer
Going vegan has never been easier. As grocery stores and restaurants add new vegan options and more information becomes available online, going vegan is the logical answer to anyone looking…
Diet•16 min read
Explainer
It's a controversial question. So we put together a comprehensive timeline tracking 24 surveys of vegans over the past 25 years.
Diet•8 min read
Explainer
Making the most out of a not-so-good thing can feel, well, kinda good, like ordering off of the secret vegan and vegetarian menu at your local fast food joint. It’s…
Diet•5 min read
Explainer
Over the years, the Western Diet has created numerous dangers for people who follow it. Unfortunately, many of those people don’t realize they’re harming their body or are unwilling to…
Diet•13 min read
Explainer
Healthy weight loss involves a well-balanced diet, plenty of exercise, and a true understanding of how your actions impact your health. That goes for vegans, too.
Diet•11 min read
Explainer
Vegan health is an important topic for everyone, even if you’re not quite vegan yet. The more you learn about your food choices as well as other things that impact…
Diet•13 min read
Explainer
The idea that we need to consume meat to remain healthy is a myth rooted in a culture with customs of eating meat and in an industry that wants to…
Food•13 min read
Explainer
Animals are suffering. The climate is on the brink. People are dying from preventable diseases, and it all starts with what we eat.
Diet•6 min read
Explainer
Chickens and laying hens that have continuous access outside are considered “free-range” as labeled by the USDA. For egg-producing hens, this access must be available throughout their laying cycle. The…
Food•1 min read
Explainer
In 1971, President Richard Nixon signed the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act, the first federal legislation of its kind designated to protect the nation’s wild horse population on both…
Factory Farms•1 min read
Explainer
Cage-free is a labeling term regulated by the USDA. It refers to eggs that require hens to be raised in an enclosed facility or building where they have unlimited access…
Food•1 min read
Explainer
Passed in 1918, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act makes it illegal to “take posses, import, export, transport, sell, purchase, barter, or offer for sale, purchase, or barter, any migratory bird,…
Factory Farms•1 min read
Explainer
Throughout history, there have been doubts about the health benefits of vegetarianism. In the 1980s, The American Diabetic Association was concerned about the health merits of an all-vegetable diet. Now,…
Diet•1 min read
Explainer
The concept of animal intelligence has its roots in the theory of sentience, or an animal’s ability to experience both positive and negative emotions. Philosophers and scientists have debated the…
Science•1 min read
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Sentient investigates and explains factory farms and their effect on climate, the environment, animals, health, politics and rural communities.