Explainer

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

What Is a Sentient Being? Here’s Why the Definition Is So Important

There are a number of different definitions for sentient beings. Here's how to navigate the complicated conversation around which animals are sentient and which are not.

Science•9 min read

Explainer

Factory Farming: What the Industry Doesn’t Want You to Know

Because of factory farming, people can eat low-cost fish, chicken, beef, pork, and other animal-based foods, but at the expense of the environment, animal welfare, and marginalized peoples.

Food•17 min read

Explainer

Whole-Food, Plant-Based Diet: How to Start Eating Cleaner

Choosing to eat a whole-food, plant-based diet is one of the most beneficial things you can do for your personal health, the environment, and animal welfare.

Diet•8 min read

Explainer

Plant-Based Seafood: The Next Frontier in Plant-Based Meat

Plant-based seafood, an alternative to traditional seafood, has been gaining popularity in recent years and provides a more reliable and sustainable source of food without sacrificing flavor.

Health•8 min read

Explainer

Meat, Money, and Politics: Inside Big Ag’s Struggle to Feed the World

The meat industry is controlled by a few deeply connected corporations that wreak havoc on the planet and exploit workers and marginalized communities without consequence.

Food•2 min read

Explainer

The Rise of Plant-Based Milk

The popularity of plant-based milks suggests a trend towards more compassion in the food system—for human health, the environment, and farmed animals.

Health•12 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

Explainer

The Problems With Meat Consumption: Here’s What You Need to Know

There are more problems with meat consumption than you might think. Choosing to eat meat places your own health, the public’s health, and the environment at risk.

Diet•10 min read

Explainer

Is Going Vegan Healthy? 6 Benefits of Going Vegan in 2021

While it isn’t necessary to go vegan in order to be healthy, vegan diets can certainly help. Find out the benefits of cutting animal products out of your diet.

Diet•11 min read

Explainer

How Cultivated Meat Went from Lab Experiment to Legitimate Solution

Like the Impossible Burger, cultivated meat is an industry-led technological innovation that will make it easier to cut animals out of your diet and eat meat, too.

Food•11 min read

Explainer

Is Industrial Agriculture Really Making the World a Better Place?

Given the many negative impacts that industrial agriculture has on the environment, health, and animal welfare, its place in society is coming into question.

Food•10 min read

Explainer

Plant-Based Chicken: What Is It Made of and Is It Healthy?

With interest in meat alternatives growing, so is curiosity about what alternatives like plant-based chicken are exactly, and why consumers should consider eating them.

Health•9 min read

Explainer

Inside the Dark World of Rabbit Farming

Rabbit is often celebrated as the "most sustainable" meat, but it emits more carbon per kilogram than both chicken and pork and causes millions of animals to suffer.

Food•6 min read

Explainer

How Animal Agriculture Is Accelerating the Climate Crisis

Move over, fossil fuels. The meat and dairy industries have a much bigger part to play in the climate crisis than most people are willing to admit.

Climate•2 min read

Explainer

Plant-Based Foods: Better for You and the Environment

The numerous environmental benefits of eating plant-based foods have been well-documented. Animal agriculture is a primary driver behind climate change.

Climate•9 min read

Explainer

Can Permaculture Help Us Build More Resilient Communities?

Permaculture is a way of farming that seeks to work with nature instead of against it. But the use of the term is widely contested as a form of cultural…

Climate•13 min read

Explainer

Go from Advocate to Journalist in Sentient Media’s New Course

Bringing together experts from journalism and animal advocacy, this course will empower you to take your skills to the next level regardless of your area of interest.

Policy•3 min read

Explainer

U.S. Department of Agriculture: Who Does the USDA Really Serve?

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

What Animals Can Teach Us About the World We Share

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

32 Vegan Meat Substitutes That We’re Excited About

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

The Future of Food Has to Be More Sustainable—Here’s Why

Our current food system is fueled by factory farming. That needs to change—and fast—if we are going to feed 10 billion people by 2050.

Food•12 min read

Explainer

Are Cage-Free Eggs Really Better for Chickens?

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

The Number One Threat to Marine Animals

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

How the Hunt for Shark Fins Is Endangering the Oceans

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

30 Common Misconceptions About Veganism Debunked

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

Can Chicken Farming Really Be Sustainable?

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.

Climate•17 min read

Explainer

Biochar: A Valuable Tool in the Fight Against Climate Change

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.

Climate•8 min read

Explainer

Why Protein Isn’t a Problem for Vegans

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

Can Animals Catch Coronavirus? What You Can Do to Protect Them

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

Coronavirus & Animals: Can Humans Give Animals COVID-19?

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: The World’s Clean Water Is at Risk

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

How Does Dairy Farming Cause Water Pollution?

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 Complicated Ethics of Eating Fish

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: Secrets of the Fast Food Industry

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

Sentient Media 2020 Year in Review

In one short, very strange year, Sentient Media reached over 25 million people. Your support pushes our impact further.

Policy•5 min read

Explainer

Understanding Animal Rights: The Bold Idea That Started a Movement

The belief that animals should be accorded some form of rights is an ancient one. In its modern form, the list of basic animal rights is becoming more concrete.

Policy•9 min read

Explainer

Live Animal Export: How Many Animals Die During Transport?

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 Is Not as Sustainable as We Thought

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.

Aquaculture•8 min read

Explainer

Coronavirus: Did Animal Agriculture Cause COVID-19?

Factory farming poses a serious pandemic risk, which begs the question: Did animal agriculture cause COVID-19?

Health•9 min read

Explainer

Cultured Meat Could Revolutionize the Food System

In nearly every way, cultured meat is the same as conventional meat. The all-important difference is that cultured meat does not require the raising or killing of animals for food.

Food•12 min read

Explainer

Factory Farms Are the Perfect Breeding Grounds for Zoonotic Diseases

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

Outgrowing the Chicken House: A Brief History of the Modern Broiler Industry

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 Meats Are Better for Your Health and the Environment

Plant-based meats are great for the animals. But did you know that they are also better for your health and the environment?

Climate•8 min read

Explainer

Plant-Based Meat: A Brighter Future for Food?

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

Animal Agriculture and Its Negative Impact on Climate Change

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?

Climate•8 min read

Explainer

How to Fact-Check and Verify Sources for Animal Rights Reporting

In the second installment of Sentient Sessions, Christopher Sebastian explains the importance of fact-checking and lays out the tools you'll need to master it.

Policy•4 min read

Explainer

Black Food Justice Reading List: 25 Articles, Books, and People to Follow

Centering the conversation around the activists, artists, and plant-based pioneers fighting for equality in the food system—and in their everyday lives—is the first step toward justice.

Policy•9 min read

Explainer

Wet Markets and the Risk of Transmitting Zoonotic Diseases

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: The Exploitation of Animals on Factory Farms

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