Explainer

Explainer

Sentience: What It Means and Why It’s Important

Human sentience is widely understood and accepted, while the sentience of other species, including farmed animals, is increasingly recognized.

Science•4 min read

Explainer

Coronavirus (COVID-19): What Is It and How Does It Spread?

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

What Each Major Religion Says About Animal Rights

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.

Health•10 min read

Explainer

There’s Nothing “Humane” About Killing Pigs in Gas Chambers

CO2 gassing is standard practice among the world’s largest pork producers, but not because it’s more humane, as the industry promises.

Law & Justice•5 min read

Explainer

Agriculture and Climate Change: Environmental Impact of Factory Farming

News anchors broadcast about it, scientists are scrambling for ways to reverse it, and consumers unknowingly contribute to it. What is it? Climate change.

Climate•17 min read

Explainer

These Foods Are Threatened by Climate Change

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

How Your Diet Contributes to Climate Change—in Three Graphs

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

Your Guide to Slashing Single-Use Plastic

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: Behind America’s Leading Meat Processor

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: How Many Chickens Does Tyson Kill Per Day?

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

Smithfield Foods: How Many Pigs Does Smithfield Slaughter Per Day?

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

Go Vegan: A Practical Vegan Guide for Beginners

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…

Health•16 min read

Explainer

The Ethical Vegan Versus a Plant-Based Diet: What Is the Difference

The animals don’t care why you aren’t eating them. But on a human level there are distinctions between people's motives for their behavior.

Policy•12 min read

Explainer

Fast Food’s Not-So-Secret Vegan (and Vegetarian) Menus

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…

Health•5 min read

Explainer

The Western Diet: Processed Foods and Meats Are Killing Us

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

Vegan Weight Loss: Why Veganism Goes Beyond Just Your Diet

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

Dairy Industry Horrors: It’s Neither Wholesome Nor Humane

The dairy industry is often presented to consumers as wholesome and humane. What actually goes on at dairy farms doesn’t match up with the marketing message, though. Dairy cows lead…

Food•12 min read

Explainer

Vegan Snacks to Curb Your Hunger and Stay Healthy

Vegan snacks aren’t as elusive as you might think. After you have a few months of veganism under your belt, you’ll feel more confident about choosing snacks and meals that…

Diet•11 min read

Explainer

The Raw Vegan Diet: Benefits, Drawbacks, and Tips

There’s nothing inherently dangerous about a raw vegan diet. It’s naturally full of antioxidants, anti-inflammatories, and heart-healthy foods. Let's dive in to the wonders and misconceptions of this diet.

Diet•10 min read

Explainer

Food Labeling Secrets You Need to Know to Stay Healthy

Food labeling isn’t nearly as clear, concise, and transparent as it should be. Lots of people are confused about what specific food labels mean, especially those that are often used…

Food•12 min read

Explainer

Vegan Health: What You Need to Know About the Vegan Diet

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

Pig Farming Uncovered: The Pork Industry’s Disturbing Truths

Pigs are highly intelligent, social creatures that deserve compassion and respect. They don't deserve to spend their short lives confined to atrocious conditions waiting for imminent slaughter.

Food•16 min read

Explainer

Food Insecurity: What It Is & What Is Causing It

The facts don't lie: we’re using grain and other perfectly human-edible nutritious plants to bulk up animals for destruction instead of feeding people who can’t feed themselves.

Law & Justice•11 min read

Explainer

The Meat Industry and Their Deceitful Marketing Messages

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

Becoming Vegan: What You Need to Know to Make the Change

Becoming vegan is one of the best ways in which you can contribute to a healthier environment — as well as a healthier you. While becoming vegan might seem like…

Health•16 min read

Explainer

Plant-Based Protein Can Help End Animal Agriculture

The best reason to choose plant-based protein is that it’s a cruelty-free source of something you need.

Science•15 min read

Explainer

Vegan Benefits for Both People and the Environment

If you aren’t aware of the many vegan benefits, you might want to sit down. How you approach your diet can have a massive impact on things like energy levels…

Climate•13 min read

Explainer

The Flexitarian Phenomenon

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

Animal Rights Groups: What Are They and What Do They Do

Animal rights groups exist for one reason: Because animals need them. Animals can’t fight for themselves beyond teeth and nails, which are essentially useless against human beings as a collective,…

Policy•12 min read

Explainer

100 Billion Animals Farmed

Let’s review: There are over 100 billion farmed animals alive today. That’s more than 10 times the number of humans, and in the U.S., where most humans live with enough…

Food•2 min read

Explainer

What Are Free-Range Chickens?

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

More than 300,000 Crate-Free Pigs Raised in Three Years

Affran Moffat/Flickr DuBreton, a farming operation providing Certified Humane and organic pork to millions of people around the world, invested $40 million into establishing more humane farming practices since 2015.…

Food•2 min read

Explainer

What Is Proposition 12 in California?

Proposition 12 in California would establish new cage-free housing requirements for baby veal calves, mother pigs, and egg-laying hens. The ballot initiative looks similar to California’s first “cage-free” initiative from…

Law & Justice•2 min read

Explainer

What Is the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act?

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…

Law & Justice•1 min read

Explainer

What Is Cage-Free Poultry?

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

What Is the Migratory Bird Treaty Act?

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,…

Law & Justice•1 min read

Explainer

How to Support Animal Welfare in the Farm Bill

World Farm Animal Day came and went! Celebrate by supporting animal welfare in the 2018 Farm Bill. Here's a sample email addressed to your member of Congress that expresses your…

Law & Justice•1 min read

Explainer

What’s Happening to America’s Sows?

🐷 Sows are dying at alarming rates—rising from 5.8% to 10.2% on farms with more than 125 sows. There’s no clear cause yet, but experts point to vitamin deficiency, mycotoxins…

Food•1 min read

Explainer

Is Vegetarianism Healthy?

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

Which Countries Produce the Most Meat?

For the first time since 2012, meat is on the rise. Exports for the 35.4-billion-dollar beef industry are forecasted to increase 5% in 2018. Broiler meat, which are chickens raised…

Food•2 min read

Explainer

What Is Animal Intelligence?

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

Explainer

What Is the Horse Protection Act?

In 1970, the public began to voice their outrage to Congress over the treatment of Tennessee walking horses for the show ring. There was a call for politicians to ban…

Law & Justice•1 min read

Explainer

What Is the Twenty-Eight Hour Law?

Vladimir Morozov/akxmedia This federal law set standards for animals being raised for food and transported across state lines. It states: animals that fit into this criteria cannot be transported by "rail…

Law & Justice•1 min read

Explainer

What Is the Health Research Extension Act of 1985?

IAEA/Flickr This legislative mandate directed the Secretary of Health and Human Services to create and enforce guidelines for the care and treatment of animals used in research. It's important to…

Law & Justice•1 min read

Explainer

What Is the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act?

Originally passed in 1958, the law was amended in 1978, then again in 2002. It requires USDA inspected slaughterhouses maintain the proper handling and humane treatment of all animals slaughtered…

Law & Justice•1 min read

Explainer

What Is Manure Runoff?

Manure from agricultural operations and livestock farms is the main source from which phosphorus and nitrogen enter surface and groundwater. Rainwater and over-irrigation cause these elements to seep into waterways…

Climate•1 min read

Explainer

What Is the Animal Welfare Act of 1966?

The Animal Welfare Act (AWA) was preceded in the 1960’s by a public outcry about the growing theft of cats and dogs to be sold for laboratory research. Life and…

Law & Justice•2 min read

Explainer

What Is a Hatchery?

A hatchery is used to raise eggs under controlled conditions. Most poultry hatcheries in the United States operate under a vertically integrated system, where the company that owns or supplies…

Food•1 min read

Explainer

1 in 4 Calories Produced in America Go to Waste

3 billion pounds of produce is thrown away every year—just in California. Another 20 million pounds of food is left in commercial fields across America to rot after the harvest…

Food•2 min read

Explainer

What Is a Nuisance Lawsuit?

A major point of contention over the last 20 years between residents and farmers has been nuisance lawsuits. These claims come in two forms, private and public. A public lawsuit…

Law & Justice•1 min read