Factory farms are wreaking havoc on animals, people, and the planet

Dear Friend, Help protect animals, people, and the planet from Big Ag’s abuses: Donate $27 and help us reach our $4,300 goal by midnight! If you've saved payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately: [Donate $27 immediately]( [Donate $50 immediately]( [Donate $100 immediately]( [Donate another amount]( Hens crammed into tiny cages where they can’t spread their wings. Mother pigs kept in pens where they are barely able to move. The factory farming industry continues these awful practices in reckless pursuit of profit. Friend, Big Meat and Dairy don’t want you to know about these kinds of horrific abuses happening behind the scenes. [Stop the expansion of this brutal industry and protect animals, people, and the planet: donate $27 today and help us reach our $4,300 goal before the clock strikes midnight!]( Each moment from birth to slaughter, animals in factory farms are raised in filthy, cramped, and inhumane conditions. Many of them spend their entire lives without seeing the light of day or breathing fresh air. What’s worse -- the mountains of pollution emitted from these operations poison the air and water of nearby communities, affecting their health and further driving the climate crisis. Big Meat and Dairy companies are perpetuating this intolerable cruelty and climate disaster. Meanwhile, the USDA and EPA let them get away with it. The USDA actually supports some of the worst Big Meat and Dairy corporations with taxpayer-supported grants as well as government food purchases. We cannot continue allowing the meat and dairy industry to inflict so much damage on animals, humans, and the planet. That’s why Friends of the Earth is working so hard to stop government subsidies for this industry and put in place policies that will prevent mega meat corporations from destroying our only Earth and wreaking havoc on human health and animal welfare. Will you stand with us, Friend? Big corporations can't go on harming people, destroying our planet, and abusing animals. Donate $27 or more to help us reach our $4,300 goal today. If you've saved payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately: [Donate $27 immediately]( [Donate $50 immediately]( [Donate $100 immediately]( [Donate another amount]( Damage from factory farms extends past the animals they directly impact. Factory farms produce toxic pollutants that severely degrade the air and quality of life of the communities nearby -- many of which are low-income, Black and brown communities. In fact, mega-farms produce hundreds of billions of pounds of manure per year. When it seeps into the soil and reaches nearby water sources, it can pollute drinking water, kill fish, and render nearby waterways unsafe. Even more, the antibiotics in this waste can foster antibiotic-resistant bacteria that harm human health! It doesn’t end there. Cramming genetically similar animals in overcrowded, dirty, inhumane, and stressful conditions makes the animals more susceptible to infection. That can result in a dangerously perfect breeding ground for diseases like swine flu and avian flu. Yet, Big Meat continues to understate its environmental impacts, with almost no government oversight. And people are already paying the price. Factory farming hurts the people employed in the industry, too. Farmers are trapped in exploitive contracts with massive corporations like Tyson Foods and JBS. And workers in meatpacking plants face dangerous working conditions -- from a lack of COVID protections to pressure to process meat at ever-faster speeds. That means higher likelihood of injuries like lacerations. All in order to increase the companies’ profits. The entire business model of mega meat corporations is based on keeping their costs as low as possible through poor working conditions and unsustainable practices that drive us closer to climate catastrophe. And our government allows them to keep lining their pockets rather than protect the health of people, animals, and our planet. That’s why Friends of the Earth is working to stop government support for Big Meat companies and their horrendous factory farming practices. Mega meat corporations are harming animals, people, and the environment. Make your contribution of $27 or more today! If you've saved payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately: [Donate $27 immediately]( [Donate $50 immediately]( [Donate $100 immediately]( [Donate another amount]( Mega meat corporations continue to push the limits of how many animals they can pack into fewer farms. Between 1960 and 2002, the number of farms in the U.S. decreased by 50%. Meanwhile, the number of animals on these farms soared. And in 2020, 1.6 billion animals were confined in just 25,000 factory farms. We can’t allow greedy corporations like Big Meat and Dairy to continue wreaking havoc on communities and animals. Unless we challenge the hand-outs of public dollars and lax regulations that prop up factory farming, Big Meat corporations like Smithfield, Tyson, and JBS will never change their practices. Friends of the Earth is working for a healthy, equitable, and sustainable food system that supports a just transition away from factory farms and protects our planet from Big Polluters. We’re taking the fight to Congress and the Biden administration, asking them to increase oversight and cut subsidies for factory farming. We are also pushing them to promote more plant-based meals in schools and use their $9 billion in food purchasing power for good -- to support diverse, smaller scale sustainable producers instead of big meat companies like Tyson Foods that routinely violate labor and environmental laws. Your membership support can help power our work and ensure a future for animals, people, and the planet. These destructive, greedy practices must be stopped, Friend: for the sake of people, the planet, and animals. Until we rein in the power of Big Meat by changing policy and enacting stronger regulations, factory farms will continue to wreak havoc. We must step up our efforts quickly before the damage becomes too great to reverse. Please, donate $27 or more before midnight tonight! Factory farming is putting people and the planet at risk. Fight back for our planet by donating $27 and help us reach our $4,300 goal! If you've saved payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately: [Donate $27 immediately]( [Donate $50 immediately]( [Donate $100 immediately]( [Donate another amount]( Standing with you, Kari Hamerschlag Deputy director of food and agriculture, Friends of the Earth Contact Us: Friends of the Earth U.S. Washington, D.C. | Berkeley, CA 1-877-843-8687 [Contact us]( Email Preferences: [Click here to unsubscribe]( Learn more: www.foe.org/news www.foe.org/about-us www.foeaction.org Connect: [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Flickr]( © 2023, Friends of the Earth. All Rights Reserved. [supporter]