Other Organizations & Publications

The organizations below work to stop factory farming and/or support independent family farmers. Check your state page to find additional groups in your area.

Factory Farm Opposition Groups

Animal Welfare Institute

AWI works to stop intensive farming practices and replace them with sustainable methods that are both humane and practical. Their humane, on-farm husbandry criteria for pig production are a model for others to follow.

Center for Rural Affairs

Committed to building communities that stand for social justice, economic opportunity, and environmental stewardship.

Clean Water Network

Advocates for controlling pollution from factory farms. Their website includes action alerts.

Family Farmer

Uniting conservation and family farms for the future. Features action alerts that support legislation to promote environmental conservation and family farms.

Farm Aid

This organization raises public awareness about the plight of the American family farmer and provides assistance to families whose livelihoods depend on agriculture.

Farmcrisis.org

A campaign to restore social and economic justice for rural communities.

Farmer’s Legal Action Group, Inc. (FLAG)

A nonprofit law center dedicated to providing legal services to family farmers and their communities in order to help keep family farmers on the land.

Hog Watch

Documents the status of hog farms and opposition efforts in North Carolina. Check the site’s poop counter for an up-to-the-minute calculation of manure production from NC hog farms. (Sponsored by the Environmental Defense Fund.)

Humane Society of the United States: Factory Farming Campaign

Works to reduce the suffering of animals used to produce meat, milk, and eggs.

The Johns Hopkins University (JHU) Center for a Livable Future

The Center for a Livable Future works to increase the body of knowledge about the interconnections among diet, food production, human health, and the natural environment in order to influence public policy toward more equitable and sustainable systems.

Plains Justice

A Great Plains public-interest law center working as advocates for clean, safe, and healthy communities. They’ve recently release a report titled “Public Heath and Livestock Confinements: Identifying Threats to Human Health” that’s a valuable resource to anyone dealing with the effects of CAFOs in their community.

Sierra Club: Clean Water & Factory Farms Campaign

National site with information about fighting factory farms, along with links to state Sierra Club chapters.

The Waterkeeper Alliance

A grassroots organization with over 100 local programs dedicated to preserving and protecting the nation’s waterways. They have emerged as a very effective voice in the fight against factory farms and other water polluters.

Environmental Organizations

The following organizations work on environmental issues associated with factory farming, such as air and water pollution, hazardous materials, and waste disposal.

American Farmland Trust

Works to stop the loss of productive farmland and to promote farming practices that lead to a healthy environment.

Center for Food Safety

This public interest and environmental advocacy organization works to address the impacts of our food production system on human health, animal welfare, and the environment.

Clean Water Action

A 700,000-member political action group that works to protect the environment, public health, economic wellbeing, and community quality of life. Several state offices are involved in factory farm issues.

Clean Water Network

An alliance of more than 1,000 organizations that endorse its platform paper, the National Agenda for Clean Water, which outlines the need for strong clean water safeguards to protect human health and the environment.

Corporate Agribusiness Research Project

A public interest project reinstituted in 1996, sponsored by Voice for a Viable Future, that seeks to provide a central, accurate, in-depth source of information about corporate agribusiness’ economic, social, and environmental impacts on family farmers, rural communities, ecosystems, labor, and consumers.

Earth Action

A global action alert network that can simultaneously mobilize people around the planet to speak out for a better world.

Environmental Expert.com

A web-based environmental business site.

Environmental Organization Web Directory – Agriculture

Agriculture page of the Environmental Organization Directory. Links to websites; organized by subtopic.

Land Stewardship Project

Works to create a food system that protects soil, water, and wildlife resources, promotes fairness and economic opportunities for family farms and rural communities, and provides safe and healthful food for everyone.

Natural Resources Defense Council

The NRDC site provides background information about factory farm issues and descriptions of programs that address topics such as water, air, land, health, and legislation.

Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility

Provides uniquely valuable services to government employees charged with safeguarding the nation’s natural resources. Works with, and on behalf of these resource professionals to effect fundamental change in the way their agencies conduct the public’s business. Promotes environmental ethics and government accountability.

Southern Environmental Law Center

SELC is the only environmental organization dedicated solely to protecting the natural resources of the southeastern US.

World Resources Institute

Provides information, ideas, and solutions to global environmental problems to induce the human population to live in a manner that protects Earth’s environment for current and future generations.

Publications: Books

Beyond the Law – Agribusiness and the Systemic Abuse of Animals Raised for Food or Food Production

Explains how agribusiness amended state anti-cruelty laws to exclude farm animals from even the most basic legal protection. (David J. Wolfson, 1999, 64pgs, $2.50.)

Bitter Harvest: A Chef’s Perspective on the Hidden Dangers in the Foods We Eat and What You Can Do About It

Chef Ann Cooper offers a comprehensive analysis of the issue of sustainability, arguing persuasively why we must begin to change everything from the way food is shipped to the basic components of our diets. (Routledge, June 2000.)

Bringing the Food Economy Home: Local Alternatives to Global Agribusiness

A shift toward local food would protect and rebuild agricultural diversity, give farmers a bigger share of the money spent on food, and provide consumers with healthier, fresher food at more affordable prices. This book discusses the potential positive impact of local producers in developed and developing countries. (Helena Norberg-Hodge, Todd Merrifield, Steven Gorelick; Kumarian Press, 2002.)

Chelsea Green Publishing

A small book publisher in Vermont that focuses on books about sustainability topics, from organic agriculture to energy concerns to self-reliance to alternative/natural building.

Corporate Reapers: The Book of Agribusiness

“This is a book filled not merely with fact, but with the spirit of Thomas Jefferson, Shay’s Rebellion, The Wizard of Oz, Mary Ellen Lease, Upton Sinclair, Woody Guthrie, Cesar Chavez and Willie Nelson. It’s a big book about justice, and it speaks the truth. Al Krebs has poured his life’s work into this volume, and it’s a work well worth the telling. The Corporate Reapers will inform you, anger you, broaden your vision and – I hope – fire you up for reform.” – Jim Hightower, Former Texas State Agricultural Commissioner.

Diet for a Dead Planet

Christopher Cook’s Diet for a Dead Planet is an explicit review of the history of America’s food production and the gradual degradation of a once-sustainable system. The author demonstrates how globalization and corporate manipulation have sacrificed a safe food system in the name of increased profits and control. Every human requires a healthy food product and Diet explains why the food products available at present are inadequate to meet the needs of our bodies. The Baltimore Sun calls it “a blistering polemic that details why American agriculture should be weaned from multi-billion dollar government subsidies that undermine Third World farmers, leaving them impoverished while Americans grow obese.” (Christopher Cook, New Press, 2004.)

Dominion: The Power of Man, the Suffering of Animals, and the Call to Mercy

Matthew Scully, a speech writer for George W. Bush, opposes factory farming and other cruel farming practices and advocates animals’ right to dignity and freedom from suffering. In this book, he investigates the hunting, whaling, and factory farming industries to support his position. (Matthew Scully, St. Martin’s, 2002.)

Eco-Economy: Building an Economy for the Earth

What is the true price of your food? Lester Brown poses this question in his latest book, arguing that ecological costs must be considered when calculating economic costs. He introduces the idea of an “eco-economy,” an inclusive concept that would incorporate global environmental needs in economic analysis. He also addresses the potential of sustainable fuel sources to cut ecological costs and create energy independence for countries that currently import oil. Can be downloaded for free or purchased. (Lester R. Brown, Earth Policy Institute, 2000.)

Eco-Wars: Political Campaigns and Social Movements

Can grassroots interest groups ever win the wars they wage in the political arena against big business in America? (Ronald T. Libby, a Columbia University Press publication.)

Fast Food Nation

Journalist Eric Schlosser traces the fast food industry and its surrounding culture from the invention of the fast food concept to the current realities of unsafe labor conditions in feedlots and slaughterhouses. He exposes the connections between the fast food and agriculture industries and the national government, as well as the ever-increasing health risks of foodborne pathogens. Fast Food Nation is a shocking look at what Americans, and now people all over the world, are actually eating. (Eric Schlosser, Houghton Mifflin, 2001.)

Fatal Harvest: The Tragedy of Industrial Agriculture

Essays from more than 30 authors, including Vandana Shiva and Alice Waters, about many different aspects of the misconceptions and abuses of industrial agriculture. The book forms the backdrop for the Organic and Beyond Campaign, which brings together organizations across the US in support of organic farming practices. Essays focus mostly on agriculture, but have strong support for the idea of organic farming, and promoting sustainable eating through legislation and public education. (Andrew Kimbrell (Ed), Island Press, 2002.)

Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health

Marion Nestle, the Nutrition Department chair at New York University, exposes the lobbying practices of the food industry and their effects on nutrition standards and consumer protection. She discusses the industry’s growth tactics – like marketing to children – in the US, where people are not only not going hungry, but are dying from eating too much. (Marion Nestle, University of California Press, 2002.)

The Food Revolution: How Your Diet Can Help Save Your Life and the World

Noting the massive changes in the environment, food-production methods, and technology over the last two decades, Robbins criticizes contemporary factory farming methods and demonstrates that individual dietary choices can be both empowering and have a broader impact. He takes on fad diets, the meat industry, food irradiation, hormone and antibiotic use in animals, cruel animal husbandry practices, the economics of meat consumption, biotechnology, and the prevalence of salmonella and E. Coli. More about the book… (John Robbins, Dean Ornish, MD., July 2001.)

A Food and Agricultural Policy for the 21st Century

A collection of papers that capture the array of issues, concerns, and solutions that farmers and citizens share with regard to the problems now occurring in food production, processing, marketing and consumption. (Organization for Competitive Markets, 2000.)

Genetically Engineered Food – A Self-Defense Guide for Consumers

A comprehensive book covering all aspects of GE foods, how to avoid them, and the related political, socioeconomic, and environmental issues. (Ronnie Cummins, Ben Lilliston, Marlowe & Company.)

Hogging It! Estimates of Antimicrobial Abuse in Livestock

Antimicrobial resistance is a public health problem of growing urgency. Mounting evidence confirms the view, long held in the public health community, that antimicrobial use in animals can substantially reduce the efficacy of the human antimicrobial arsenal. (Union of Concerned Scientists.)

Hog Wars: The Corporate Grab for Control of the Hog Industry and How Citizens Are Fighting Back

Chronicles the Missouri Rural Crisis Center’s efforts to organize citizens to prevent mega-hog corporations from destroying the Midwest. (Missouri Rural Crisis Center.)

Holy Cows and Hog Heaven

Tackling issues from farmer integrity to consumer kitchens to cultural cheap food policies, Salatin puts producers and patrons on the same team to create a farm-friendly food landscape. The book’s message is empowering, freeing every food buyer from feeling enslaved by the industrial food system. A good read for anyone who wants to see healthy farms and healthy children. (Joel Salatin, Acres USA Books.)

Home Grown

This World Watch Institute publication supports the local foods movement. The book describes the trend toward long-distance food importing, which has arguably compromised environmental and food safety. The local foods movement, in contrast, shows that promoting local production can ensure food safety while boosting rural and developing economies. (Brian Halweil, World Watch Institute, 2002.)

Hope’s Edge: The Next Diet for a Small Planet

In her 1971 three-million-copy bestseller, Diet for a Small Planet, Frances Moore Lappé blew apart the myth of food scarcity in the world. She also helped people see the value of a plant-centered whole foods diet. In the year 2000, the author and her daughter, Anna, went on a five-continent pilgrimage to find courageous individuals and groups who are working at “hope’s edge” to heal our threatened planet through innovative notions of how we can feed ourselves. (Frances Moore Lappe and Anna Lappe, Jeremy P. Tarcher Publishers, 2002.)

Livestock, Ethics and Quality of Life

An impressive array of international experts thoughtfully review the formidable range of ethical dilemmas faced by society as a consequence of half a century of unprecedented technological development and technical innovation in livestock farming. (Edited by Dr. J. Hodges & Prof. I.K. Han, CABI Publishing, November 1999.)

Mad Cowboy: Plain Truth from the Cattle Rancher Who Won’t Eat Meat

An expose on the beef industry and “a passionate manifesto for change from an industry insider.” (Howard Lyman.)

The Meat Business – Devouring a Hungry Planet

Challenges and exposes the myths of the meat industry by demonstrating that intensive meat production takes food from the poor, raises animals in inhumane conditions, diverts grain to factory-farmed animals, contributes to massive environmental degradation, and makes meat consumers more vulnerable to a host of life-threatening diseases. (Edited by Geoff Tansey and Joyce D’Silva, Compassion in World Farming, 1999, 249 pgs.)

My Year of Meats

An entertaining, thought-provoking novel that has been lauded by critics and readers alike, My Year of Meats tells the story of a filmmaker commissioned to make a television series encouraging Japanese families to eat more meat. Along the way, she discovers unethical practices in the American meat industry and grows determined to expose them. (Ruth Ozeki, Viking Press, April 1999.)

The Meat You Eat

The Meat You Eat examines how companies use a model that has transformed livestock farming from quality-driven, family-owned operations into big businesses only concerned with volume, efficiency, uniformity, and profits. Midkiff reveals the true cost of agribusiness on all levels – environmental, financial, moral, legal, and medical – balancing startling truths with practical solutions. With a foreword by Wendell Berry. (Ken Midkiff, St. Martin’s Press, 2004.)

The Organic Factor

A book about organic foods from a health perspective. Includes background information about why organic food is more safe and nutritious. (Paul Rogers, 2002.)

People Sustaining the Land

This collection of photographs and profiles depicts sustainable farmers all over the US. The authors visited 26 sustainable farms, driving from Florida to Washington State. In addition to the photos and commentary from the authors, the farmers themselves contributed essays about their relationships with the land and the choice to stick with sustainable farming. (Cynthia Vagnetti and Jerry Dewitt, Sustainable Agriculture Publications, 1999.)

Raising a Stink

Like many other states, Nebraska is home to industrial hog operations, which affect the state’s economy, environment, and the health of its residents. Journalist Carolyn Johnson has followed the struggle between industry executives and the citizens who oppose these factory farms. In this book she presents the story of Nebraska’s factory hog farms along with the opinions of those on all sides of the issue. (Carolyn Johnson, Bison Books, 204 pages, 2003.)

Renewing the Countryside

A beautiful, inspirational book that tells 43 stories about Minnesotans protecting the environment and their rural communities through innovative businesses and community projects. This powerful journey through Minnesota’s landscape is full of incredible photographs and stories of hope. (Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, 2001.)

Safe Food: Bacteria, Biotechnology, and Bioterrorism

Who is protecting us from our food? From the questionable safety of the food sold in restaurants and supermarkets, to the rapid introduction of genetically engineered foods, to the potential threats to food safety posed by terrorism, there are many dangers that may not get enough attention from legislators. This book asks the questions, how worried should we be about these threats? Who decides how they are handled, and what do they stand to gain? (Marion Nestle, University of California Press, 2003.)

Slaughterhouse

A depressing, but compelling case against the greed and inhumane nature of the US meat industry. Eisnitz is an undercover reporter who spent several years compiling her case. The book is published by Prometheus Books. (Gail A. Eisnitz, New York, 1997.)

Stolen Harvest: The Hijacking of the Global Food Supply

Internationally acclaimed environmental leader, Vandana Shiva, uncovers the devastating human and environmental impacts of corporate-engineered international trade agreements, charting the impacts of industrial agriculture and what they mean for small farmers, the environment, and the quality and healthfulness of the foods we eat. (Vandana Shiva, South End Press, 1999.)

Sustainable Cuisine White Papers

A collection of essays about sustainable farming and eating written by a variety of interested parties, including scientists, organic farmers, and sustainable food advocates such as Paul Newman. (Earth Pledge Foundation, Chelsea Green Publishing, 1999.)

This Organic Life

A combination memoir and instructional guide to organic gardening and cooking in a suburban setting from a nutritionist and Columbia University professor. (Joan Dye Gussow, Chelsea Green Publishing, 2001.)

Why Grassfed Is Best!

This 128-page book explains the many benefits of grassfed meat, eggs, and dairy. Written by New York Times bestselling author, Jo Robinson. $7.50 from Vashon Island Press. To purchase by phone, call Vashon Island Press, (206) 463-4156.

Blogs

Center for a Livable Future Blog

Written by public health experts at the Center for a Livable Future at Johns Hopkins University, this blog offers insightful commentary about the latest news and policies regarding food, agriculture, and public health.

Upsetting the Applecart

A nonpartisan blog created to inform the public about current news and events related to industrial agribusiness and factory farms. The blog focuses on conditions in Oregon, where factory farms are now expanding at an unprecedented rate.

Email Lists

The simplest form of online discussion is through email lists, which are available to anyone with an email address. The process for subscribing and sending messages differs by list.

IATP.org Listservs

A full range of email list topics from the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy including antibiotics, CAFOs, the biotech debate, globalization, farm bill news, and many more.

Sierra Club – Action Alert Archives

Searchable database of action alerts from Sierra Club’s mail list bulletin. For instance, you can search for all alerts from the last two years about topics such as hogs or poultry.

Yahoo Groups

One of the largest hosts of email lists. Search and browse by topic.

Publications about Factory Farming

Farmed Animal Watch

A well-researched weekly electronic newsletter and website with information about farm animal related publications, action alerts, important contacts, links, meetings and conferences.

Farms as Factories

A resource book for high school students and their teachers that covers issues such as animal welfare, environmental protection, and public health (published by the National Association for Humane and Environmental Education).

Rural America

Many in-depth articles about factory farm-related issues such as genetically modified crops, corporate agribusiness, and environmental impacts of industrial agriculture. (In Motion Magazine.)

Publications about Agriculture

Acres USA

National monthly magazine committed to spreading information about ecologically and economically sustainable agriculture. Covers regulatory issues as well as farming and marketing techniques; features articles and opinion pieces written by independent farmers, veterinarians, and researchers.

The AgBizTiller Online

“Monitoring Corporate Agribusiness from a Public Interest Perspective.” Also publish a weekly email newsletter, The Agribusiness Examiner; sign up by sending name and email address to avkrebs@earthlink.net.

@griculture Online

A community of agriculturalists – publishers, organizations, companies and individuals – providing the latest information in ag news, weather, markets, and new technology.

Agriculture 21

UN food and agricultural webzine containing reports, databases, and news on all aspects of international agriculture.

Agrinews

Offers up-to-date news and advertising for the agricultural industry, including farm machinery, crop production and livestock.

AgWeb.com (formerly Farm Journal Today)

A group of technical industrial electronic journals produced by Farm Journal Today. Topics include livestock, dairy, crops, etc. (Free registration required for complete access.)

Center for Rural Affairs Newsletter

Includes in-depth articles, Corporate Farming Notes, a section of special interest to Nebraskans called Nebraska Rural Action, and many short news pieces of general interest.

Cornell Poultry Pointers

Cornell University Co-Op Extension newsletter. Technical, political, and commercial news.

Farm Bureau News

Recent news and agriculture stories from the Farm Bureau, an organization that promotes factory farm interests.

Meat Industry Insights

Up-to-date news about the meat business – profits, USDA rulings, technical developments, etc.

Missouri Rural Crisis Center – Rural America

A statewide organization of farmers and their families with thirteen chapters around the state of Missouri. “Rural America” is the Center’s column on farm policy and rural community.

National Hog Farmer Magazine

Trade journal for hog producers. Includes both production technology and industry news.

National Meat Association Newsletter

Weekly bulletin on issues of interest to the meat industry.

Publications about Animal Welfare

Animals Voice

An award-winning, independent, online magazine with information about animal rights and welfare.

AWI (Animal Welfare Institute) Quarterly

View recent publications online.

Publications about Food and Public Health

BioDemocracy News

Produced by the Organic Consumers Association; deals with food and food safety issues.

Food Chemical News

Long known for its authoritative coverage of US food regulation, Food Chemical News has expanded to cover global developments and the topic of dietary supplements.

Publications about the Environment

Electronic Green Journal

A peer-reviewed professional journal of international environmental information published by the University of Idaho Libraries.

GeneWatch

Continually monitors the ethical, social, and ecological impacts of biotechnology. (Published by the Council for Responsible Genetics.)

The Green Lane

A science-based government department helping Canadians live and prosper in an environment that is properly protected and conserved. Its goal is to help make sustainable development a reality in Canada, and make the country an example to the world.

Grist Magazine

Grist, a project of Earth Day Network, tackles environmental topics with energy and fresh perspective. Their goal is to inform, entertain, provoke, and encourage creative thinking about environmental problems and solutions. They publish new content each weekday, including in-depth reports, cartoons, summaries of breaking news stories, diary entries from activists, book reviews, green investment advice, and more.

IATP Agriculture and Biodiversity News

This bulletin from the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy discusses developments in farming, biotechnology, intellectual property rights, and other agricultural fields that affect biodiversity.

Rachel’s Environment & Health Weekly

Leading environmental newsletter published weekly. Sign up for the free newsletter on the homepage. Also available in Spanish.