Farm Forward

08/03/2026

Last month, the Senate Agriculture Committee released its own version of the Farm Bill—and the Save Our Bacon Act wasn't in it. Even more telling, days earlier, Senator Roger Marshall, the bill's Republican co-sponsor in the Senate, publicly withdrew his support.

Political opposition to Save Our Bacon happened because millions of people refused to look away: watching videos, learning, signing on, telling friends why it mattered. When enough people pay attention to how farmed animals are treated, elected officials on both sides actually start to notice. The fight isn't over. This Thursday, August 6th at 9:30am ET, the Senate Agriculture Committee marks up the Farm Bill. Senators who back factory farming could try to force Save Our Bacon back in as an amendment. The count in our favor looks strong right now, but that can shift fast, and it only holds if senators hear from constituents like you.

Call your senators by Wednesday, August 5th. Tell them to keep every version of Save Our Bacon out of the Farm Bill. https://www.senate.gov/senators/senators-contact.htm

07/29/2026

Earlier this year, we found Costco's own chicken plant routinely fails salmonella tests, with more than 1 in 10 whole birds and 1 in 6 chicken breast packages testing positive for contamination.

Now a new undercover investigation shows the same pattern playing out with one of their organic suppliers. They found chickens were denied outdoor access despite "organic" certification, sick birds were bludgeoned with pipes and rakes, ammonia levels were at 4 times the legal limit, and more.

The label on the package doesn't change what's happening inside the barn. This is humanewashing, plain and simple.

A disturbing new investigation reveals how easy it is for farms to subvert organic rules — and hide animal cruelty.

07/28/2026

Campylobacter is the world's top bacterial cause of diarrhea, and most of it comes from raw chicken. Scientists analyzed nearly 2,800 bacterial genomes spanning 30 countries and found a 100x increase in campylobacter strains jumping between chickens and wild birds since 1900, with the sharpest rise tracking the explosion of industrial poultry production.

Now researchers are watching it pick up antimicrobial resistance genes inside the packed, antibiotic-heavy sheds where today's chickens live and die all within in five weeks. As lead researcher Sam Sheppard put it, cramming that many animals together turns them into "a cauldron of bacterial evolution."

Intensive nature of modern chicken farming creates ideal conditions for campylobacter, allowing bacteria to evolve

07/21/2026

Consumers pay a premium price for Whole Foods' 365 brand chicken. But it turns out it's actually Perdue, the same chicken you can buy at Walmart for a fraction of the price.

Our investigation traced the USDA establishment numbers on the package straight to Perdue processing plants. Same fast-growing genetics linked to chronic lameness and heart failure, same food safety record, same meat quality defects. The only difference is the price tag: up to 70% more than the identical bird sold elsewhere.

Read our full investigation here:

Pigs being transported to slaughter. Photo by Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals

07/16/2026

California pays dairy farmers big money to capture methane from manure lagoons and turn it into fuel. This program lets petroleum companies buy credits from dairies instead of cutting their own emissions, based on the idea that methane is roughly 25 times more powerful than CO2. That's true in the short term. But methane breaks down within a couple decades, while the CO2 released by burning that captured gas keeps warming the planet for centuries.

Ultimately, the state is trading a short-term problem for a permanent one and calling it progress.

Let's mooooo-ve on from climate shell games

07/14/2026

The cyclospora outbreak you've been hearing about? Unsurprisingly, it can be tied to the Trump administration cutting funding to state and local health departments and program dedicated to coordinating information about foodborne illnesses.

Authorities said inquiry into cyclosporiasis outbreak was continuing but early results pointed to salad greens and lettuce

07/09/2026

A far-right commentator called it demonic, a Fox News host called it abusive, and a liberal New York Times columnist called it torture.

What are all of these voices across the political spectrum agreeing on? Gestation crates: crates so small that pregnant pigs can't even turn around.

The vast majority of Americans oppose caging pigs but the pork industry keeps pushing this bill. If you haven't yet, tell your senators to keep the Save Our Bacon Act out of the Farm Bill.

It turns out no one likes seeing pigs locked in tiny cages.

07/07/2026

Here's an in-depth article about the so-called "Save Our Bacon" Act. Well worth the read.

The Save Our Bacon Act, which would override hundreds of state food safety laws, has triggered bipartisan revulsion. But the pork industry wants it so they can keep confining pigs.

07/02/2026

Have you heard of the New World screwworm yet? It's a parasitic fly that eats the living flesh of animals from the inside out. It's now spreading from the first case seen in Texas to other states.

We blame the current situation on the federal government cutting USDA staff. Until last year, the U.S. Agency for International Development monitored and worked to contain the screwworm's spread north from Central America. That program ended when the agency was dismantled.

New World screwworm threats continue to tighten livestock supplies, as sterile fly shortages and weakened federal biosecurity strain U.S. ag.

06/30/2026

According the EPA, the vast majority of people affected by pollution from meatpacking are low-income communities of color.

EPA data shows meatpacking plants disproportionately pollute low-income, communities of color. Postville, Iowa, has long dealt with the fallout.