MAYIM BIALIK - Mercy For Animals

Compassionate Living
CL
The Mag of MFA.
FREE
SUMMER 2014
Ag-Gag Wars
DEFENDING FREE SPEECH
AND ANIMALS
ESTHER THE
WONDER PIG
MOVE OVER MISS PIGGY…
THERE’S A NEW GIRL
IN TOWN
TYSON
TAKEDOWN
HOW MFA’S INVESTIGATOR CAUSED
THIS CORPORATE GIANT
TO CHANGE
+
MAYIM
BIALIK
TV’S VEGAN SUPERSTAR
SPARKS A BIG BANG
One student, who also worked part time on
the teacher’s pig farm, stepped forward and
proceeded to grab the baby piglet by her
hind legs and violently slam her headfirst into
the ground. A room full of stunned students
looked on in horror and disgust.
Even after this second assault, this brave
piglet didn’t die. Determined to survive, she
held on, now bleeding from the mouth, her
skull severely fractured.
Holding back tears, a student grabbed the
piglet, left the classroom, frantically ran down
the hall, and found another teacher, one
known for her sympathy and compassion
toward animals.
She left the school, rushing to the nearby
veterinarian’s office. Moments later, the
suffering was over. The piglet was euthanized.
Days later, animal cruelty charges were leveled
against the student and teacher involved in
the incident. A firestorm followed, pitting
national pig farmer associations against local
animal protection advocates.
Nathan Runkle
Executive Director
DEAR
FRIENDS,
It all started with a piglet, a schoolteacher, and
a broken legal system 15 short years ago.
It was a warm spring morning at Graham
High School, a quaint school nested between
farmhouses and cornfields off a small country
road in Saint Paris, Ohio. As the bell rang,
students of the agricultural studies class
gathered for the day’s assignment: dissection.
The teacher, a pig farmer, arrived earlier that
morning with a bucket full of piglets he had
killed that morning on his farm — or at least
attempted to kill.
Moments before the dissection project was to
begin, students noticed something shocking:
one of the piglets was still alive. She was
blinking, lifting her head, and vocalizing.
Cover Photo by
Denise Borchert
THE
In a standing-room-only courtroom, on
the first day of the trial, the judge did the
unthinkable: he dismissed the case. But not
without reason. He had little choice, given our
country’s broken legal system, which fails to
fully protect farmed animals from abuse.
Ohio, like the majority of U.S. states, exempts
an act of cruelty to a farmed animal from
legal prosecution if it is considered “standard
agricultural practice.” This case died, because
the act of slamming baby piglets headfirst into
the ground is, in fact, considered a “standard”
and acceptable practice by the pork industry.
It’s a barbaric practice that is nonetheless
carried out countless times a day at pig farms
across our nation.
This sickening case, which unfolded virtually
in my own backyard, compelled me to act.
Only 15 years old at the time, and armed only
with a burning motivation to help stop the
suffering of farmed animals, I took action.
A few short months later, Mercy For Animals
was born.
This year, MFA celebrates its 15th anniversary
of working to prevent cruelty to farmed
animals and promote compassionate food
choices and policies.
This issue of CL features a special timeline
that runs across the bottom of each page,
highlighting MFA’s growth, successes, and
achievements over these past 15 years.
And we’ve accomplished so much —
together. We’ve brought animal abusers
to justice, securing dozens of criminal
convictions against those who beat, kick,
and torture farmed animals. We’ve helped
pass precedent-setting state laws that ban
some of the most inhumane factory farming
practices. We’ve taken on multibillion-dollar
corporations and won, pressuring them
to make meaningful animal welfare policy
changes. We’ve directly rescued hundreds of
animals from lives of misery on factory farms.
And we’ve inspired millions upon millions of
people to move toward a vegan diet, sparing
the lives of countless animals.
And it’s all been possible because of you.
We couldn’t have grown and accomplished
so much without you, our valued members,
volunteers, donors, and supporters. Our
lifeblood. Our heart. Our team.
As we look back, we also look ahead to the
next 15 years with great excitement. I’ve
never been more hopeful or optimistic about
the future of the animal protection movement.
I know, in my heart, that we will prevail in
bringing about a society in which all animals
are treated with the respect and compassion
they so rightly deserve.
The future is ours for the shaping. Let’s create
something beautiful.
Sincerely,
NEWSWATCH
THE KING
IS DEAD!
In a huge victory for
farmed animals across
the nation, the dangerous
“King Amendment” to the
Farm Bill was stopped dead
in its tracks. Sponsored by
the notoriously anti-animal
Steve King of Iowa, the
King Amendment would
have wiped out virtually
every state law protecting
farmed animals from even
the most horrific cruelty.
TIMELINE
1999 - 2014
2 COMPASSIONATE LIVING SUMMER 2014
1999
AI
MEAT, D
Beef is actually not what’s
for dinner in more and
more American homes.
In fact, beef consumption
has been on the downturn
for years in the U.S. and
is expected to drop
another 5 percent
in 2014. Americans
aren’t swapping cows
for fish either. Seafood
consumption is in the
midst of a seven-year
nosedive. Got milk? Not
so much anymore. Milk
has seen a whopping
40 percent decrease in
consumption since 1970.
TCBY AND
C HIPOTLE
EMBRACE
VEGANISM
Californians were super excited last summer
when Chipotle launched its delicious
new Sofritas — braised tofu with spices —
throughout the state. Now the mega chain
has plans to take Sofritas nationwide.
Another vegan debut, TCBY’s almondbased chocolate frozen yogurt, was so
hugely successful that the company has
introduced an incredibly tasty vanilla
flavor, now available throughout the U.S.
FOSTER FARMS
FIASCO
Foster Farms chicken is to blame for sickening hundreds with salmonella.
The outbreak came during a government shutdown when the USDA and
the Food Safety and Inspection Service websites were down, leaving
millions in the dark and at risk. Just a couple of months later,
Foster Farms was back in the news after a cockroach infestation
was discovered at its Livingston poultry plant.
Nathan Runkle
Executive Director
STOPPED!
Mercy For Animals (MFA) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to preventing
cruelty to farmed animals and promoting compassionate food choices and policies.
Mercy For Animals is founded in Ohio following
a brutal farmed animal abuse case involving a
piglet slammed headfirst into the ground.
ss the
a
P
t
’
n
o
D
Please D RY, or SEAFOO
2000
MFA rescues 600 hens from Ohio’s largest egg
factory farm after a tornado destroys sheds,
leaving hens mangled in cage wire.
MFA’s first undercover investigation uncovers
shocking cruelty at Ohio’s two largest egg factory
farms and leads to the rescue of 34 hens.
2001
2002
MFA releases Silent Suffering, a
landmark documentary exposing cruelty
in the egg industry.
Following MFA’s investigations, Giant Eagle
announces it will ban the sale of eggs from hens
who are starved to induce egg-laying cycles.
Nathan Runkle, MFA’s founder, rescues Hope — a
hen found in a trashcan at an egg factory farm.
Hope lives the rest of her life at a sanctuary.
3 COMPASSIONATE LIVING SUMMER 2014
MEET
MFA
Kate Ziegler
MFA Position:
Hometown:
Email:
ACTION
REPORT
Investigations and Research Associate
Chicago, Illinois
KateZ@MercyForAnimals.org
Telling It
Like It Is
Words to Live by:
“It’s a matter of taking the side of the weak against the strong, something
the best people have always done.” - Harriet Beecher Stowe
A
nimal abusers better watch out for Kate Ziegler’s
eagle eye. As investigations and research associate
for Mercy For Animals, Kate works closely with
MFA’s director of investigations and legal team to review
and analyze undercover evidence, determine potential
violations of law, and serve criminals a heaping helping of
justice.
Q: What inspired you to become vegan?
A good family friend told me about factory farming and its
impact on animal welfare and the environment. Around the
same time, I saw a video of an undercover investigation
on the Internet. The footage of abuse and neglect truly
horrified me. I transitioned to a plant-based diet to help as
many animals as possible.
Q: Why are undercover investigations important?
MFA’s undercover investigations reduce farmed animal
suffering. They have inspired individuals to choose
a compassionate diet free of meat, dairy, and eggs,
corporations to enact welfare policy changes, and
lawmakers to ban the cruelest forms of institutionalized
animal abuse.
MEMBERS ON A MISSION
Ellen Kennelly
If there is something happening in the Boston area,
chances are Ellen Kennelly is there with her team of
volunteers sharing MFA’s message of compassion.
Ellen does it all, from leafleting and running MFA
exhibits at major festivals to delivering humane
education presentations and reaching out to
restaurants to expand their vegan menu offerings.
Joshua Sias
Cleveland Outreach Coordinator Joshua Sias started
working with MFA about five years ago. You can
usually find him volunteering alongside his partner,
Frances Cheng. As a philosophy scholar with a focus
in ethics, Joshua presents the ethical arguments
for a plant-based diet, while Frances, who holds a
doctorate in medical science, explains the health
benefits. A true activism power couple!
2003
MFA launches groundbreaking provegetarian advertisements on MTV,
BET, and Animal Planet.
4 COMPASSIONATE LIVING SUMMER 2014
Q: How do you cope with viewing undercover videos of
animal abuse?
I’m reminded of just how important our work is when I
hear of a high schooler adopting a vegetarian diet, or a
multibillion-dollar company establishing animal welfare
guidelines as a direct result of one of our investigations.
Spending time with my family and trying new vegetarian
recipes also helps me stay balanced.
HOME
SWEETHOME
Our newly expanded Los
Angeles headquarters, located
on Santa Monica Boulevard,
combines a creative, cuttingedge atmosphere with smart
flexibility. Complete with
conference facilities, a retail
storefront, and event space,
MFA’s HQ is home to our
ever-expanding staff and team
of interns in our education,
corporate outreach, legal
advocacy, investigations,
development, and
communications departments.
MFA’s hard-hitting
videos exposing the
routine cruelties of
animal agriculture have
been viewed online
over 5 million times in
the past few months.
From our undercover
investigations to
compilation films like
Farm to Fridge and
Standard Practice,
MFA’s videos are
awakening viewers
worldwide to the
power of their food
choices.
Protecting Animals US merges with
Mercy For Animals, expanding MFA’s
reach to Chicago.
MFA’s anti-factory farming petitions have
been going viral, with nearly a million
people demanding major retailers take
a stand against cruelty. Our Walmart
petition calling for an end to gestation
crates garnered 500,000 signatures alone,
making it one of the most successful ever
on petition site Change.org. Among the
millions tweeting our petitions are A-listers
like
Tony Kanal, Kate Mara,
and EMILY DESCHANEL.
To combat the rise in meat consumption in
the developing world, MFA recently launched
EligeVeg.com, CarneVideo.com, and a
month-long Spanish-language email series
that guides people through the transition
to a plant-based diet. This groundbreaking
campaign aims to inspire more people in Latin
America to ditch meat. Similar sites and email
series will soon launch in China and India,
helping MFA spread compassion worldwide.
Growth! Every day, MFA receives résumés from individuals
who love farmed animals and are interested in becoming
undercover investigators. More investigators mean more
investigations, and more investigations mean an increased
awareness of the cruelty farmed animals endure.
2005
NUM#ERS
COMPASSION
WITHOUT BORDERS
Q: What excites you about the future of MFA’s
investigations department?
Joining the campaign against the egg industry’s “Animal Care Certified” label,
MFA reveals inhumane conditions inside an ACC egg farm. Soon after, the
Federal Trade Commission announces the label will be discontinued nationwide.
2004
STRENGTH IN
MFA launches ChooseVeg.com.
2006
VegNews magazine names Mercy For
Animals “Nonprofit of the Year.”
5 COMPASSIONATE LIVING SUMMER 2014
ASKANYA | IRON
Q
Can I get enough iron
on a vegan diet?
Iron is an essential mineral that helps red
blood cells carry oxygen throughout the
body. It also acts in energy production, as
well as assists in the maintenance of the
immune and central nervous systems. With
such important functions, it is no wonder
iron receives a lot of attention.
We have all heard the myth that you have
to eat meat in order to get iron. Luckily,
that is not true when eating a wellbalanced plant-based diet.
You may have also heard that iron from
plant sources is not at easily absorbed as
animal-sourced iron. This is true; however,
when it comes to being utilized on a
cellular level, it makes no difference what
the iron source is. Also, meat eaters are
just as likely to develop iron deficiencies as
vegans — it is the world’s most common
nutritional deficiency.
Iron-rich plant sources include legumes,
whole grains, seeds, dried fruit, and
blackstrap molasses. To maximize
absorption of the iron in your diet, there
are “tricks” you can use, like consuming
a food rich in vitamin C at the same time.
So, a bean burrito loaded with salsa is
a total winner, a perfect combination of
iron (legumes) and vitamin C (tomatoes).
2007
MFA’s Hidden from View and Old MacDonald antifactory farming ads hit the airwaves in Chicago,
Cleveland, and Columbus on MTV, MTV2, and Bravo.
6 COMPASSIONATE LIVING SUMMER 2014
VEGANFLAVOR
Homemade
Yolos
Chill jam for a few hours in
the fridge until thickened.
Store in an airtight
container in the fridge for
2–3 weeks.
•
Conversely, there are substances that
can decrease iron absorption, including
tannins in green and black tea and coffee.
If you supplement with calcium or zinc, do
so outside of your iron-rich meal as these
also interfere with absorption.
One’s personal iron recommendation is
based on stage of life. Growing children
obviously have higher needs than middleaged men. Women of childbearing age
will have increased iron needs due to
losses incurred during menses, while
post-menopausal women will have a lower
need. Athletes participating in intense
endurance exercise may also have a higher
need.
Process the pitted dates, peanut
butter, and salt in a food processor
until a sticky paste forms. Scoop the
sticky date mixture into a bowl and
freeze for 10 minutes.
•
•
•
•
Preparing your food in cast-iron cookware
will also lend some iron to your diet,
especially when cooking foods that are
more acidic, like tomato sauce.
How much iron do vegans need? The
current recommendation for iron is 1.8
times higher for vegetarians than for nonvegetarians because of the body’s lower
absorption of plant-based iron.
Makes 20 Yolos
In a medium saucepan,
combine the berries,
maple syrup, and chia
seeds. Bring to a simmer
over medium to high heat,
stirring frequently. Reduce
heat to medium and
simmer for 10–15 minutes.
Lightly mash berries with
a fork. Once the jam has
thickened slightly, remove
from heat and stir in vanilla.
Anya Todd is a registered, licensed dietitian
specializing in vegan nutrition. She prefers her
milk mustache to come from unsweetened
vanilla almond milk. She resides in Cleveland,
Ohio, which is becoming more veg-friendly by
the day. // AnyaTodd.com
When one’s diet lacks enough iron, a
condition known as iron-deficiency anemia
can occur. Symptoms include lethargy,
headaches, and irritability. With these
symptoms, it is easy to mistakenly selfdiagnose your condition as anemia when
it may be something more benign, such as
lack of sleep — or in my case, chocolate
withdrawal!
Lightly wet hands and shape the caramel into
small balls. Place balls on a lined plate and freeze
for 10 minutes.
In a small saucepan, melt the
chocolate chips and oil over low heat.
Stir until smooth. Dunk each ball into
the melted chocolate, and place on
parchment paper-lined plate.
Freeze the balls for 20 minutes, or
until set.
•
•
•
•
3 cups fresh or frozen berries
3 to 4 tablespoons pure maple
syrup, to taste
2 tablespoons chia seeds
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Makes 1 cup
Tip: If making strawberry
chia seed jam, process
the strawberries in a food
processor until almost
smooth before starting.
Reprinted by arrangement with
AVERY, a member of Penguin
Group (USA) LLC, A Penguin
Random House Company.
Copyright © GLO BAKERY
CORPORATION, 2014.
OUR FAVE FOOD PICKS
Breaded and crispy
Gardein Golden
Fishless Filets are
perfect for classic fish
& chips with nothing
fishy in the making.
If you are truly concerned, have your
blood levels checked. Please don’t
supplement iron unless under the
guidance of a health professional, as too
much of the mineral can be as detrimental
as too little.
Denny’s cuts ties with turkey
slaughterhouse following MFA hiddencamera investigation.
1 cup pitted soft Medjool dates
1 1⁄2 teaspoons peanut butter
Pinch of sea salt
1⁄4 cup plus 3 tablespoons dark
chocolate chips
1⁄2 teaspoon coconut oil
Magical Chia
Seed Jam
Trader Joe’s cuts ties with Gemperle Enterprises after
MFA exposes birds crammed in cages and workers kicking
and throwing hens at a Gemperle factory farm.
2008
Enjoy on crackers
or as a fancy hors
d’oeuvre. Cashewbased Treeline cheese
varieties rival the finest
artisan cheeses of
France and Italy.
Preferred in blind taste
tests to egg-based
mayo, 100 percent
vegan Just Mayo is
just better.
MFA’s “How much cruelty can you swallow?” provegetarian ads on buses, trains, and billboards reach over
20 million commuters in Chicago, Boston, and Detroit.
Voters pass Prop 2, which bans intensive confinement of
hens, calves, and pigs in California, just weeks after MFA
exposes bloody hens crammed in cages at Norco Ranch.
7 COMPASSIONATE LIVING SUMMER 2014
MISSION OF
MERCY
HOW ONE MFA
INVESTIGATOR BROUGHT
LANDMARK
CHANGE
TO TYSON FOODS AND
THE PORK INDUSTRY
Left: Pregnant pigs trapped in the cold metal and concrete of
gestation crates. Right: Sick, injured, and slow-growing piglets
are smashed headfirst into the ground.
A SLEEPY TOWN’S DIRTY SECRET
Tucked into the cornfields of rural Oklahoma
is Henryetta, a drowsy town of under 6,000
residents. Originally springing up around a coal
mine, Henryetta’s story over the past century is
typical of small-town America. As manufacturing
grew in the 1940s and 1950s, Henryetta grew
with it. New plants and refineries brought an
influx of jobs to the city. But by the 1990s many of
those plants had closed their doors. Henryetta’s
population began to wane, and it seemed unlikely
the town would ever play a prominent role on the
national stage.
Following an MFA investigation at the largest egg factory farm in New England, the Maine
Department of Agriculture and state police carry out the first-ever raid on an egg farm for
animal cruelty. Grocery chains nationwide drop Quality Egg of New England as a supplier.
2009
8 COMPASSIONATE LIVING SUMMER 2014
All that changed one dusty late-summer morning in
September of 2013 when Pete (not his real name), a
Mercy For Animals undercover investigator, pulled into
the parking lot for his first day of work at Henryetta’s
West Coast Farms. It wasn’t chance that had brought
Pete to rural Oklahoma. West Coast was a contract pig
farm for Tyson Foods, one of the country’s largest pork
producers, a factory farming behemoth that processes
and kills 18 million pigs a year.
CULTURE OF CRUELTY
MFA had sent Pete to Henryetta with one mission:
to shine a spotlight on the incredible cruelty Tyson
inflicts on innocent pigs. As an employee at West
Coast Farms, Pete would be able to do just that. Over
MFA’s investigation at world’s largest hatchery exposes
the standard industry practice of grinding up male chicks
alive and makes international headlines.
Quality Egg pleads guilty to 10 civil counts of animal
cruelty and pays over $130,000 in fines — the largest fine
against an egg producer for animal abuse in history.
the next few weeks, the hidden camera concealed in Pete’s clothing would
capture shocking brutality — and drive one of the country’s largest pork
producers to put an end to cruel practices it had supported for decades.
The abuse began almost from day one of
a pig’s life. Baby piglets were dragged
away from their mothers shortly after
they were born.
Their tails were hacked off and their testicles cut out with a knife, all without
painkillers. When piglets were sick or didn’t grow quickly enough, workers
killed them by lifting them high into the air and slamming them headfirst
against the concrete. The practice, known as “thumping,” is routine in
the pork industry. As Pete’s video showed, some piglets who had been
thumped were still alive and breathing a full 30 minutes later, no doubt in
intense agony.
BOCA Foods removes eggs from all products in
response to pressure from MFA and other animal
protection groups.
Bill to ban tail docking of dairy cows is introduced in New York following
MFA’s investigation into the state’s largest dairy farm. The investigation makes
national headlines and results in a prosecution for criminal animal cruelty.
MFA releases award-winning
documentary Fowl Play.
9 COMPASSIONATE LIVING SUMMER 2014
Dr. Temple Grandin, widely considered
the world’s leading authority on farmed
animal welfare, spoke out on NBC News to
condemn the farm’s cruelty. “Poking pigs in
the eye multiple times, violently shaking a
young piglet, beating a sow with the edge of
a board — these are things I rate as cruelty
to animals,” said Grandin.
In the months that
followed, over 370,000
people signed a Mercy
For Animals petition on
Change.org that demanded
Tyson do away with
gestation crates.
TYSON BREAKS
TYSON’S SHAMEFUL
STANDARDS
FOR PIGLETS WHO
SURVIVED TO ADULTHOOD,
THINGS GOT EVEN WORSE.
WORKERS VICIOUSLY
PUNCHED PIGS, KICKED
THEM IN THE FACE, PULLED
OUT THEIR HAIR, AND EVEN
THREW A BOWLING BALL AT
THEIR HEADS.
When a pig, sick and crippled by life on a
factory farm, had trouble walking, workers
would beat her with a wooden board or jam
fingers into her eyes to get her to walk.
Meanwhile, pregnant pigs were confined
in tiny, maggot-infested “gestation crates”
— individual metal stalls so small the pigs
could not even turn around. In row after row,
in stall after stall, these intelligent, social
mothers were driven mad by the extreme
confinement, their bodies riddled with open
sores from constantly rubbing against the
cage bars.
While dozens of producers, grocery chains,
and fast-food outlets had pledged to end
their use of gestation crates, Tyson had so
far stubbornly refused to change.
2010
MFA’s investigation at an Ohio dairy farm reveals cows beaten with crowbars and
stabbed with pitchforks and leads to arrest and conviction of a farm worker. Celebrities
from Ashton Kutcher to Jamie Lee Curtis speak out against farmed animal cruelty.
10 COMPASSIONATE LIVING SUMMER 2014
THE DAM BURSTS
After just a few short weeks at West Coast
Farms, Pete had compiled enough footage
to document a pattern of routine brutality.
What had been Henryetta’s dirty little secret
was about to become a source of national
outrage.
Video from MFA’s
investigation soon
blanketed the media,
from multiple segments
on NBC national news to
damning print coverage in
The Washington Post, Los
Angeles Times, and other
media outlets.
With MFA’s support, a landmark animal welfare agreement
is reached in Ohio that places a moratorium on battery
cage facilities and bans veal crates and gestation crates.
Top: Dead piglets were a common sight at
this factory farm. Middle: Workers kick,
punch, and beat animals daily. Bottom: Life
in a crate is no life at all.
INVESTIGATION /
TAKE THE
PIG
QUIZ
1. Pigs are as intelligent as
a. a dog
b. a horse
c. a three-year-old child
And then it happened. What Pete
encountered the day he laced up his work
boots and walked into West Coast Farms
in rural Henryetta began to change on
January 8, 2014, when Tyson Foods sent a
letter to its suppliers setting forth a variety
of meaningful animal welfare improvements.
Slamming baby piglets headfirst into the
ground would no longer be allowed on
company-owned farms. And all of Tyson’s
contract farmers were asked to provide
mother pigs with enough room to stand, lie
down, turn around, and stretch their limbs.
2. Pigs
TYSON’S ABOUT-FACE MEANT
MILLIONS OF PIGLETS AND
MOTHER PIGS FROM COAST TO
COAST WOULD BE SPARED FROM
BRUTAL INJURY AND A LIFETIME
OF INTENSIVE CONFINEMENT.
4. Pigs can learn to
And this change — this reversal of decadesold policies — all sprang from one very
brave investigator’s time on one hellish farm
on the outskirts of Henryetta, Oklahoma.
a. are extremely social
b. form close bonds
c. often sleep snout-to-snout
d. all of the above
3. When pigs are isolated from
other pigs they become
a. depressed
b. calmer
a. read
b. manipulate objects on
verbal cue
c. play video games on a
computer
d. both b and c
Answer Key:
1: c; 2: d; 3: a; 4: d
/ INVESTIGATION
MFA’s “Why love one but eat the other?” pro-vegetarian ad
campaign is launched in Toronto, New York City, Las Vegas, New
Jersey, and Michigan, reaching over 14 million commuters.
Bob Barker joins MFA, narrating new investigative video revealing cruelty to calves
at an Ohio veal factory farm. As a result, Costco, the nation’s third-largest grocer,
implements a new policy banning the sale of veal from calves confined in veal crates.
Through the first-ever undercover investigation into fish
slaughter in the U.S., MFA exposes catfish being skinned
and dismembered while still conscious and suffering.
11 COMPASSIONATE LIVING SUMMER 2014
MUSTKNOW
MAYIM BIALIK:
A VEGAN Blossoms
A dedicated vegan, Mayim has created
Mayim’s Vegan Table, a fantastic new
cookbook jam-packed with over 100
delicious and simple recipes.
WE RECENTLY HAD THE PLEASURE OF
CHATTING WITH MAYIM ABOUT HER LATEST
ROLE AS REAL-LIFE VEGAN SUPERSTAR.
MUSTKNOW RECIPE
Tell us about your journey to
becoming a vegan.
I’ve been vegetarian since I was 19,
largely for animal rights reasons. I cut
out most dairy in college, and about
six years ago, after reading Eating
Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer, I cut
out all trace eggs and dairy. Obviously
for me it’s been a gradual process.
Going vegan was a huge nod to
my love for animals and the guilt I
felt even as a small child for eating
animals. I do not believe it is our right
to abuse animals for our use of their
meat and by-products simply because
we are human.
There was no way for me to reconcile
the inherent inhumanity of the
business of making animals into our
food and clothing, so I simply chose
to happily avoid being a part of those
industries!
TOMATO SOUP WITH
ISRAELI COUSCOUS
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 to 2 carrots, diced
1 (14-ounce) can chopped tomatoes
6 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
6 1/4 cups vegan vegetable stock
1 to 1 1/2 cups uncooked Israeli
couscous
2 to 3 mint sprigs, chopped, or several
pinches of dried mint
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 bunch fresh cilantro or about 5
sprigs, chopped
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1. Heat the olive oil in a large pan, add
the onion and carrots, and cook over
medium-low for about 10 minutes until
softened. Add the tomatoes, half of the
garlic, vegetable stock, couscous, mint,
cumin, and cilantro.
2. Bring the soup to a boil, add the remaining chopped garlic, then lower the heat
slightly and simmer gently for 7 to 10
minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the
couscous is just tender. Season to taste
with salt and pepper. SERVES 4–6
The owner and seven workers at a Texas factory farm are charged with criminal animal cruelty after MFA
exposes workers bashing in the skulls of calves with hammers and pickaxes. The investigation sparks
national outrage, causes the live-cattle stock price to drop, and leads the AVMA to condemn the abuse.
12 COMPASSIONATE LIVING SUMMER 2014
I put together a book with pediatric
nutritionist Dr. Jay Gordon of actual recipes
I make for my kids and for all the nonvegans in my life. It doesn’t involve a lot of
fancy ingredients and most of the recipes
are very simple.
There are so many health benefits. For
me, not having sinus infections, having
my seasonal allergies reduced, and not
constantly having stomach aches have been
wonderful benefits of being vegan.
One of the things I talk about in the book
is teaching your children — and yourself
— to enjoy foods in their natural state.
Some of my sons’ favorite snacks are fruits
and veggies with fun dips and some of
their favorite meals are simple things like
burritos, taco salads, and chili.
How does going vegan reflect
your personal ethics regarding
animals?
2011
Can you speak to the health benefits
of being vegan?
What are some fast and easy recipes
that kids love?
Mayim Bialik is no stranger to the
spotlight. Who can forget her dazzling
performance as a young C.C. Bloom
(Bette Midler) in Beaches, or her wildly
successful television show Blossom, in
which she played the title role?
Now playing Dr. Amy Fowler on the
hugely popular CBS sitcom The Big
Bang Theory (fun fact: Mayim actually
holds a doctorate in neuroscience),
Mayim’s career is hotter than ever!
What can readers expect from
Mayim’s Vegan Table?
MFA reveals McDonald’s egg suppliers in three states cramming birds
into cages, torturing hens, and throwing live chicks into trash bins.
Following coverage on 20/20, McDonald’s drops company as supplier.
Can you offer some tips for people
who feel they just don’t have time to
cook?
I cook in advance and freeze things, and as
I discuss in the book, I often feed my kids
pretty simply and save the more laborintensive recipes for special occasions.
My sons eat a large variety of fruits and
vegetables to get all the nutrients they
need and they’ve never been on antibiotics,
nor have they had any significant allergy
problems or intestinal problems that are
often associated with eating dairy.
Hypothetical: A good friend from
out of town pays a surprise visit. Using
only what you have in your fridge,
what do you make?
In a pinch, I’d probably make pasta with
sauce and sautéed vegetables and I’d also
whip up an easy vegan pesto with nuts and
spinach and herbs if I had those around.
You’ve veganized classic Jewish
dishes like potato latkes and matzo ball
soup. What’s your secret to creating
amazing new versions of traditional
favorites?
The key in making traditional recipes of any
kind vegan is that they need to taste good!
I don’t want people to say, “These are great
vegan latkes.” I simply want people to say,
“These are great latkes!”
MUSTKNOW RECIPE | MAC N CHEEZ
•
•
•
•
•
1 (16-ounce) package pasta, such as farfalle, rigatoni, penne, shells, or large macaroni
1 1/4 cups nondairy milk (almond milk works best)
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour or white or brown rice flour
1 (8-ounce) bag shredded vegan cheese, preferably mozzarella or cheddar
1/2 cup bread crumbs (optional)
1. Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Drain when al dente
and place in a large bowl.
2. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
3. Heat 1 cup of the nondairy milk in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
4. In a cup, whisk the flour into the remaining cup of milk until dissolved. Add
it slowly to the heated milk, whisking as you go. Add the shredded vegan
cheese and stir constantly until the cheese is dissolved and the sauce is
bubbly, about 5 minutes. Pour over the pasta mixture and stir to combine.
If desired, place the pasta in a 9 by 13-inch casserole dish and cover with the
bread crumbs. Bake, covered, for 20 minutes. Uncover and broil until browned
on top, about 5 minutes. SERVES 8
From Mayim’s Vegan Table: More Than 100 Great-Tasting and Healthy Recipes from My Family to
Yours by Mayim Bialik with Dr. Jay Gordon. Reprinted courtesy of Da Capo Lifelong Books.
An MFA investigation into Butterball, the largest turkey meat producer in the country,
documents horrific cruelty to turkeys and leads to a police raid and criminal charges against five
workers. The case results in the first felony-level conviction for cruelty to factory-farmed birds.
The owner of an illegal slaughter operation is arrested and charged with
10 counts of cruelty after MFA obtains hidden-camera footage of barbaric
animal abuse. Dozens of animals are rescued and placed at a sanctuary.
13 COMPASSIONATE LIVING SUMMER 2014
INVESTIGATION /
Each time I begin an investigation
at a farm, I try to prepare myself
emotionally for what I will see.
Yet nothing can fully prepare a
compassionate person for the cruelties
I witnessed at Wiese Brothers Farms
in Wisconsin, where I worked as an
undercover investigator for Mercy For
Animals in October of 2013.
AT THE TIME, WIESE BROTHERS
WAS A MAJOR SUPPLIER TO
DIGIORNO PIZZA, WHICH IS OWNED
BY NESTLÉ, THE LARGEST DAIRY
SUPPLIER IN THE WORLD.
On today’s industrialized dairy farms, cows
are pushed to their limits to produce far
more milk than they ever would naturally.
Between that and the filthy, unsanitary
conditions they are kept in, many get so
sick they cannot walk or even stand. I saw
more of these “downed” cows at Wiese
Brothers than I could count.
So many cows had open wounds, crusted
sores, and infected masses the size of
baseballs. I was completely overwhelmed,
yet it was just another day in the life of a
dairy cow on a modern dairy factory farm.
LIGHT: THE BEST
DISINFECTANT
Thankfully, Mercy For Animals brought the
footage I captured to light so that millions
of people could see for themselves the
routine abuses these animals endured.
Media outlets around the globe, including
NBC national news, ABC News, the
Chicago Tribune, and the British Daily Mail
covered the story, and DiGiorno quickly cut
ties with the farm.
Also as a result of my hidden-camera video,
four workers documented committing
horrific acts of abuse — violently kicking,
stabbing, and beating cows and cruelly
hoisting them into the air — are being held
accountable for their actions: convicted of a
total of seven counts of animal cruelty and
ordered to pay fines in excess of $3,300.
Top: A sick cow is dragged by her
neck with a chain attached to a tractor.
Middle: Workers beat, whip, and stab
cows to force them to move. Bottom:
Frightened cows are hoisted into the air,
putting them at great risk of injury.
Workers were constantly annoyed that the
downed cows wouldn’t walk where they
wanted them to go. They screamed things
like “You whore!” or “You worthless piece
of …” and other vulgarities I can’t repeat
here, all while beating the cows with whips,
violently stabbing them, or kicking them in
the face.
ONE UNDERCOVER
INVESTIGATOR’S
HEARTBREAKING
STORY ABOUT THE
TREATMENT OF COWS
ON A DIGIORNO
SUPPLIER FARM
2011
VegNews magazine awards MFA with VegNews
Nonprofit of the Year Award, making MFA the first
organization ever to receive the honor twice.
14 COMPASSIONATE LIVING SUMMER 2014
MORE THAN JUST A NUMBER
She was cow 17545 to the factory farm, but she was Maggie
to me. I named her after my childhood dog because her deep,
innocent brown eyes reminded me of her. The thick red blood
dripping from her nose and mouth was heartbreaking. It had
become caked onto her skin.
I had no idea how long she had been bleeding, or what caused
it, but nobody was worried about helping her but me. And yet I
couldn’t.
A CRIPPLED COW NUMBERED
“12695” (LILY TO ME), FLAILED IN
THE AIR AS HER HINDQUARTERS
WERE HOISTED UP OFF THE GROUND
WITH METAL CHAINS ATTACHED TO
A TRACTOR. LILY FRANTICALLY TRIED
TO HOLD HERSELF UP AS HER HEAD
DRAGGED ON THE FLOOR.
MFA takes pro-veg “Why love one but eat the other?”
campaign on the road, hitting dozens of cities with
demos featuring an inflatable puppy in a hamburger bun.
MFA launches three provocative pro-vegetarian TV ads,
which air nationally on MTV, Bravo, VH1, Oxygen, and E!
MFA releases Farm to Fridge, a powerful documentary narrated by Oscarnominated actor James Cromwell. A truck fitted with giant TV screens hits the
streets to air the film, traveling around the country to over 40 cities.
CALLING ALL
Top: Newborn calves are separated
from their mothers immediately
after birth. Middle: Cows too sick to
walk are dragged with ropes, chains,
and tractors. Bottom: Injuries and
infections are often left to fester
without proper veterinary care.
CHEEZE LOVERS
CHEESE SHREDS
Try mozzarella, cheddar, and pepper
jack varieties from Daiya or Follow Your
Heart’s mozzarella, cheddar, and fiesta
blend.
MAKING MEANINGFUL
CHANGE
MFA is now calling on DiGiorno to adopt
meaningful animal welfare policies for its
dairy suppliers, including:
•
Zero tolerance for animal abuse
•
A safe, sanitary environment for cattle
•
Proper care and transportation for sick,
injured, and downed animals
•
Prohibition on mutilations without
painkillers, including tail docking —
a cruel and outdated practice that
involves cutting through skin, nerves,
and bones
Cows are highly
“DRAGGING LIVE COWS, AND
COMPLETELY SUSPENDING
THEM WITH THE COW LIFT
IS SEVERE ANIMAL ABUSE.
THE ACTIONS OF THESE
PEOPLE WENT BEYOND
ROUGH HANDLING AND
ESCALATED TO THE LEVEL OF
CRUELTY. KICKING, BEATING,
AND HARD WHIPPING OF
DOWNED COWS IS ABUSIVE.”
Over 60,000 people have already signed
MFA’s Change.org petition asking DiGiorno
to adopt these basic reforms. You can sign
it at www.SliceofCruelty.com.
COMPASSIONATE
CONSUMPTION
With each investigation we undertake,
we expose the hidden abuses animals
suffer so that people can make informed
food choices. While MFA is making great
strides in creating a kinder world for farmed
animals, horrific animal abuse continues to
run rampant in the dairy industry.
DR. TEMPLE GRANDIN,
THE WORLD’S LEADING EXPERT
ON FARMED ANIMAL WELFARE
Our simple choice to put soy milk in our
coffee, to leave cheese off of our veggie
burgers, or to have a delicious pizza with
Daiya vegan cheese on top makes a world
of difference for these animals.
TAKE ACTION
SLICEOFCRUELTY.COM
2012
MFA goes international with the founding of
Mercy For Animals Canada.
16 COMPASSIONATE LIVING SUMMER 2014
intelligent and friendly
animals who can form
long-lasting, deep bonds of
friendship with other cows
and even their human
caregivers. Cows have
extremely complex social
groups and tend to choose
the herd leaders for their
intelligence, experience,
and good social skills.
FAB FACT:
It’s the same melty mouthfeel
you grew up loving.
READY TO CHILL?
Whether it’s margherita, pepperoni, Italian
sausage, or “Cheeze-Lover’s” that strikes your
fancy, Tofurky and Daiya frozen pizzas have got
you covered.
FAB FACT:
100 percent cholesterol-free and
no bovine growth hormones.
Join MFA in urging DiGiorno executives to do the
right thing. Don’t let them avoid this issue. If
you dislike animal abuse, share your thoughts
on DiGiorno’s Facebook page. You can also tweet
your opposition @DiGiorno or email the execs and
tell them the time to end cruelty is now.
MFA Canada garners national attention with the nation’s first-ever undercover
investigation into the pork industry. Just months later, the country’s eight
largest grocery retailers pledge to phase out the use of cruel gestation crates.
Law enforcement charges the owner and seven workers at Ontario
Livestock Sales with 24 counts of cruelty to animals after MFA reveals
workers throwing, hitting, and neglecting downed animals.
17 COMPASSIONATE LIVING SUMMER 2014
INTERVIEW
Esther
PRIME
TIME
PIG
MOVE OVER MISS
PIGGY, THERE’S A NEW
GIRL IN TOWN.
Meet Esther the Wonder Pig! She’s a real-life pig
who is changing the hearts and minds of people
around the globe.
2012
Costco and Kmart pledge to phase out gestation crates following an MFA
investigation at a Minnesota pig factory farm. Bob Barker joins MFA’s
campaign to end Walmart’s use of gestation crates in its supply chain.
18 COMPASSIONATE LIVING SUMMER 2014
Unlike her brothers and
sisters, who were fated to be
raised on a factory farm and
killed at a slaughterhouse,
Esther had the good fortune
of being adopted into a loving
home. Little did her adopters
know at the time, however,
Esther was not the miniature
house pig they expected.
No, Esther was a full-blown
“farm” pig, bred for pork,
who grew to be over 300
pounds!
We were super excited to sit down with
Esther’s dads, Steve and Derek, and get
up-to-speed on the latest in the life of
their popular pig.
Q What inspired you to invite a
pig into your family?
It was a very unplanned thing. I got a call
at about 9 p.m. on a Friday night from
a girl who had brought Esther home
to live with her family. I was told she
wasn’t getting along with their dogs and
needed to be rehomed ASAP. By 9 a.m.
Saturday, Esther was in my arms.
Q At first you believed Esther
would grow to be only 70 pounds.
What was your reaction when you
realized she would grow to be over
300 pounds?
Pretty much every emotion you can
think of, we felt. We asked ourselves the
typical questions: How can we possibly
keep her? What’s the town going to say?
We had already fallen in love with her, so
giving her up was not an option.
Q How has living with Esther
changed your lives and inspired your
activism?
We always had this disconnect between
animals we loved so dearly at home like
dogs and cats, and animals we ate like
pigs, cows, and chickens. For whatever
reason, we were able to look the other
way when “those trucks” went by on the
highway. Esther changed all of that.
Falling in love with Esther made us
want to find another way to live. Pigs
are sensitive, loving, and extremely
intelligent creatures. Not just a bar code
on a package of bacon. Learning how
easy going vegan was made us decide
we needed to share our story.
Q How does living with a pig
compare to living with dogs and
cats?
She is so smart it blows our minds almost
daily. Early on, for example, she learned
where we kept our “human” food. She
figured out how to open the cupboards
and would pull everything out in a panic
trying to eat anything she could. This
usually resulted in her getting caught by
us and sent for a “time-out.”
Within a couple of weeks, she started
breaking the process down into steps.
She would open the cupboard then walk
away as if she was waiting to see if we
heard her. Then she would go back and
pull out the basket, and walk away again.
Finally, on the third trip, she would grab
what she wanted and literally run out of
the kitchen to the bedroom frantically
trying to eat her prize. It was as if she
knew her chances of success were
greater if she took her time and didn’t
cause a fuss. She was right!
As for similarities, she loves to play and
wrestle. Esther wants nothing more than
to be cuddled on the couch or have her
belly rubbed. She gets excited to see us
when we come home.
Days before Thanksgiving, MFA makes
headlines by once again exposing cruelty at
Butterball factory farms.
Q What has been the overall
reaction from people to your story?
The reaction has been overwhelmingly
positive. We can’t even tell you how
many people pour their hearts out to
us because Esther made them realize
things. It’s our story all over again and
it’s because people are building a
relationship with this incredible pig that
they can’t ignore. We call it “the Esther
effect.”
Q Now that Esther is a star, does
she have an agent? Has she met Miss
Piggy?
(Laughs) Esther is a very grounded
piggy, so for now, she’s trying to ignore
the glimmering lights of Hollywood. She
hasn’t met Miss Piggy because we have
a feeling she’s mad at us. We put in an
innocent call to Kermit, she found out,
and apparently she wasn’t happy. We’re
really hoping we can all move past it.
Esther has never really been into frogs
anyway, not that there’s anything wrong
with that.
Q What’s next for Esther and your
family?
We have known for a while that we, or
should I say Esther, have outgrown our
house and we need to move. We’ve
decided that we want to purchase a farm
and open our own sanctuary, dedicated
to Esther and other abandoned or
abused commercially farmed animals.
We want to create a place where
visitors can interact with our animals.
We also want to provide vegetarian and
vegan cooking classes to show how
delicious and easy it can be to live a
compassionate lifestyle.
MFA goes undercover at the largest foie gras factory farm in the U.S., exposing
cruel force-feeding of ducks. MFA launches campaign to pressure Amazon.com —
the world’s largest online retailer — to ban the sale of foie gras.
A hidden-camera investigation by MFA at the largest dairy farm in Idaho documents
egregious cruelty and leads Kraft Foods to ban tail docking of dairy cattle and Wendy’s
to drop the farm as a supplier. Three workers are charged with criminal animal cruelty.
2013
19 COMPASSIONATE LIVING SUMMER 2014
Denied proper veterinary care, many of the
birds at Hybrid suffer from open, pus-filled
wounds, rotting eyes, and festering infections.
MFA Canada’s investigator told management
about one bird whose eye infections were so
bad that she had gone blind in both eyes and
was unable to find food or water. Management
coldly replied that as long as the bird was laying
eggs, her condition didn’t matter.
INVESTIGATION
TURKEY
TORTURE
MFA Canada immediately reported Hybrid’s
unconscionable animal abuse to law
enforcement. Based on the compelling hiddencamera video footage, law enforcement
initiated its own criminal investigation. The
investigation is still pending.
BRED TO SUFFER
In November 2013, President Obama
“pardoned” two turkeys, Caramel and
Popcorn, as part of a Thanksgiving
tradition that is more about good PR for
the turkey industry than anything else.
Although these two birds were spared
a gruesome death and dismemberment
at the slaughterhouse, they did not live
happily ever after. They both died several
weeks later, as did all of the turkeys
“pardoned” by Obama over the years.
In a race to increase factory farming profits,
domesticated turkeys like Caramel and
Popcorn have been bred for rapid growth and become
so large so quickly that they often die of heart attacks
at a very young age and suffer from obesity-related
health problems.
For many domesticated turkeys in the world, including
Caramel and Popcorn, this genetic manipulation
and debilitating obesity begin at Hybrid Turkeys,
the second-largest turkey producer in the world and
the subject of a recent Mercy For Animals Canada
undercover investigation.
In the wild, turkeys are sleek, agile, and able to fly.
These magnificent birds can live for more than a
decade; in fact, the oldest known wild turkey lived to
the age of 13. Keith Williams, a spokesman for the
turkey industry’s trade association, admits that unlike
their wild counterparts, domesticated turkeys only
have a “life expectancy of about 18 weeks.”
2013
MFA Canada investigation exposes more cruelty to
hens by a McDonald’s egg supplier.
20 COMPASSIONATE LIVING SUMMER 2014
ONCE A TURKEY BECOMES TOO SICK
OR INJURED TO PRODUCE EGGS, SHE
IS REMOVED FROM HER PEN AND
BEATEN TO DEATH WITH A METAL
PIPE OR SHOVEL.
“Their flesh has grown so fast, and their heart and their
bones and their other organs can’t catch up,” Dean
Norton, the director in charge of the pardoned turkeys
at Mount Vernon, explained to CNN. “The organs …
that are in this bird are meant for a smaller bird. They
just can’t handle the extra weight, so they end up
living not as long.”
In addition to turkeys being purposely bred to suffer
and die young, the investigation at Hybrid revealed
turkeys being punched, kicked, and thrown by
workers, brutally beaten with shovels and metal rods,
and crowded into filthy warehouses, left to die from
horrific injuries and illnesses.
While our courageous investigators continue to
expose the sickening realities of factory farming,
and our devoted legal team steadfastly pursues
justice on behalf of abused farmed animals, the
best thing consumers can do to prevent the
needless suffering of these sensitive creatures
is to leave turkeys and other farmed animals off
their plates.
After reviewing the undercover footage, Dr. Ian
Duncan, one of the world’s foremost experts
on poultry welfare, described the handling of
the birds at Hybrid as “gratuitous cruelty.” Dr.
Sara Shields, another leading poultry expert,
characterized the undercover footage as “some
of the most severe abuse” that she had yet
witnessed.
Top: Heavy turkeys
are dragged and
thrown by their
fragile wings.
Bottom: Rotting
eyes and other
severe injuries are
left untreated.
These unnaturally large turkeys are also too big to
reproduce naturally. Workers at Hybrid manually “milk”
the male turkeys for semen. They then violently grab
the females, shove their heads to the ground, and ram
a tube into them to artificially inseminate them.
Do your part: make a commitment to
explore a healthy and compassionate
plant-based diet.
Also, please share our investigation with
your friends and family so that as many
people as possible learn the horrible
truth about factory farming. Online at
TurkeyTorture.ca.
TURKEYS:
TALENTED AND TENDERHEARTED
Turkeys are remarkable creatures who
play, dance, nurture their young, and
communicate over distances as great as a
mile with 20 distinct vocalizations. They
form lifelong friendships with each other,
and humans too. Turkeys grieve their dead
MFA reveals cruelty at a factory farm owned by
Randy Spronk, president of the National Pork
Producers Council.
and have been observed to feel sorrow so
deeply that they die alongside their lost
companions. Chicks begin roosting in trees
with their mothers as young as two weeks,
and mother turkeys will fight ferociously to
protect their chicks.
Four workers are charged and convicted of cruelty to
animals after MFA documents sickening abuse at a
DiGiorno cheese supplier.
Tyson implements sweeping new animal welfare
guidelines after MFA uncovers harrowing cruelty at a
Tyson pig factory farm in Oklahoma.
GOOD HEARTS
vs. BLOOD MONEY
After Iowa became the first state to enact
an ag-gag law in 2011, a Des Moines
newspaper reported that Iowa governor
Terry Branstad, senate bill sponsor Joe
Seng, and several other legislators who
supported the bill received close to a
million dollars from influential agricultural
interests like the Iowa Pork Producers
Association, Iowa Beef Products, and Iowa
Select Farms (the target of a 2011 Mercy
For Animals investigation).
A similar report showed that the agricultural
industry in Idaho “donated” over half a
million dollars to Governor Butch Otter and
the various state legislators who supported
the state’s ag-gag law.
In the absence of any meaningful animal
welfare laws, investigators play a crucial
role in the protection of farmed animals.
MFA’s investigations, for example, have
been instrumental in the passage of state
ballot initiatives that ended some of the
worst forms of intensive confinement,
have led major corporations to implement
meaningful animal welfare policy changes,
including eliminating veal and gestation
HIDING THE TRUTH:
THE STATE OF AG-GAG
Undercover investigations of factory
farms document gut-wrenching cruelty
to animals. Criminal prosecutions follow
an investigation if the abuse is vicious
or sadistic enough, which it often is.
Major corporations drop the factory farm
as a supplier. Media coverage of the
investigation is widespread. And the public
is outraged.
THESE VICTORIES HAVE
COST THE FACTORY
FARMING INDUSTRY ITS
PROFITS.
2014
MFA Canada’s hidden camera documents unconscionable
cruelty at world’s largest turkey breeding company and
leads to company-wide changes.
22 COMPASSIONATE LIVING SUMMER 2014
But instead of cleaning up its act and
doing away with its cruelest practices, the
industry has promoted legislation across the
country designed to criminalize undercover
investigations.
Some of these laws impose an outright
ban on filming inside a factory farm
or slaughterhouse. Others prevent
investigators from denying affiliation with
an animal protection group when applying
for jobs as farm workers. Some even
impose a one-sided “mandatory reporting”
requirement that involves turning over all
video evidence of farmed animal abuse.
Thanks to overwhelming opposition
from compassionate activists nationwide,
however, that number pales in comparison
to the 18 states in which ag-gag bills have
been defeated.
But our work is not done yet. As we
continue to expose the horrific practices of
the factory farming industry, we can be sure
that the industry will keep trying to enact
ag-gag laws.
We must continue showing lawmakers that
the vast majority of Americans strongly
oppose attempts to stifle undercover
investigations. Together, we can be an
unwavering voice for farmed animals.
GO VEG
Withdrawing your financial support
from industries that abuse animals
and seek to keep that abuse hidden
from public view is the single most
powerful action you can take to
prevent needless cruelty to animals.
EXPOSE FACTORY
FARM CRUELTY
Use social media to share
MeatVideo.com and other
undercover factory farming footage
with as many people as you can.
TAKE A STAND
If an ag-gag bill is introduced in your
state, contact your lawmakers and
urge them to oppose the bill. Ask
your friends and family to do the
same.
Submit an editorial to your local
paper. Engage others in the fight
against ag-gag by educating people
on the horrors of factory farming.
These dangerous laws jeopardize the
integrity of the food supply, pose a risk to
the environment, and impair workers’ rights.
Ag-gag laws prevent detection of any
criminal activity occurring within a factory
farm or slaughterhouse.
LAY OF THE
LAND: AG-GAG
States With Ag-Gag Laws
States Where Ag-Gag Bills Were Defeated
States Still Considering Ag-Gag Bills In 2014
MFA Canada exposes cruelty to chicks at Maple
Leaf Foods, the country’s largest meat producer.
C E L E B R AT E S
Canada’s three largest retailers ban sale of veal from calves
confined in crates after an MFA Canada investigation reveals
heartbreaking cruelty at a major veal supplier.
SINCE 2011, FOUR
STATES — IOWA, UTAH,
MISSOURI, AND IDAHO —
HAVE ENACTED AG-GAG
LAWS, SOME OF WHICH
ARE CURRENTLY BEING
CHALLENGED IN COURT.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
SPEAK OUT
Known as “ag-gag” laws, they pose a
serious threat to us all.
They are also an affront to the longstanding principle that we as consumers
have a right to know where our food comes
from and should be able to engage in
meaningful discourse about something as
important as the food we eat.
crates and prohibiting tail docking, and
have resulted in dozens of successful
criminal prosecutions of farmed animal
abuse.
In an attempt to stifle the
growing number of undercover
investigations documenting
the horrors of the meat, egg,
and dairy industries, many
states have introduced or
enacted “ag-gag” legislation.
Check out this map for the lay
of the land.
23 COMPASSIONATE LIVING SUMMER 2014
NONPROFIT ORG.
U.S. POSTAGE PAID
DENVER, CO
PERMIT NO. 5377
8033 Sunset Blvd, Ste 864 Ÿ Los Angeles, CA 90046
Postage required unless mailed by MFA
THERE ARE
BILLIONS OF REASONS
TO BECOME A MEMBER
OF MERCY FOR ANIMALS.
MEET REASON #642
HAL SPARKS
Comedian
JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL
HLN Host
For over a decade MFA has been at the forefront
of campaigns to prevent cruelty to farmed animals
and promote compassionate food choices
and policies.
MOBY
Musician
BECOME A MEMBER TODAY AND GIVE A VOICE TO THE
VOICELESS.
PAMELA
ANDERSON
Actress
SAM SIMON
Co-Creator of The Simpsons
JOINMFA.COM
RUSSELL
SIMMONS
Hip-Hop Mogul