In 2023, the ASPCA renewed our commitment to provide grants though the Fund to End Factory Farming. This year, the grant provided funds for innovative projects that reveal new data or narratives around the harms caused by factory farming and the benefits of alternative systems—not only for farmed animals, but for people as well. We sought to illustrate the many ways in which the fates of animals in the food system are closely tied to those of workers, farmers, consumers, communities and the environment.

We are thrilled to announce the recipients of our 2023 Fund to End Factory Farming grant. Collectively, they received $200,000 in funding for projects that explore how intensive animal agriculture threatens the wellbeing of human populations, while higher-welfare, pasture-based and plant-based food production provides benefits to all.

2023 ASPCA Fund to End Factory Farming grant recipients include journalists, trade groups, think tanks and advocacy organizations representing farmers, animals and the environment. Their diverse projects will benefit animals, the environment, food producers, consumers and the public at large:

• THE COCKLEBUR
  Writing and publishing an article series free to the public investigating the negative impacts of factory farming on rural America.
• GOOD MEAT PROJECT
  Creating an online directory to help consumers locate farmers, ranchers and butchers who offer meat that centers care for land, animals, and people.
• ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL COUNCIL EDUCATION FUND
  Collecting and sharing impact stories from community members about how massive, concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) harm people, animals, and the environment.
• LAND STEWARDSHIP PROJECT
  Producing podcasts and articles highlighting farmers who are successfully raising animals in high-welfare, regenerative settings—countering the idea that factory farming is essential to farm survival.
• MERCY FOR ANIMALS
  Studying the economic costs of farmer participation in meaningful farm animal welfare certification programs.
• STATE INNOVATION EXCHANGE (SiX)
  Developing a toolkit and training module for state legislators to work in partnership with advocates and rural community members to prevent the expansion of factory farms and reform the ways that concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) are regulated at the state level.

Congratulations to this year’s grantees!

Learn more about the ASPCA’s long history of grant funding to help achieve our goal to end factory farming, and join our Factory Farming Task Force to be alerted when the application period opens for the 2024 funding round.