(The views and opinions expressed in this blog are strictly those of the author.)

Part of the Animal Agriculture Alliance’s mission to safeguarding the future of animal agriculture is protecting farmers, ranchers, and the broader animal agriculture and meat communities by monitoring animal rights extremist organizations and countering damaging misinformation. We believe that understanding the mindset of activists is critical to anticipating what strategies and tactics they might employ next to target producers (and consumers) of meat, poultry, dairy, eggs, and seafood. Issuing reports from major animal rights conferences each year is one important way we keep tabs on the activist community and help farmers and ranchers, processors, restaurant/retail/foodservice brands, and others involved in food production stay ahead.

In 2024, we have published reports from six major conferences, as well as several webinars and livestreamed events. Conferences covered include the Animal Legal Defense Fund’s Animal Law Symposium and Animal Law Conference; the Humane Society of the United States’ Taking Action for Animals Conference; the Industrial Farm Animal Production, the Environment, and Public Health Conference; and the Reducetarian Summit. While the speaker lineup and topics of focus can vary, these conferences all have one major thing in common: negative viewpoints on animal agriculture and calling for drastic reduction, if not outright elimination, of meat, poultry, dairy, eggs, and seafood from our diet.

A few trends from this year’s conference summaries include – calls for collaboration and creative ways to gain funding by aligning with other movements, especially climate-focused efforts; discussion of legislative “wins” and pathways to getting additional “farm protection” legislation passed, beginning at the local level; positioning large processors and integrators as “villains in the story” that benefit from the current food system at the expense of farmers and ranchers; and animal agriculture’s alleged negative impacts on public health.

In their own words, this brief selection of quotes illustrates these trends.

• “Infiltrate. Figure it out. Corporate espionage. Figure out what their weaknesses are, where their vulnerabilities are, and then how we can exploit them.”
• “Today you’re going to be [a major poultry and pork processor’s] CEO, which I know sounds really scary...but you need to understand your adversary and that’s what we’re here to do today is understand our adversary to figure out ‘how can I hurt you most effectively.’”
• “We believe it is strategic to consider the news-worthiness of litigation.”
• “Prop 12 stands for the idea that states can pass more laws to protect animals.”
• “What’s the most ambitious thing we can pass by 51% of the vote? I want to know because that’s the best law we can get passed for animals right now.”
• “We do think we will get there because we are collaborating with the foodservice industry… We view ourselves as consultants and we’re working really hard to basically hold the hands of these operations through every menu change.”
• “A lot of people know that eating meat is quite bad for the climate. It's bad for animals.”
• “The narrative and research efforts of the campaign are clear - industrial animal agribusiness is responsible for antibiotic resistance, contributing to the climate chaos, water and air pollution, and social inequities.”
• “Put your hands up if you have ever used human health as a motivator for the work that you’re doing. That is definitely the overwhelming majority... As you call tell from the audience today, health is a major motivator for dietary shifts, for plant-based dietary shifts….”
• “The direct link between intensive confinement of animals and the emergence of zoonotic diseases, you know, which, again, is so relevant now, as we're seeing, with the new bird flu.”

Full conference reports are available to Alliance members in the Resource Center on our website, or you can always drop me a line at hthompson@animalagalliance.org to hear more about the insights we’re seeing.

If you’ll indulge me for a quick shameless plug – the work of the Alliance and the information I share in this blog would not be possible without the generous support of our members, sponsors and donors. If you find our efforts valuable, consider supporting the Animal Agriculture Alliance’s critical mission of safeguarding the future of animal agriculture today on Giving Tuesday. Your donation will go twice as far today, thanks to matching funds from USPOULTRY.

Link to Animal Agriculture Alliance: HERE