FACT’s 2024 Annual Impact Report
We are proud to share with you FACT’s 2024 Annual Impact Report. This week’s blog is the introductory letter in the report from Harry Rhodes, FACT’s Executive Director. To help us continue making an even bigger impact in 2025, please consider donating to our work.
FACT believes in a food system that respects animals, protects and supports farmers, and produces food that is healthy and nutritious to eat. I believe that most people, given the choice, also believe in this type of humane and healthy food system.
In The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Michael Pollan said: “ ‘Eating is an agricultural act,’ as Wendell Berry famously said. It is also an ecological act, and a political act, too. Though much has been done to obscure this simple fact, how and what we eat determines to a great extent the use we make of the world—and what is to become of it. To eat with a fuller consciousness of all that is at stake might sound like a burden, but in practice, few things in life can afford quite as much satisfaction.”
Beginning with consumers, people are looking for good, healthy food to feed their families. In today’s world, this can be difficult. People go to the supermarket and are overwhelmed. Is the food really healthy and nutritious? Some is and some isn’t. FACT’s website has an entire section for consumers.
On these pages you will find:
Humane Farming Standards – what exactly is a humane farm and why is food from that farm more nutritious?
Humane Food Labels – our guide to help you understand the labels you find at the supermarket.
Pasture-Based Turkey Directory - just what everyone needs for Thanksgiving.
Next comes the livestock and poultry farmers. The vast majority want to treat their animals humanely and with respect. I have yet to meet a farmer or rancher who doesn’t speak about their animals with care and even love. The problem is that not all of them understand how to truly raise their animals humanely.
That is where FACT’s Humane Farming Program comes in. We support thousands of farmers and millions of animals nationwide through:
Fund-a-Farmer Grants Program – since 2012 FACT has awarded 695 grants to farmers totaling more than $1,361,000.
Scholarships for conferences – as Shannon K, a recent conference participant said: “This conference was not only a great formal learning opportunity but also a great chance to meet with other farmers.”
Free Webinars – FACT offers free webinars on a variety of topics relevant to humane animal production. These webinars are then bundled together to form short courses on topics such as “Beginning Pastured Poultry” and “Funding Your Farm.”
Mentorship Program – according to Carlssa M., one of our mentees: “…having mentors can be the most important resource for beginning farmers. When your mentor has a lifetime of mistakes and successes they are willing to share, it can really save you and your animals.”
Finally, come the animals. All animals should be raised humanely and in a healthy and safe manner. When raised in their natural settings, on pasture, these animals are healthy and rarely need to be pumped with antibiotics or other dangerous drugs. However, when an animal does get sick it should be treated for that illness, even if that means giving it antibiotics. FACT’s Safe and Healthy Food Program works to make sure that all animals are raised humanely and that the food from these animals is safe and healthy to eat.
This year we have seen the impact of all of these programs continue to grow. We believe that this will ultimately lead to our vision that all food-producing animals will be raised in a humane and healthy manner, and that everyone will have access to safe and humanely produced food.
A PDF of the report is available here, and a version that includes the names of all 2024 donors is accessible here.