ASPCA Launches $100,000 in New Grant Funding to Support the Movement to End Factory Farming in the United States

NEW YORK – The ASPCA^® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals^®) has announced $100,000 in grant funding that will be available to U.S. organizations and institutions this year, through the new ASPCA Fund to End Factory Farming. Building on over 10 years of grantmaking dedicated to improving the lives of farmed animals, this grant initiative aims to generate new formal or informal research, evidence, reports and narratives that further substantiate the urgent need to move away from conventional, confinement-based animal agriculture. Grants will range generally from $15,000-$25,000 to support projects that bring attention to the need to shift toward more humane, healthy and sustainable on-farm practices in addition to reducing the overall consumption of animal products in favor of more plant-based foods.

At any given moment, there are over 1.6 billion chickens, pigs, cattle and other land animals being raised for food across the U.S., and approximately 10 billion farmed animals are slaughtered each year. These animals are overwhelmingly raised on what the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the agriculture industry refer to as Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs), also known as “factory farms,” which may hold tens or even hundreds of thousands of animals in extremely crowded conditions. In addition to being inhumane, factory farming is a major contributor to climate change and harms the health and well-being of workers, farmers and local communities. Despite this, only a network of loose laws and regulations governs these facilities.

“The lack of transparency around industrial animal agriculture’s harms has allowed this cruel form of animal production to dominate our food system,” said Daisy Freund, vice president of farm animal welfare at the ASPCA. “To activate policymakers, food companies and individuals, we need to shine a light on how destructive the status quo really is and quantify the benefits of more compassionate, sustainable farming practices. The ASPCA Fund to End Factory Farming will support the broad community of researchers, advocates and businesses that are proving there is a better way forward for animals, people and the environment.”

Eligible projects must support the transition of farmers, consumers, lawmakers, corporations or institutional buyers from conventional animal agriculture to more humane, equitable and sustainable alternatives. Among other themes, the ASPCA is seeking projects that quantify the financial burden that factory farming places on individuals or communities; reveal new benefits of more humane and sustainable food production—e.g., higher-welfare farming methods or plant-based products—to the environment, public health, local economies, and worker or farmer wellbeing; and projects that explore new strategies to assist farmers in transitioning from conventional animal agriculture to higher-welfare and plant-based farming practices.

Since its founding in 1866, the ASPCA has worked to improve the lives of animals raised for food in the United States and now offers a collection of resources available to the public as part of its Shop With Your Heart^® program, which launched five years ago to inform consumers, food businesses and lawmakers about more humane solutions. As part of this work, in the last 10 years, the ASPCA has distributed more than $4 million to organizations focused on protecting farmed animals—improving the lives of hundreds of millions of farmed animals through direct care, research, educational campaigns and supporting farmers’ adoption of more humane practices or transitions to alternative products.

Applications for the ASPCA Fund to End Factory Farming will be accepted from June 1-July 18. For more information about the eligibility requirements or to submit a proposal for consideration, please visit ASPCApro.org/FarmRFP.