Since 2021, the ASPCA has offered funding through our Fund to End Factory Farming to encourage a shift away from industrial animal agriculture to more humane farming practices. Applications are now open for this year’s fund, which will focus on supporting groups on the frontlines of factory farming, educating their communities about the industry’s harmful practices and advocating for better regional food systems.

At any given moment, more than 1.6 billion chickens, turkeys, pigs, cows and other animals are being raised for food across the U.S. The vast majority are on industrial-scale “factory farms,” which confine tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of animals in severe deprivation and stress. In addition to being inhumane, these facilities generate massive amounts of waste — manure full of antibiotics and other feed additives — which causes big problems for local communities. While it can be pleasant to live near small farms, people who have the misfortune of living within range of these factory farms report contaminated drinking water, health issues and noxious smells that make life truly awful. Waste from factory farming is also a major source of water pollution across the U.S.

Industrial agriculture has a lack of meaningful regulations and is largely hidden from public view. As a result, consumers are unaware that their daily food purchases are supporting a system that is cruel to animals and damaging to the environment and human health. The best witnesses to the dangers of factory farming are the people who live nearby, but their stories are not widely heard, and their community initiatives are chronically underfunded.

Past recipients of the ASPCA’s Fund to End Factory Farming have tackled the direct impacts of industrial agriculture, from an effort to protect Nebraskan farms, residents and communities against industrial agriculture to collecting stories about how mega-farms have harmed communities across Illinois. This year’s focus will build on those projects, offering resources to those with firsthand knowledge of the cruelty and destruction of factory farming. We are thrilled to have Socially Responsible Agriculture Project (SRAP) as a partner on this year’s fund. SRAP brings a wealth of expertise supporting farmers, residents and communities fighting industrial farming’s presence and impacts in their lives.

Applications for the ASPCA Fund to End Factory Farming will be accepted until 5 p.m. ET on Friday, May 30. An informational session will be hosted online by the ASPCA and SRAP on Thursday, April 24, from 1-2:30 p.m. ET. To learn more about the informational session, grant eligibility requirements or to submit a proposal, please visit aspca.org/farmrfp.