In the previous sections, we covered why factory farming is bad for people, animals and the planet, and laid out facts about the systems and structures that are propping up this harmful system. Luckily, there’s a movement of people that are working towards mitigating the harms of factory farming and phasing out the system and ensuring a just transition to sustainable farming, fishing and ranching.
Federal policy
Farm Systems Reform Act (FSRA)
What: A bill that aims to transform our food system by cracking down on consolidation and corporate abuse, phasing out concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs or often referred to as “factory farms”) and investing in small-scale independent farmers and ranchers.
Who: U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.)
Original cosponsors of the Farm System Reform Act(from 2019) include Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) in the Senate, and Reps. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), Cori Bush (D-Mo.), Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.), Mark Pocan (D.Wis.), Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), and Andy Levin (D-Mich.) in the House of Representatives.
Key provisions
- Imposes a moratorium on the construction of new and expanding CAFOs
- Lays out a plan to phases out the largest existing CAFOs by 2040
- Imposes the liabilities and costs of pollutions, accidents, and disasters on the agricultural conglomerates that control the market rather than on the independent farmers who contract with them
- Establishes funds to help farmers transition from CAFOs to other agricultural operations such as raising pasture-based livestock, growing specialty crops or organic crop production
- Strengthens the existing Packers and Stockyards Act to crack down on monopolistic practices of corporate integrators, and protect contract growers from exploitation
Protecting Anticompetitive Mergers Act (PAMA)
What: A bill that would ban the biggest, most anticompetitive mergers and give the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) the authority and the tools to reject deals and to break up harmful mergers.
Who: Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass) and United States Representative Mondaire Jones (D-NY)
Key Provisions
- Prohibit mergers valued over $5 billion or that result in market shares above 33% for sellers or 25% for employers
- Prohibit mergers resulting in further market concentration as per the 1992 agency guidelines
- Strengthen the FTC by giving them the power and stronger tools to stop the most harmful mergers including mergers by firms with a history of corporate crime or antitrust violations, and mergers that will negatively impact workers
- Enable antitrust agencies to conduct retrospective reviews and break up harmful deals that have destroyed competition
Grassroots efforts and campaigns
Organizations pushing back against factory farming
HEAL Members
- Land Stewardship Project (LSP). Check out our Member Dispatch with LSP here.
- North American Marine Alliance (NAMA)
- Uprooted and Rising: Block Corporate Salmon
- Idaho Organization for Resource Councils (IORC)
- American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA)
Movement Allies
Organizations promoting alternatives to factory farming
HEAL Members
Movement Allies