Keeping Tabs on Animal Rights Groups

The Animal Agriculture Alliance works hard to be sure that farmers and ranchers are aware of the goals of animal rights groups and how that will affect the animal agriculture industry's livelihood.

Animal Agriculture Alliance Communications Director Hannah Thompson says although their current tactics don't seem to reflect their ultimate goal of ending animal agriculture — make no mistake that remains their overall objective.

Thompson: "What they are doing is breaking down their mission into what they say is more palatable steps. So you've probably heard a lot lately about cage-free policies that restaurants, retailers, and even universities. So the activist groups are touting those as victories towards their end goal of eliminating the consumption of animal products. So by going cage-free, they create issues and challenges for the industry to react to. And if everyone would convert to cage-free then they would look for another demand - so maybe pasture-raised or something else. They will continue to move that goal post until production is completely inefficient and unrealistic. These tactics are aimed at driving up the cost of food and making families have to some make tough decisions about whether they can purchase meat or not. So if they can drive down demand while driving up costs, they going to eliminate the industry — which is their goal."

Go to animalagalliance.org for resources and additional information.