Not long after the Animal Agriculture Alliance hosted our Stakeholders Summit in Kansas City, animal rights extremists gathered in the Washington, D.C., area for their own Summit — though I’m assuming that is where the similarities end. The Animal and Vegan Advocacy Summit, which seems to have taken the place of the former Animal Rights National Conference, was held in Washington, D.C., on May 16-19. The event, first held in 2022, was launched by ProVeg International and was billed as an opportunity to “explore and learn the latest knowledge, diversity of thought, and tools to effectively increase your individual and collective impact on systemic food system change."

The event was sponsored by Animal Legal Defense Fund, A Well-Fed World, Faunalytics, Food System Innovations, ProVeg International, Tipping Point Private Foundation, Vegan Grants, and other organizations. The program was divided into different sessions covering the future of the animal rights movement. Over 750 activists were in attendance, according to event organizers. The speakers included many of the usual suspects in the animal rights movement, including representatives from the Humane Society of the United States, Mercy for Animals, Animal Equality, Animal Outlook, Compassion in World Farming, and Animal Rising.

During the Summit, activist groups made several claims including promoting a “food system transformation” to plant-based alternatives, claiming animal agriculture is a “corrupt” industry that is detrimental to our health, the planet, and animals. Key focus areas and repeated themes of the conference included: “highlights” of some of their recent legal strategies in bringing down the “factory farms” that they claimed make up animal agriculture; focus on creating a movement within the generation by empowering students and the next generation of veganism to help lead the movement to put an end to animal “suffering”; ways to implement effective campaigns while referencing issues like global warming/environmental concerns and how animal agriculture continues to “contribute” to these concerns; claims as a movement that they should work together to create a united front against “factory farming” with a large and broad focus on partnering with other movements for both support and funding, including climate and public health.

At the Alliance, we believe it is essential for us to keep a close eye on the animal rights movement, so that we can inform the meat and poultry communities about what strategies and tactics might be coming next. While it isn’t the most fun summer reading, it gives us valuable insights that allow us to help companies like yours navigate the ever-changing and challenging landscape of activism.

From the key points of this conference, it is essential the meat and poultry communities to continue building up sustainability efforts (and importantly, make sure you’re talking about them with key audiences, including investors). We will certainly continue to see climate issues be a major talking point of the animal rights movement, and we must be proactive in demonstrating our commitment to producing affordable, nutritious (not to mention delicious) protein while mitigating our impact on the environment and leaving behind healthy land for the next generation. Secondly, it is critical for companies to keep a close eye on developments in legislation and legal campaigns, even if they don’t seem to be relevant you at first glance. For activist groups, it is all about setting seemingly small precedents that they can use to push for incremental changes and expansions to make significant impacts.

The legislation conversation will certainly continue at the next activist conference on the docket — HSUS’ Taking Action for Animals Conference, coming up in July in DC.

Activists gather in DC to coordinate and strategize

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