Each year, the Alliance issues reports from major animal rights conferences. We believe it is important for animal agriculture and the meat industry to know what animal rights activists are discussing so we can better prepare for upcoming strategies and tactics. Like everything else this year, those conferences look a little different.

The Animal Rights National Conference, the largest activist event initially set for July in Portland, first went virtual and later announced a complete cancellation. Activist group Animal Place decided to host the Farmed Animal Conference E-Summit in its place. The E-Summit consisted of 20 virtual sessions published online from August 3^rd through August 9^th featuring themes such as “Farmed Animal Emotions,” “Environmental Impact of Animal Ag,” “Challenging Carnism,” “Social Media Activism,” “Bearing Witness” and “Health-Based Outreach.”

The format may have been different, but the content was all too familiar as the speakers rallied activists to promote veganism and end animal agriculture. As I do each year, I’d like to share some of the key quotes from the conference here.

“The future of the farmed animal movement is actualizing that there are no more farmed animals.” — Kip Anderson, co-director of activist documentaries Cowspiracy and What The Health
“A plant-based world would make global food security much more possible.” — Dawn Moncrief, A Well-Fed World
“Any consumption of animal products, cut that out because it is contributing to suffering, and there is a direct link there.” — Kelcie Leach, Animal Place
“Let's stop raping these animals into existence. None of the animals on these factory farms are making love.” — Jane Velez Mitchell, JaneUnchained
“It’s the thing that’s killing us the most — eating animal products. It is killing the planet the most and by the way, it’s responsible for the current pandemic.” — Louie Psihoyos, director of activist documentary The Game Changers
“A movement like ours is the beginning of the end of animal agriculture.” — Miyoko Schinner, founder of Miyokos vegan creamery
“Pigs are sentient, they are not property, they are persons.” — Anita Krajnc, The Save Movement

These quotes illustrate what we’ve known for quite some time: The activist movement is focused on animal rights (and ending animal agriculture), not animal welfare, and it will stop at nothing to try to undermine consumer trust in meat and poultry, including spreading misinformation about the current pandemic.

I’m sure you felt frustrated reading those quotes. Let’s channel that frustration into refuting these narratives and communicating the truth about our industry to our stakeholders and customers.

Virtual activist conference remains focused on meat

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