• Gentle Thanksgiving Registration Now Open
• World Farm Animals Day Tops Past Records
• FARM Compiles Farmed Animal Killing Statistics
• Equal Justice Alliance Keeps Fighting AETA

Gentle Thanksgiving Registration Now Open

Gentle Thanksgiving is FARM's annual campaign to encourage relatives, friends, and neighbors to replace the tortured carcass of a dead bird on their dinner table with a rich selection of delicious mock meats, vegetables and fruits. It's a great opportunity to demonstrate the superior taste and nutrition of cruelty-free cuisine.

We invite local activists to hold public vegetarian Thanksgiving dinners in their communities. Our Gentle Thanksgiving website provides tips on arranging public dinners and other special events and maintains a national registry of such events.

Registration for Gentle Thanksgiving is now open! Please register your plans with us so we can list your event and community in the Events Directory.Your event will inspire others and help generate media attention.

You may also request our colorful Gentle Thanksgiving cards that explain the benefits of a vegetarian Thanksgiving. for distribution in your community.

Register your Gentle Thanksgiving event and request cards.

World Farm Animals Day Tops Past Records

The final numbers are in for World Farm Animals Day, revealing more documented activities than in past years. With events running throughout the entire month of October, nearly 450 observances took place in all 50 U.S. states and 25 other countries.

FARM mailed out approximately 300 Leafleting & Event Packs,providing activists around the world with official WFAD banners, color posters, display materials, handouts, stickers, and more.

Overall, event coordinators distributed nearly 40,000 colorful handouts in honor of World Farm Animals Day.

Thanks to compassionate people everywhere, World Farm Animals Day and related events are becoming increasingly popular in the U.S. and around the world.

View the detailed International Events Report with photos.

FARM Compiles Farmed Animal Killing Statistics

Each year, in honor of World Farm Animals Day, FARM compiles a report on the victims of animal agriculture using data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service and the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization. FARM's statistics are unique, as they account for the number of animals slaughtered as well as those killed by suffocation, starvation, injury, disease, stress, and other deadly practices of factory farming.

In the U.S., the total number of land-based animals killed for food this year is projected to reach 10,378 million. This represents no significant change from the 2005/2006 mean of 10,381 million, but a 1% drop in the per capita figure, in light of the 1% annual U.S. population growth.

The number of fishes and other aquatic animals killed for human and animal consumption is not reported but is estimated to exceed that number.

The 10,357 million land-based animals killed for food in 2006 includes both the 9,432 million animals reported as slaughtered by USDA and an additional 925 million, or 9% of the total, who died lingering deaths from deadly factory farming practices.

That number includes 213 million male chicks raised for egg production and suffocated upon hatching plus an additional 53 million female chickens killed by disease or starvation. It also includes 638 million other birds,10 million rabbits (not even counted by USDA), 13 million piglets killed before weaning, and 5 million other mammals.

The number of land animals killed for food worldwide in 2006 was 56,416.7 million, up only 0.79 percent from the 55,975.5 million figure for 2005. This is much lower than the 3.5 percent annual rise from the 54,088.2 million figure for 2004, which partly accounted for predictions of doubling meat consumption by 2020.

In light of the 1.17 percent annual worldwide population growth, the worldwide per capita killing of animals for food appears to be dropping from the current rate of 8.65 animals. The U.S. rate is still much higher at 34.2.

See the full report.

A year ago, FARM spearheaded formation of the Equal Justice Alliance, a coalition of animal protection and other social justice organizations to defend activists’ freedom of speech and assembly by defeating the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA).

AETA restricts and chills activists’ freedom of speech and assembly and brands animal activism as terrorism. It imposes fines and prison terms for expressive conduct.

We’ve accomplished much in a year:

  *  Compiled a list of 200+ groups opposing AETA
  *  Formed a coalition of 40 groups
  *  Posted an educational website arguing against AETA
  *  Identified AETA-like state laws
  *  Persuaded law schools to hold contests on AETA
  *  Raised awareness of AETA at national conferences
  *  Held briefing on AETA for Congress & bar associations
  *  Held briefings for senior Judiciary Committee staffers
  *  Developed a Congressional database
  *  Contacted most Congressional offices
  *  Sought legal opinions on AETA

Currently, we are working on challenging the constitutionality of AETA and getting Congress to overturn it.

To learn more and to join the Equal Justice Alliance, visit our website.

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