Making Hay

Help Us Get a Youtopia Grant

By Jasmin

 
Free Range Studios (the group responsible for the animal rights themed cartoon, The Meatrix) is teaming up with Youtopia to offer a grant that will award $15,000 smackaroos worth of free design services to a socially-conscious group with a worthy project. We believe that Farm Sanctuary is that group, and the short film we intend to make is that project.

We want to work with Free Range Studios to produce a short animated video that takes a serious look at how the factory farming industry plays a major role in global warming – using animated art and online "viral" distribution to catch the attention of a mainstream audience. This would be a vital tool to gain public awareness of the atrocities facing our planet, due directly to the global footprint of animal agriculture.

Please take a minute to vote for our educational video project, “What’s Your Foodprint?”

Then, help us get out the vote by posting this blog entry to all of your social networking outlets. Voting ends December 1.

As always, thank you for your support in raising awareness and eyebrows!

“Pardoned Turkey” Poll: Your Input Needed

By Jasmin

 

More than 10,000 of you signed our petition to the White House asking that this year's “pardoned” turkeys be sent to Farm Sanctuary instead of Disneyland (where these delicate animals are not given proper care). We’re happy to report that this story has been picked up by several mainstream media outlets and most of the coverage has been supportive of our efforts.

However, the Orange County Register published an article that includes factually inaccurate information. The article says that, “At Disneyland, most pardoned turkeys have lived for more than a year.”

Not true. While the public record is incomplete, information gathered from news reports shows that at least half of all turkeys sent to Disney have died within one year.

One thing the article does pin down with accuracy is that “Normally, turkeys raised for eating only live about 18 weeks.” The rescued turkeys at Farm Sanctuary, however, typically live comfortably and happily for four to seven years because of the expert care we are able to give them.

The article includes a poll for readers to fill out: “Should the pardoned turkeys live at Disneyland?” The possible answers include: “Yes, it’s the happiest place on earth;” “No, they should live at a shelter;” “Obama shouldn’t pardon turkeys;” and “Who cares where they live?”

At the moment, the results are not in our favor. So, please take a moment to vote (the poll is at the bottom of the article), and then post a comment saying that the true happiest place on earth for farm animals is Farm Sanctuary. Also read more about the truth behind turkey production.

What’s Your Thanksgiving Tradition?

by Casey

 
Last week we presented some of our suggestions on how to survive Thanksgiving with grace and compassion despite some of the more gruesome rituals that surround this holiday. Now we’d like to share some of your feedback!

The winner of our recent drawing for free tickets to the California Celebration FOR the Turkeys was Josephine Noah of Albany, California, and this is what she had to say:

“I make a point of thanking and appreciating those who have hosted the gathering, and made food for me. Over the years, they've grown accepting and accommodating of my food politics, and I believe knowing a vegan and some vegetarians has made them more aware of us — that we're normal and good people, and that we have made valid and respectable commitments to our beliefs.”

When Paula Lecht of San Francisco invites loved ones to the vegan Thanksgiving at her house, she makes sure to satisfy all the senses:

“To invoke the holiday, I include the fragrant hot spiced cider with real clove and cinnamon sticks, lots of vegan wine, candles, and anything else that brings a warm, inviting glow to my home. This joy is communicated to all who share it, vegan or not. I find that those who question the choice for a vegan cuisine are too caught up in the splendid presentation to protest!”

And like so many of you, San Mateo resident Emily Beighley supports the life-saving work of Farm Sanctuary through our Adopt-A-Turkey Project:

“We ask our friends and family to ‘adopt’ Farm Sanctuary critters for us in lieu of gifts during the holiday season, and we attend [the California Celebration FOR the Turkeys] every year.”

It was wonderful to see so many thoughtful stories from “Making Hay” readers about their own Thanksgiving experiences. If only we had space to print them all!

If we’ve learned anything from Thanksgivings past, it’s that while the day is a cause for much suffering amongst our feathered friends, it can also be a significant opportunity for advocacy on their behalf. We encourage all of you to continue leading by example and let the light of your compassion show the way to a kinder future. On behalf of all of us at Farm Sanctuary, here’s wishing you a happy holiday. 

Surviving Thanksgiving

By Jasmin 

 

It’s time again for the Holidaze. Time for seeing family members (ah…family), giving and receiving presents (because who doesn’t need a new snowflake neck tie?), and, oh yes, watching as your loved ones eat the very animals you are fighting to save. Beginning with Thanksgiving, this can be a very trying time for many farm animal advocates.

Which is why it’s particularly important that we spend from now until the end of the year going that extra mile in taking care of ourselves and our activist peers. This includes getting enough sunshine and exercise, eating well, staying hydrated (and I mean with water, folks, not soy nog), spending time with your activist community, and doing something every day that’s fun and has nothing whatsoever to do with your activism. Read more on surviving the holidays as a vegan.

Thanksgiving tends to be particularly tough for vegans and animal activists. For many of us, watching a dead bird be handed around the table can actually be very traumatic. If you plan on attending a Thanksgiving celebration that includes eating a dead turkey as part of the “celebration,” here are some tips on getting through it in one piece:

• Spread compassion through cruelty-free cuisine. Bring a vegan dish (or several) to share.

• Don’t feel as though you have to defend your veganism. If your Uncle Joe is poking fun at you, it could be because he’s grappling with his own conscience. Extend compassion to him, and rise above the petulance. (If he doesn’t lay off, however, calmly explain to him that it is deeply hurtful for him to put you down.)

• Unless you were born vegan, there was a time when you also consumed animal products. Keep that in mind, and also lead by example.

• Host a vegan Thanksgiving meal or potluck. You can invite your meat-eating friends and family to show them how tasty vegan food can be, or you might decide to celebrate with  fellow animal advocates, using the meal as a way to provide solace to them, and to you, around the holidays. You might also choose to attend an inspiring event like our Celebration FOR the Turkeys.

• Keep your eye on the big picture. If you turn your angst into advocacy – all while taking care of yourself along the way so you can avoid activist burnout – you will feel good about your contribution, and you will also make a difference for the animals. Have a conversation with your family (not necessarily at the meal itself) about animal cruelty, and offer them resources to make personal changes.
 

This Tuesday, we’ll share some of your tips on how to have a compassionate Thanksgiving. Also, feel free to leave your tips and thoughts in the comments section below.

This Thanksgiving, we at Farm Sanctuary are grateful to you for all that you are doing to raise awareness, to change hearts and minds, and to advocate compassion. Thank you!

Letters Needed: Write Away for Turkeys

By Jasmin

 
Remember the old days, before the Internet, when people used to write letters? Nowadays, it seems that long-hand has been overtaken by short, hurried e-mails – often full of codes and abbreviations (which, truth be told, I can rarely decipher). One way of bridging the retro thoughtfulness of the letter-writing of yesteryear with today’s information craze is by submitting a letter to the editor (LTE). The impact that an LTE carries with it can be Herculean; remember, the letter section of your paper is the most-read section aside from the front page.

With Thanksgiving just a gobble away, there’s no time like the present for writing a letter for a turkey (or for the more than 46 million turkeys who are killed each year for Thanksgiving alone). If you see an article featuring turkey recipes, why not send an LTE suggesting that people include some compassionate vegan items on their menu this year? Be sure to include some facts about turkey production. If there are news stories covering the Thanksgiving sale at that huge department store in your area, why not send a letter suggesting that people instead spend their money on sponsoring rescued turkeys as gifts for friends and family, since the true point of Thanksgiving is intended to be all about “giving” and “spreading thanks.” With such a staggering amount of turkeys exploited and killed for Thanksgiving each year, that’s a sad irony. But by offering a compassionate alternative, we can exemplify the spirit of the holiday in a positive way.

Our Letters for the Turkeys page provides you with clear guidelines and tips for writing your LTE, as well as outlining some talking points for turkeys.

Even if your letter doesn’t get published, you’ve still succeeded in making hay. The more letters a paper receives on a particular subject, the more likely the editor is to publish one in the future. Plus, you’re also giving the editors ideas for possible stories, so write away right away!

A New Tradition

By Gene

 

Our Thanksgiving ritual in the U.S. is rather strange. We gather with family and friends around the harvest season to share a meal and to express thanks and gratitude for the good things we have. Ironically, the centerpiece of this celebration in homes across America is the carcass of a dead bird who had been abused on a factory farm and then killed for the holiday.

Beginning in 1986, Farm Sanctuary has promoted a different kind of holiday tradition through our Adopt-A-Turkey Project. We celebrate our connection with other animals, rather than our ability to dominate, kill and consume them. Saving turkeys, rather than eating them, is a better way to observe Thanksgiving. At Farm Sanctuary, we will enjoy time with turkeys as companions, rather than as commodities, at celebrations at our sanctuaries in Watkins Glen, New York and Orland, California this Saturday. We’re also hosting a benefit to help raise awareness and promote compassion at Tavern on the Green in New York City on Sunday.

In his brilliant new book, "Eating Animals," acclaimed author Jonathan Safran Foer writes: "If this entire book could be decanted into a single question … it might be this: Should we serve turkey at Thanksgiving?" Foer cogently advances Mahatma Gandhi’s observation that "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." How we relate to other animals, especially those who are at our mercy, says volumes about who we are as a people.

Abraham Lincoln established our national Thanksgiving holiday in 1863 during our country’s bloody civil war to "heal the wounds of the nation" and to restore "peace, harmony, tranquility and Union." By putting the carcasses of animals who’ve endured cruelty and violence at the center of our tables, we undermine the initial aims of this national holiday. Fortunately, eating turkeys on Thanksgiving isn’t required, and we can change our habits. If you haven’t done so already, please start a new Thanksgiving tradition, and save a turkey instead of serving one.

The Happiest Place on Earth for Turkeys

By Delci

 
Hildy, a rescued commercially-bred turkey who is about six years old, does very well with the special care that she receives at Farm Sanctuary.

You may know that every Thanksgiving the president pardons two turkeys. But did you ever wonder what happens to these turkeys after the pomp and circumstance is over and the television news cameras are gone?

Since 2005, the pardoned turkeys have been sent to Walt Disney World or Disneyland. And while billed as “The Happiest Place on Earth,” Disneyland is demonstrably not so for turkeys. Indeed, at least half of the pardoned turkeys sent to a Disney theme park have died within one year. That’s why we’re petitioning President Obama to send this year’s pardoned turkeys to Farm Sanctuary, where they’ll receive the attention and care they deserve.

In contrast to the Disney amusement parks, at Farm Sanctuary rescued turkeys live an average of four to five years. And our oldest turkey, Gobell, who lives happily at our California shelter, is 10 ½ years old.

The extreme difference in life span between the turkeys sent to Disney facilities and those provided refuge at Farm Sanctuary is attributable to the differences in their care. When asked about the care Disney provides, Disney spokesman John McClintock explained that the theme parks use “normal feeding and other production techniques.” It is precisely these “normal” techniques that result in the early demise of these birds. “Normal feeding” means free-feeding turkeys a high calorie, high fat diet that is specifically designed for rapid weight gain – which McClintock himself recognized as a cause of the Disney turkeys’ premature deaths.

At Farm Sanctuary we do not use “normal feeding and other production techniques” to care for our rescued turkeys, because we are concerned not with raising them for production but with ensuring that they have the longest, happiest and most comfortable lives possible. We have been rehabilitating turkeys for over two decades and are uniquely equipped with the expertise needed to keep these birds healthy and happy for years. We have a special high-fiber feed that is designed to satisfy all of our turkeys’ nutritional requirements without promoting excessive weight gain, and all of our birds have access to top-of-the line veterinary care, warm barns, safe pastures to explore, fresh air and sunshine, companions to spend their days with, and loving attention from devoted caregivers.

Hildy, featured above, exemplifies the lives these special-needs animals are able to enjoy when given the opportunity to flourish. About six years old, Hildy is a rescued commercially-bred turkey. With the care we are able to provide her, she does very well, and Hildy is just an example of the many turkeys who have thrived at Farm Sanctuary.

This year’s pardoned turkeys deserve true refuge and should be allowed to live out long and happy lives like Hildy, Gobell and the other turkeys at Farm Sanctuary. So please sign our petition to President Obama urging him to send this year’s pardoned birds to the happiest place on earth for turkeys: Farm Sanctuary. We must submit our petition by November 20, so after you’ve signed please help spread the word. The turkeys will thank you.

 

Win Tickets to the CA Celebration FOR the Turkeys!

By Carolyn Mullin

No one puts on a Thanksgiving to remember quite like Farm Sanctuary! At our annual Celebration FOR the Turkeys, we relish good eats, hang out with our beloved farm animal residents, and enjoy the company of hundreds of kindhearted individuals — all in commemoration of our feathered friends: the turkeys.

This year, we’ve expanded the event from the peaceful pastures at our Orland, California and Watkins Glen, New York sanctuaries to the Big Apple, where guests will join hip hop mogul Russell Simmons and Jonathan Safran Foer, author of Everything Is Illuminated and Eating Animals (a great read for those new to factory farming issues) and indulge in a lavish vegan brunch and dessert reception on Sunday, Nov. 22.

Can’t make it to the New York City affair? While our Watkins Glen event is sold out, we still need volunteers to help out with this Nov. 21 benefit. And in California, tickets are still available and include a very special performance by music legend Jonathan Richman (::swoon::) as well as a guest appearance by L-Word actress Daniela Sea!

And speaking of swooning … are you ready for this? Farm Sanctuary is giving away a pair of tickets to the California Celebration – a $150 value! Here’s the catch: We want to hear how you incorporate compassion into your Thanksgiving celebrations, especially with friends or family members who just don’t get “it” (i.e., your desire to save a turkey rather than eat one). We can all benefit from each other’s experiences and make this holiday one that everyone will want to be a part of (turkeys too)! We’ll randomly select a winner from the entries and will share these ideas in an upcoming blog entry.

Submit your entry here by Nov. 16 for a chance to win. Best of luck!

***

Carolyn Mullin is an education & advocacy coordinator based at Farm Sanctuary’s West Coast shelter in lovely Orland, California. She writes for the Farm Sanctuary Kidz Club site; oversees the California Visitor and Volunteer Programs; ensures that all is well with the interns who reside on the shelter; coordinates shelter events, including the annual Country Hoe Down, Fourth of July Pignic and Celebration FOR the Turkeys; researches and writes for various publications such as the Guide to Compassionate Living; and engages in community outreach and education. Before her start with Farm Sanctuary in 2006, Carolyn served with AmeriCorps in Gainesville, Florida as a reading tutor for students in grades K-3, managed an organic greenhouse for the Fruit and Vegetable Lab at the Department of Entomology at the University of Florida, and was president of the very active Animal Activists of Alachua, a community/student group based on the University of Florida campus. She holds an M.A. in Nonprofit Management from Regis University and a B.A. in Religion Studies from the University of Florida. Friend her on Facebook.

Issue 2 Redux

By Gene

 

The factory farming industry spent millions of dollars to advance Issue 2 in Ohio, which creates an industry dominated board to oversell farm animal care standards in the state. The ballot measure was made to sound like it would help animals, and voters predictably supported it by roughly a two-to-one margin.

Ironically, the intention of Issue 2 is to prevent meaningful reform by allowing industry officials to define what is "humane." Agribusiness brought Issue 2 to the ballot in the hopes of heading off legislation proposed by humane advocates to ban some of the cruelest forms of factory farming confinement: veal crates, gestation crates and battery cages. Despite the industry’s effort, change is coming. It has been said that the only constant is change, and this applies in Ohio just as it applies everywhere else.

You’d be hard pressed to find anyone, other than those who profit from abuse, who thinks it’s okay to confine animals so tightly that they cannot walk, turn around or even stretch their limbs. Ohioans, like citizens across the U.S., oppose the inhumane treatment of animals on factory farms. Thankfully, they will have another chance to address this topic in the near future.

Ellen DeGeneres: The Choice is Easy

Farm Sanctuary residents agree: the grass is greener in a vegan world

Thanks to Ecorazzi for bringing this to our attention. One of our favorite vegan celebs, Ellen DeGeneres recently declared on her Web page:

“I personally chose to go vegan because I educated myself on factory farming and cruelty to animals, and I suddenly realized that what was on my plate were living things, with feelings. And I just couldn’t disconnect myself from it any longer. I read books like ‘Diet for a New America’ and saw documentaries like ‘Earthlings’ and ‘Meet your Meat,’ and it became an easy choice for me.”

Veganism is an easy choice? That sounds like something we would say!

So if you’re still sitting on the fence, what are you waiting for? Take the plunge today; the water is fine!

Posted by Casey Martinson