About the Presentations

Title: More than meats the eye

Most people are largely unaware that 99% of animal products come from factory farms, where animals live short, painful lives—roughly 10 billion in the US and 56 billion worldwide. Factory farms employ abusive practices that maximize profits at the expense of the environment, our communities, animal welfare, and our health. Farmed animals are omnipresent in our daily lives as food and clothing, yet they are almost entirely invisible in our society.

During my years leading Woodstock Farm Sanctuary, I gave educational tours to thousands of visitors of all ages, introducing them to the resident animals who had been saved from their fates. Adapting this public speaking to the classroom, I combine the story of my path to activism and founding a sanctuary for farmed animals with largely hidden facts about animal agriculture—on the animals, the environment, and human health—and weave in my experiences with some of the hundreds of individual animals I’ve known and cared for over the years.

My presentations challenge students and groups to take a closer look at our food system and the uncomfortable truths behind it. No matter our dietary choices, considering what is at stake when we eat animals allows us to critically examine our traditions, cultures, and relationships with the world. It forces us to think about our consumption habits and the ethics of our everyday choices.