Half a century ago, family farms were prevalent.  Animals grazed on pasture, breathing fresh air and feeling sunshine on their backs.  During inclement weather, they were sheltered in straw-bedded barns.

In contrast, the rearing of farm animals today is dominated by industrialized facilities that maximize profits by treating animals not as sentient creatures, but as production units.  Raised by the thousands, at a single site, animals are confined in such tight quarters that they can scarcely move, let alone behave normally.  Such production creates what appears to be “cheap” meat, eggs and dairy products, but what at the cash register appears inexpensive in fact costs dearly to farm animals, the environment, rural, traditional farming, human health and food quality.