Seven years ago, Michigan earned praise for a bold initiative as the first state to commit to a ten year phasing out of the inhumane, extreme confinement of calves, pigs, and egg-laying hens. Now agribusiness is lobbying to extend the phase out another five years, with total disregard to the process by which the agreement was reached.

News flash: a promise to change isn’t change. Commitment without follow through has a name: con job.

Veal crates confine young calves, who are yoked by the neck to restrict movement during the extent of their short, 16 week lives. Hens in battery cages do not have adequate room to spread their wings -at all. Pigs confined to gestation crates live in a space so restricted that they cannot turn around. These animals are living, breathing, social, sentient beings. Pigs – widely proven to be as intelligent and as social as dogs – are  even smart enough to play video games.

Tell agribusiness that ten years is long enough to carry out a plan. Sign the petition opposing HB 5987 and demand they keep their promises.  If you live in Michigan, follow up with your state senator and state representative today urging them to speak out against this bill. Find your legislators’ phone numbers.

While legislation is vital to promoting animal well being, you also make a choice to support these cruel practices every time you sit down to a meal.  The pending bill in Michigan provides a glimpse into a larger problem. No matter how many pictures of happy cows are painted on billboards, agribusiness lobbies are not made up of small family farmers growing sustainable food on green pastures. Agribusiness lobbyists ensure that the biggest factory farms are well subsidized, leaving out many smaller, rural produce farmers who are growing food that people will eat (as opposed to the monocultures grown for cows, pigs, and other animals).  According to a recent report, “60 percent of agricultural subsidies in recent history have directly and indirectly supported meat and dairy production. Less than 1 percent have gone to fruits and vegetables“ even as recommended nutrition guidelines encourage the exact opposite of that practice (meaning, eat more produce, less meat and dairy).  That means more subsidized food is grown for animals even though food insecurity (hunger) impacts roughly 1 in 8 households in the US.  Agribusiness depends on subsidized government assistance, even while agribusiness is indisputably linked to notable environmental destruction, brutal conditions for poorly paid workers, and numerous hazards to nearby residents and families –that’s all in addition to the countless horrific cruelties animals suffer.   In 2016 the US Dairy Industry was caught in a price fixing scheme, killing cows and cheating consumers, to artificially inflate dairy costs; annual million dollar bailouts that assist these flailing industries by purchasing excess commodities. You want to make a difference in hunger, environmental degradation, poor working conditions, and unfair bailouts to exploitive corporations? Make the connection: take action today, and remember to eat more plants.