World Day for Farmed Animals (WDFA) in the media and headlines:

Hundreds of organizations and individuals took to social media with the hashtags #WDFA and #FastAgainstSlughter. From Facebook to Instagram to TikTok, online activists let their voices be heard on behalf of the animals.

World Animal News reported on WDFA 2022 and The FARM Buzz ran a feature post about WDFA and promoted it across all social media channels and in our weekly eNews.

WDFA government proclamations:

In 2022, proclamation requests were sent to all 50 state Governors and three Mayors (Chicago IL, Decatur GA, and New York City) and in an unexpected twist, World Day for Farmed Animals was proclaimed in the State of Iowa.

Governor Kim Reynolds (Republican) of Iowa proclaimed October 2, 2022 “World Day for Farmed Animals” across The Hawkeye State. This is unusual, since many states, especially in the Midwest, rely on animal agriculture for revenue and are reluctant to draw the ire of animal agriculture lobbyists. In response, FARM purchased a digital billboard on the border of Iowa and Indiana promoting the proclamation.

Reaching out to local vegan and animal rights groups relative to Proclamations is a new approach for FARM, and we plan to strengthen these connections. FARM continues to expand its volunteer program as well as connect more with local grassroots organizations.

WDFA and Animal Activism Mentorship (AAM):

The following is a list of AAM mentors and mentees and the actions they organized or participated in for WDFA 2022:

• Mentors Shim and Penimah- Participated in community outreach in Brooklyn, NY during Kaporos. Urging practitioners for the ritual to cause less suffering to chickens. Rescued a chicken on WDFA. 

• Mentee Russell Gell- Participated in community outreach in Brooklyn, NY during Kaporos. Urging practitioners for the ritual to cause less suffering to chickens.

• Mentor Marnie- Participated in kaporos activism an chicken rescue (Oct 3rd)

• Mentee Suzie – Participated in rescue efforts and chicken care during Kaporos in Brooklyn, NY. 

• Mentor Faraz – Participated in a “Unity Cube” where multiple AV chapters joined forces to make one large outreach cube in New York. 

• Mentor Gereen- Organized a plant based treaty and Tofurky giveaway with We The Free in Edmonton, Canada. (Oct 1st)

• Mentor Michael Davis – Participated in vegan outreach educating the public on the realities of slaughterhouses and factory farms.

• Mentor Michele- Participated in a tabling event with World vegan vision mostly focused on Dairy and did TV-screen outreach in the subway in New York.

• Mentor Shemirah – Posted about WDFA on Facebook using hashtags 

• Mentor Jessica-  Posted about WDFA on Facebook using hashtags

• Mentor Poppy- Participated in Fast Against Slaughter. 

• Mentor Malaina Watts- Participated in Fast Against Slaughter.

• Mentor Shannon Blair – Participated in Fast Against Slaughter. Organized “WDFA Weekend of Action” (here) with another AAM Mentor, Arwen. They had to reschedule it to a “halloween” weekend of action because of the hurricane. But the advertisement still says it is an action for WDFA. 

Partners

The final vigil by the SAVE Movement at Farmer John’s in Los Angeles (closing in 2023) included banners and posters commemorating WDFA; and Casa Vegana, in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, held a WDFA event handing out Spanish-language FARM collateral. “Let the Geese Live” held a tabling event in San Francisco and disseminated FARM-branded educational materials.

Other partners in 2022:

• The Animal Law Firm
• Animal Rights Foundation of Florida
• Boston Veg FoodFest
• Climate Healers
• Switch4Good
• Vegan FTA

Partners and promotions new to 2022:

• Dog Haus – Bethesda, Kentlands, and Silver Spring, MD locations
• PS Kitchen – New York, NY
• eFit Foods – Tampa, FL
• Herbivorous Butcher – Minneapolis, MN
• Snackrilege – Portland, OR
• Rebel Cheese – Austin, TX

2022 Letters to the Editor:

FARM submitted letters to the editor resulting in 18 newspapers publishing, representing a total circulation of 428,000.

In a special collaboration with Jewish Veg, a Yom Kippur EdLetter from Jeffrey Cohan, Executive Director, was sent tying the fasting ritual to animal rights. This letter was published in multiple publications (including the NY Daily News, Times Union Albany, and TribLive PA) representing a total circulation of 974,000. In all, WDFA 2022 reached well over 1,000,000 readers, online and in print, across the U.S.

World Day for Farmed Animals (WDFA) in Puerto Rico:

FARM Puerto Rico had a great turn out for World Day for Farmed Animals in Old San Juan at Sube y Baja Yoga. With more than 50 attendees and eight speakers including a very well known journalist, the message of WDFA reached deep into the island territory. The “who’s who” in Puerto Rico activism attended including doctors, lawyers and teachers, as well as many veg-curious and non vegans.

There was also a featured performance of the song “Human” by a well known trans artist who brought several friends and gave an emotional speech.

The caterer “Peace n Loaf” made four special local Juices, and attendees delighted in vegan mac, salad, mini pizzas, and various vegan dipping sauces. Everyone raved about the food. Everything was local and compostable.

Casa Vegana set up a table and sold books, and disseminated Spanish-language FARM brochures. Two large banners were on the road all day in front of hundreds of residents and tourists inviting them inside to meet, network and brainstorm with many activists including those that work in animal law, grassroots marketing, food, as well as coordinate the local Cube of Truth.

Fast Against Slaughter:

WDFA also encourages a day-long fast against slaughter, which was observed by hundreds of people this year. In 2022, a unique 15-day countdown to October 2nd was rolled out across social media which helped yield 108 new pledges.

In 2022, FARM formed a partnership with Animals First on the Second (AFOTS), a group that fasts on the 2nd of each month in protest of the treatment of sentient beings, amplifying the voices of the billions of farmed animals suffering around the world. AFOTS promoted WDFA/FAS leading up to and including October 2, and FARM plans to include a reminder banner on the last e-news of each month about AFOTS.