By Sylvia Regan
Research Paralegal
2024 was an amazing year for FarmSTAND and the movement for a fair food system. It was our first full year as the only legal organization in the country dedicated solely to taking on the corporate, industrial animal agriculture system. We hit the ground running. As the year comes to a close, we’re reflecting on our accomplishments and gearing up for the years ahead. We know the fight won’t be easy — it never has been — but we’re prepared to use innovative tactics to keep moving us closer to the food system we want to see.
In the last year, we added five amazing staff members to our team who bring a wide range of experience, expertise, and passion to our work. You might have met part of our team at Farm Aid in Saratoga Springs, NY, this fall. We were thrilled to share a booth with National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition at the Homegrown Village, where festivalgoers learned about how we use litigation to fight for independent farmers and created some one-of-a-kind postcards to send to their representatives.
In 2024, we also launched this FarmSTAND blog! We’ve published blog posts from staff members on a wide range of topics related to animal agriculture, from what the government should be doing about bird flu to how Big Ag pollution leads to more food-borne illness. If you haven’t already, check out our blog page to read more of FarmSTAND’s analysis of important food and ag issues.
Throughout the year, our team of lawyers has been doing what they do best: filing and winning lawsuits to protect food system workers, stop Big Ag deception, and empower local communities.
In a huge win for farmworkers’ rights, FarmSTAND attorneys Kelsey Eberly and Nathan Leys, representing Colorado Legal Services, protected a Colorado law that ensures farmworkers can access essential services like doctors, clergy, and attorneys. The law was challenged by the agribusiness interests, but we succeeded in getting the lawsuit dismissed. The plaintiff is appealing the decision; FarmSTAND will continue to fight for the dignity and rights of farmworkers.
Attorney Holly Bainbridge secured another big win for clean water, local democracy, and rural communities when she represented Land Stewardship Project in a case about a community standing up to Big Ag expansion. An appeals court affirmed that Winona County, Minnesota, had the right to limit the expansion of megadairy Daley Farm. This is a huge victory for local residents and members of Land Stewardship Project who organized to oppose the expansion and sends a message to Big Ag that they can’t bully their way out of accountability.
We filed several exciting new lawsuits this year, including against Northwest Natural Gas for greenwashing factory farm gas, against Cooks Venture for leaving poultry growers high and dry, and against Livingston Enterprises for abusing cultural exchange visas to exploit foreign students for cheap labor on pig CAFOs.
There’s been a lot of buzz about our case against Tyson Foods, filed in September, over the corporate meat giant’s deceptive climate claims. Tyson’s unsubstantiated claims that it will be net-zero by 2050 and advertising for “climate-smart beef” mislead well-meaning consumers, all while Tyson’s industrial meat operations wreak havoc on our climate and environment. We’re taking Tyson to court because our climate future depends on transformative change to our food system, not slick marketing from big meat polluters.
2024 was a huge year for FarmSTAND and we’re just getting started. We know the next four years will be tough, but we’re built to tackle whatever challenges may arise. Make sure you’re subscribed to our newsletter so you can stay up to date on how we’re challenging Big Ag and building the food system we all deserve — one that nourishes people, communities, and the planet.
Top image: FarmSTAND’s first anniversary celebration in Washington, DC.