Three Ways Animal Welfare Professionals Can Support a Factory Farm Detox This January

New Year's resolution season is coming, and the ASPCA will be asking Americans to take a Factory Farm Detox this January by choosing only animal welfare-certified or plant-based food for one week. As you likely know, billions of farm animals are raised on factory farms, often confined to cages and crates so small they can barely move. The Factory Farm Detox is all about encouraging healthier and more humane eating in January, a month when lots of people are looking to jump start new habits! 

We know animal welfare professionals care about farm animals, too, so here are three ways you and your organizations can get involved.

1. Take the Detox yourself

Visit ASPCA.org/JanuaryDetox and click "Take the Detox to sign up." Via email, you will receive all the resources you need, including:

• A list of welfare-certified and plant-based brands
• A directory of welfare-certified farms in each state
• Label guides for meat, eggs and dairy
• Tips for how to shop at the farmers market, dine out and more

2. Share on social media – either your own page or on your organization’s page

You can spread the word about how people can help farm animals by posting on social media and encouraging your friends or followers to take the Detox. Here is some sample social media sharing language, and a zip file with photo options. If your shelter or rescue takes in farm animals, feel free to use this language along with a photo of one of your rescue farm animals. 

• For your New Year’s Resolution, join [insert shelter name] and the @ASPCA in eliminating factory-farmed products from your diet for one week! Sign up now at ASPCA.org/JanuaryDetox #FactoryFarmDetox
• Want to help animals, people, and the environment? Take the @ASPCA’s #FactoryFarmDetox at ASPCA.org/JanuaryDetox to get resources and learn how you can eliminate factory-farmed products from your diet for one week

3. Engage your organization with the Detox

There are various ways that your organization can engage, either by encouraging staff to take the Detox or by hosting factory farm-free events.

• You can send an internal email to staff, encouraging them to sign up for the Detox at ASPCA.org/JanuaryDetox. You can make it into a fun staff competition in which employees get entered for a chance to win a gift if they take the Detox, or they can submit photos of their Detox-friendly meals for a chance to win. 
• For staff events and activities like potlucks, you can source the meals from humane sources by choosing foods that have an animal welfare-certified label or are plant-based. We also encourage you to use our free ASPCA ShopKind Helpline, a text-based service that lets you ask questions about farm animal welfare and food labels and get a quick response from an ASPCA farm animal welfare expert. Sign up to start texting!