Exploring The Impacts Of Food System Education: A Case Study
Background
Education tactics, including humane education as a way to teach compassion for animals or food systems education to teach about factory farming, are commonly implemented within the animal protection movement. Educational interventions can take a variety of forms, such as school programs, lectures, workshops, webinars, and educational pamphlets.
Most previous research into the effects of education interventions have found links between education and diet change. For example, Faunalytics’ previous retrospective research found that people who had participated in classroom education reported a reduction in their animal product consumption (Faunalytics, 2022). Similarly, experimental studies have shown that students who receive some form of classroom education (e.g., attending a lecture, participating in classroom discussion) about the ethics, health, and/or environmental issues associated with meat reduce their meat consumption and change their ethical beliefs about factory farmed meat (Jalil et al., 2019; Schwitzgebel et al., 2020; Schwitzgebel et al., 2021).
However, education interventions often involve larger goals than diet change, including instilling values of kindness, critical thinking, teaching the impact of animal agriculture on animals, the environment, and humans, and even launching students into lifetimes of advocacy. These goals haven’t been rigorously tested, until now.
To understand the long-term effects and value of education programs for the students who partake in them and for the animal protection movement as a whole, we conducted a case study of New Roots Institute‘s (formerly Factory Farming Awareness Coalition) food system education program. By employing classroom lessons for high school and college students in the United States, the program educates students about the influence of factory farming on humans, animals, and the planet. Additionally, there is a focus on training students in effective communication, advocacy, and leadership skills through a weeks-long leadership program, with the hope that they will help create change toward ending factory farming.
Through quantitative and qualitative analyses of survey and LinkedIn data pertaining to 53 alumni of New Roots Institute’s food system education program, we shed light on how such programs influence students’ educational and professional goals and accomplishments, as well as their morals regarding meat consumption. Given the use of education interventions as an animal advocacy tactic, we further analyze the benefits that educational interventions can have for the animal protection movement beyond dietary changes.
Key Findings
- Participation in the food system education program significantly increased identification with animal, environmental, and social justice advocacy. Nearly all alumni who responded to our survey identified with one or more types of advocacy by the end of the program — 85% of respondents identified as animal advocates, 85% as environmentalists, and 74% as social justice advocates. Education programs that teach students about the multifaceted issue that is the food system can play an important role in helping the animal protection movement grow in size by generating greater concern for animal protection issues and inspiring identification with animal advocacy. Furthermore, by creating multidisciplinary advocates, food system education programs have the potential to build better and stronger connections with other movements. These advocates have the ability to bring animal advocacy perspectives to the environmental and social justice movements, showing them how animal protection issues tie to their own goals and concerns.
- Most alumni displayed low levels of anti-animal beliefs, high levels of personal responsibility, high rates of veganism, and high understanding of the harms of factory farming. 55% of surveyed alumni are vegan while a further 40% reduce their animal product consumption in some ways. They also demonstrated that they are well aware of and acknowledge the moral conflicts associated with meat consumption. This includes not rationalizing or defending meat consumption (e.g., as serving important health or ecological purposes), not downplaying the negative impacts of meat production, being emotionally and cognitively sensitive to the death and suffering of animals used for food, holding themselves and others accountable for the impact of their habits, and generally believing that vegan and vegetarian diets are accessible.
- Nearly half of surveyed alumni mentioned feeling more effective in their advocacy and became more active advocates following completion of the program. When asked about the influence that the program had on their advocacy, if any, 40% of alumni mentioned feeling more empowered by the knowledge and skills (e.g., effective communication skills) gained through the program, which allowed them to become more effective advocates, whether that be for the animals, the environment, and/or for social justice. A similar number of alumni discussed how they expanded their advocacy as a result of the program, becoming more involved in advocacy and even starting their own campaigns or programs inspired by their experience.
- Alumni were exposed to career options that they had not previously considered or even known about in animal advocacy. About one-third of surveyed alumni mentioned that the program introduced them to new career options within the animal protection movement or related to environmentalism or social justice, or solidified their interest in a particular career path. For some alumni, the idea of even having a career in animal advocacy was a new concept and the program helped them determine the career path they wanted to pursue, often tying animal protection to environmentalism and social justice. Many mentioned wanting to pursue a career in advocacy in more general terms, while others were set in the career paths they wanted to take, such as animal law, alternative proteins/plant-based foods, and sustainable food systems.
- Education programs could help create a more just animal protection movement. The program’s focus on teaching students about the interconnections of the animal, environmental, and social justice issues associated with factory farming resulted in significantly more students identifying as social justice advocates, the majority of whom also identify as animal advocates. As a result, we see the emergence of new socially aware animal advocates who may not only have concerns about the inequities associated with the food system, but about the racism and inequity present within the animal protection movement itself.
Recommendations
- Consider taking a multidisciplinary approach in education interventions to reach a wider audience. Teaching students about animal advocacy through different lenses (e.g., environmental, social justice, health) could appeal to people with different interests and teach students about the numerous issues related to animal advocacy. Most surveyed alumni mentioned that the program provided information about the connections among animals, people, and the environment that they previously weren’t aware of or given much thought to. Taking the time to provide multiple perspectives can therefore play an important role in growing the animal protection movement and developing a more just movement by creating advocates well aware of the social implications of animal advocacy issues.
- Expose students to opportunities within the animal protection movement. Sharing the types of careers available in the animal advocacy space has benefits for the animal protection movement and for the students who participate in education programs. Students can be given an opportunity to learn about careers that tie their professional interests to their values in ways they may not have known were even possible. Surveyed alumni often mentioned that participating in the education program allowed them to discover careers in the animal advocacy space that they previously weren’t aware even existed. As a result, many alumni became interested in the possibility of working in animal advocacy or at least open to the idea of it if an opportunity were to arise.
- Teach communication skills to more widely spread the knowledge that students obtain in education programs. While spreading knowledge is the main purpose of education programs and interventions, advocates engaging in these tactics should also consider teaching participants how to effectively communicate this knowledge to others. Doing so is a good way to ensure that education tactics are as effective as they can be by helping education program participants feel comfortable and confident engaging others in conversations about animal protection issues while using the knowledge they acquired as a tool to back up their position. Helping students develop good communication skills can be of great value at the individual level and for the animal protection movement as a whole.
Applying These Findings
We understand that reports like this have a lot of information to consider and that acting on research can be challenging. Faunalytics is happy to offer pro bono support to advocates and nonprofit organizations who would like guidance applying these findings to their own work. Please visit our Office Hours or contact us for support.
For an in-depth, accessible overview of this study’s findings in video format, be sure to check out the webinar below.
Behind The Project
Research Team
The project’s lead author was Constanza Arévalo (Faunalytics). Dr. Andie Thompkins (Faunalytics, Mercy for Animals) reviewed and oversaw the work.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank New Roots Institute for graciously sharing their data with us and for working so closely with our team to make this case study possible. We would like to especially thank Matthew Cooper, Carrie Moran, Ryan Gourley, Sean Rice, and Monica Chen for their support and assistance throughout the research process. We are also grateful to Dr. Andrea Polanco (Faunalytics), who assisted with survey design and data analysis, and Dr. Jo Anderson who provided guidance during the study’s design stage. In addition, we are grateful to Faunalytics’ donors for your support — your donations allow us to conduct essential research like this to help you take action for animals.
Research Terminology
At Faunalytics, we strive to make research accessible to everyone. We avoid jargon and technical terminology as much as possible in our reports. If you do encounter an unfamiliar term or phrase, check out the Faunalytics Glossary for user-friendly definitions and examples.
Research Ethics Statement
As with all of Faunalytics’ original research, this study was conducted according to the standards outlined in our Research Ethics and Data Handling Policy.
Let us know what you think!
We conduct research to help advocates like you, so we really value your input on what we’re doing well and how we can do better. Take the brief (less than 2min) survey below to let us know how satisfied you were with this report.
Citations:
Arévalo, C. (2025). Exploring The Impacts Of Food System Education: A Case Study. Faunalytics. https://faunalytics.org/exploring-the-impacts-of-food-system-education-a-case-study/
