Over the course of my volunteer internship at Farms Not Factories, I developed my research, writing, and marketing skills and deepened my understanding of the social, economic, and ecological impacts of industrial animal agriculture. The London-based non-profit promotes responsible pig farming and pork consumption through a combination of consumer awareness campaigns and petitioning to public and private sector decision-makers. While the Food Studies coursework had primed me well on issues such as ecological degradation, rural economic development, and consumer-producer relations, working at Farms Not Factories additionally allowed me to explore the subject of animal welfare. I learned a great deal of new terminology such as ‘outdoor bred’ vs. ‘outdoor reared’ and reinforced my opposition to agricultural intensification. Although my internship was primarily in digital communications, i.e. maintaining the organization’s social media presence, I also conducted research – such as investigating the animal welfare standards of major food businesses in the UK – and performed a variety of administrative tasks. The internship was a highly valuable part of my Masters experience because it allowed me to hone my professional skills whilst applying and furthering the knowledge I have gained through my studies.
- Eva Reynolds
"Farms Not Factories is a non-profit organisation working through film-making and campaigning to support the ‘food sovereignty’ movement by exposing the true costs of cheap meat from animal factories to inspire consumers to only buy meat from local, healthy, high welfare farms" - Farms Not Factories website
