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Power from Pasture to Policy: FACE Plans to Organize for System Change
- Bob Benenson
- 2 days ago
- 6 min read
New FACT-ASPCA Collaboration is For and By Livestock Farmers
Food Animal Concerns Trust (FACT) has long played a leading role in promoting the welfare of livestock; Local Food Forum has a longstanding relationship with the non-profit organization, which was long based in Chicago before moving to Bethesda, Maryland.
ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) is one of the nation's biggest non-profits. While it is best known for defending the interests of companion animals, it also has a major stake in farm animal welfare.
The two organizations are now collaborating in FACE Ag, a new project by and for pasture-based livestock farmers to better enable them to exert influence on federal, state and local policymakers. And on Tuesday (March 31), farmers, advocates and nonprofit leaders gathered online to learn more about FACE, which stands for Farmers for Animals, Communities & the Environment.
At its core, FACE Ag represents a strategic effort to organize pasture-based livestock farmers into a unified political voice capable of influencing agricultural policy at every level.
While the discussion featured multiple perspectives, the centerpiece was a detailed presentation from Eric Boatti, senior manager of farmer advocacy at ASPCA and network administrator for FACE Ag. His remarks provided both an assessment of the current agricultural system and a blueprint for how farmer-led advocacy can reshape it.
The session was moderated by Samantha Gasson, FACT's humane farming program director.
The Case for FACE: A System Out of Balance
Eric began with a stark framing of the modern U.S. food system, one defined by consolidation, inequity and misaligned incentives. Over the past 80 years — the span of the post-World War II era — the country has lost more than 4 million farms, with the total number dipping below 2 million for the first time since the Civil War.
At the same time, livestock production has become increasingly concentrated, with the number of animals raised in large-scale confinement operations rising by 50 percent over just the last two decades.
This structural shift has produced a system in which a small number of powerful agribusiness entities exert disproportionate influence over policy, markets and public perception. According to Eric, this concentration doesn’t just marginalize independent farmers, it actively distorts the marketplace.
“Industrial agriculture frequently leverages the imagery and values of pasture-based farming to market its products,” he explained, “while simultaneously lobbying for policies that undermine those very systems.”
The result is a paradox. Consumers increasingly demand more environmentally sustainable products and higher animal welfare standards, yet the farmers who produce them struggle to compete in a marketplace crowded with misleading labels and unequal access to resources.
What Is FACE Ag?
FACE Ag was created in response to these systemic challenges as the first national advocacy network designed specifically for pasture-based livestock farmers. Developed collaboratively by FACT and ASPCA, the initiative aims to empower farmers to engage directly in policy advocacy, an area where their voices have historically been underrepresented.
Eric emphasized that FACE is not just another membership organization — it is an infrastructure for collective action. “Our goal is to empower farmers to become more comfortable and effective advocates for the policies that shape their livelihoods,” he said.
This empowerment takes multiple forms:
Direct advocacy support, including policy briefings, toolkits and access to legal and lobbying expertise
Training and education, focused on media engagement, public speaking and legislative processes
Community building, to reduce the isolation of farming and foster collaboration
Marketing and funding opportunities, leveraging the networks of both FACT and ASPCA
A key operational principle is that FACE is farmer-led. A rotating council of regional leaders — currently seven — helps set priorities and guide strategy. This governance model ensures that advocacy efforts remain grounded in real-world farming experience.
Why Advocacy—and Why Now?
A central theme of Eric's presentation was that policy, not just practice, determines the viability of pasture-based farming.
Farmers face a range of structural barriers:
Limited access to funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, with less than 10 percent of agricultural spending supporting programs relevant to smaller-scale or regenerative operations
A lack of local processing infrastructure, which constrains scaling and market access
Market distortion caused by vague or misleading labeling claims
Regulatory environments that often favor large-scale operations
“These are not problems that can be solved at the farm level alone,” Eric noted. “They require coordinated policy change.”
FACE Ag seeks to address this gap by equipping farmers to engage with decisionmakers — whether through farm tours, legislative meetings or public comment on proposed rules.
One of the network’s most effective strategies is connecting policymakers directly with farms, allowing them to see pasture-based systems in action. “There’s a surprising lack of understanding among policymakers about what this kind of farming actually entails,” Eric said. “When they see it firsthand, it changes the conversation.”
Defining Policy Priorities
FACE Ag’s advocacy agenda is organized around three primary policy domains:
1. Fair Funding
Despite the availability of federal programs that could benefit pasture-based farmers — such as conservation and rural development initiatives — the vast majority of funding flows to industrial agriculture.
FACE aims to rebalance this allocation by advocating for reforms that increase access to:
Conservation programs like Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) and EQIP
Grants and loans for small and mid-sized farms
Public procurement programs that prioritize high-welfare products
Even modest shifts in funding distribution, Eric argued, could have outsized impacts on farm viability.
2. Fair Markets
Market access remains a persistent challenge, exacerbated by misleading labeling practices that blur the distinction between industrial and pasture-based products.
FACE is working to:
Strengthen labeling standards and enforcement
Increase transparency in supply chains
Address antitrust concerns related to consolidation
“Consumers want to support humane, sustainable farming,” Eric said. “But they need accurate information to do so.”
3. Animal Welfare and Systemic Reform
At its core, FACE is grounded in a vision of agriculture that prioritizes animal welfare, environmental stewardship and community health. This includes addressing the rapid expansion of Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs), which pose risks not only to animal well-being but also to public health and rural economies.
Eric pointed to the broader implications of these systems, including pollution, zoonotic disease risks, and economic displacement.
Farmers on the Front Lines
The webinar also featured perspectives from two farmer leaders, whose experiences illustrated the real-world stakes of these policy issues.
Anna Pesek: Building a Business Against the Odds
Anna Pesek is co-owner of Over the Moon Farm in eastern Iowa. She described the challenges of operating an independent livestock business in a state dominated by industrial pork production.
“In Iowa, pigs outnumber people eight to one,” she noted. “And yet it’s incredibly difficult to raise even 100 pigs independently.”
Anna's farm raises pasture-based pork and poultry while also aggregating products from other small producers. Despite strong consumer demand, she emphasized that structural barriers — particularly around processing, financing, and market access — limit growth.
For Anna, FACE represents a necessary evolution in farmer advocacy.
“We can’t build viable farms without changing the policy environment,” she said. “And that only happens if we’re organized.”
Jody Osmund: From Isolation to Collective Action
Jody Osmund is a longtime leader of organized farmer advocacy in the Chicago region. His Cedar Valley Sustainable Farm in Ottawa, Illinois — about 80 miles southwest of downtown Chicago — was the first in the state to sell meat through Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) subscriptions.
Jody offered a longer-term perspective, reflecting on more than two decades of farming and advocacy. “When we started, we were surrounded by corn and soybeans. It was isolating,” he recalled.
Over time, Jody involved in local food movements and policy advocacy, driven by the systemic obstacles he encountered. He sees FACE as a way to scale that work nationally.
“It’s the difference between being a single voice in the wind and being part of a collective with real influence,” he said.
Measuring Success
Advocacy outcomes can be difficult to quantify, but FACE has established clear benchmarks:
Recruitment: Growing to 500 farmer members by 2030
Training: Equipping at least 200 members with advocacy skills
Engagement: Facilitating 100+ annual interactions between farmers and policymakers
“Each farmer we bring into the network amplifies our collective voice,” Eric explained. “That’s how we build power.”
A Network in Motion
As Eric acknowledged, FACE Ag is still evolving: “building the ship as we sail it.” This iterative approach reflects a commitment to farmer input and adaptability.
What is already clear, though, is that FACE represents a significant shift in how pasture-based farmers engage with the systems that shape their work. By moving from individual resilience to collective advocacy, the network aims to transform not just farms, but the policies and markets that define them.
For farmers like Anna and Jody — and for the broader community they represent — that shift may be essential.
As Anna put it: “The future of our food system is not predetermined. It’s shaped by the decisions we make — and who gets to make them.”
Click below to learn more about FACE. Free memberships are open only to farmers, but others interested in following and supporting FACE's efforts are invited to sign up for the organization's newsletter.