Impact of Investigators Impact of Whistleblowers

InvestigationsExposés have catalyzed efforts to create laws, change corporate policies, and revolutionize the perception of farmed animals. After six MFA undercover investigationsexposés, Walmart—the nation's largest food retailer—announced one of the most comprehensive animal welfare policies ever adopted. In Canada, powerful MFA exposés pushed nearly the entire food industry to phase out the egregiously cruel imprisonment of egg-laying hens, mother pigs, and calves raised for veal.

An MFA investigative video shot at an Ohio dairy farm shows workers stabbing cows with pitchforks and mercilessly beating them with crowbars. Released during an intense campaign by several organizations, the investigationexposé led the Ohio Farm Bureau to finally agree to meet with the groups to draft the farthest-reaching farmed animal welfare reform ever enacted by a state at one time. From the passage of California’s Prop 2 to the defeat of an onslaught of harmful initiatives, time and again investigationsexposés have brought voters out and compelled lawmakers to act for animals.

Widespread media coverage of investigationsexposés amplifies their impact. Research has found consumer demand for meat significantly decreases when more media attention is focused on farmed animal issues and investigationsexposés in particular.