Industry Lobbying
Exerting influence undermines welfare, environment, and human health
Factory farm corporations donate to politicians.
They lobby to weaken, delay, and derail much-needed regulation.
They receive large amounts in taxpayer's money to prop up their businesses.
What It Is
The dirtiest industries are also among the wealthiest and they invest in lobbying to ensure that laws are not enacted that would curtail their activities and reduce their profits.
Some hire professional lobbying firms with proven access to the corridors of power; others lobby directly or through industry bodies, such as Salmon Scotland, which has a former Member of the Scottish Parliament as its CEO.
There are countless examples of lobbyists gaining preferential treatment for factory farm corporations at the expense of animals, the environment, or human health. Arla, for example, has eight lobbyists working in the EU.1 The company helped derail EU sustainability proposals and block the inclusion of more environmentally friendly plant-based foods in school schemes.2 A Danish MEP, who just happens to be a dairy farmer and sits on Arla’s Board of Representatives,3 was central to the successful campaign to weaken environmental laws in Europe.4 During a widespread investigation into price fixing in the UK’s dairy industry, Arla somehow escaped without any penalties after signing a “leniency agreement” early on in the investigation and being granted immunity.5
And Arla is just the tip of a very big, very dirty iceberg.
What They Do
Sensitive Content
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Impact
Buy influence
With gifts, donations, hospitality, and helicopter rides.6
Buy time
By delaying regulation, they can keep caging animals and polluting our planet.
Block change
They lobby against changes in environmental and health laws to the detriment of everyone but themselves.
Hall of Shame
Investigation and Reports
The new merchants of doubt: the corporate playbook by Big Meat and Dairy to distract, delay and derail climate action
Revealed: the salmon industry’s "outrageous" lobbying
Big meat and dairy lobbyists turn out in record numbers at Cop28
References
- 1. https://www.greenpeace.org/static/planet4-denmark-stateless/2025/02/496b802e-arla-dairytales.pdf
- 2. https://changingmarkets.org/report/dairytales-arlas-smokescreen-for-its-lack-of-climate-action/
- 3. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/meps/en/197558/ASGER_CHRISTENSEN/cv
- 4. https://www.desmog.com/2024/12/11/revealed-the-vested-interests-on-the-eus-agriculture-committee/
- 5. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2007/dec/07/supermarkets
- 6. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/dec/20/gangmasters-agree-1m-payout-to-settle-modern-slavery-claim
Take Action
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FrankenchickensBan Frankenchickens in the UK
Tell the Secretary of State at Defra to ban factory-farmed and fast-growing chickens known as Frankenchickens.
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FrankenchickensAsk Your MP to Take Action
Ask why Frankenchickens are legal, when it’s unlawful to farm animals that will suffer because of how they have been bred.
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Factory FarmingEnd Factory Farming by 2040
It's time to bring it all down. Tell the government to block new factory farms and ban factory farming by 2040.
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Gas ChambersBan CO2 Gas Chambers for Pigs
Tell the Secretary of State at Defra to ban the use of CO2 gas chambers for pigs.
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Gas ChambersAsk Your MP to Take Action
Ask why CO2 gas chambers are legal when the government’s Animal Welfare Committee recommends phasing them out?
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Gas ChambersTell Tesco to Drop CO2 Gas Chambers
Tell Tesco to stop selling meat from pigs killed in CO2 gas chambers, and commit to honest, transparent labelling.
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Gas ChambersTell McDonald’s to Drop Gas Chambers
Tell McDonalds to stop sourcing pork from pigs killed in CO2 gas chambers, and be transparent about slaughter methods.
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