The FAT research blog
The FAT research blog lists the newest work from Farm Animal Transparency (FAT) in the order it was published: research papers on meat, poultry and seafood labels, the weekly Environmental Watch digest of permits, lawsuits and settlements, and updates on the FAT App. Every paper cites its public sources.
To browse by topic instead of date, use the FAT Research Library, or start with What Meat Labels Tell You, and What They Don't. Label rules referenced on the FAT research blog come from USDA labeling guidance and related federal sources.
What Meat Labels Tell You — And What They Don’t
← FAT Research Library 📅 Prepared January 19, 2026 🔄 Revised May 2, 2026 ✍️ Dirk Adams with the assistance of AI ⌛ 6 min read, 7 sources FOUNDATIONAL GUIDES RESEARCH SERIES | RESEARCH PAPER Prepared for publication by Farm Animal Transparency | January 2026 […]
Environmental Watch — Week of November 2, 2026
This week’s environmental scan: no confirmed new developments on any tracked matter. The Oklahoma poultry-litter joint motion to vacate still awaits a ruling, and the vacatur window closes about ten weeks from now.
Animal Care & Pasture Claims Bulletin No. 3: Beef and pork side by side — the same farms are about as specific, or as silent, about each
Bulletins No. 1 and No. 2 compared on matching rules: 2,803 beef and 750 hog websites. About one site in five names a checkable care practice in either species; beef sellers fall back on “humanely raised,” hog sellers on the breed; and on the 567 farms that sell both, the same farmer is about as specific about cattle as about pigs.
What State Records Show About Hog-Farm Enforcement That EPA’s Database Doesn’t
State enforcement records in Iowa, North Carolina, Indiana, Missouri, Nebraska and Michigan show 4,989 hog operations with at least one state enforcement action on record. EPA’s ECHO database lists 175 hog-farming facilities across the five of these states searched.
Animal Care & Pasture Claims Bulletin No. 2: 750 hog farm websites read — pasture is advertised, crates, tails and where piglets are born almost never mentioned
FAT read the websites of 750 farms that raise hogs and sell pork direct, in 45 states. 77% advertise outdoor living, but fewer than one in five names a husbandry practice, only 8 show a welfare seal, and 81% never say whether their piglets were born on the farm or bought in.
Animal Care & Pasture Claims Bulletin No. 1: 2,803 beef ranch websites read — one in five names a care practice a buyer can check
FAT read the websites of 2,803 farms and ranches that sell beef direct and recorded, word for word, what each says about animal care and, separately, about pasture. 22% name a real care practice or show a welfare seal; 34% say nothing about handling; cow-calf ranches are twice as likely as grass-fed marketers to name a practice.
GFGF Bulletin No. 3: Ranch websites ask $11.50 a pound for grass-finished ground and about $7.50 a hanging pound for a side
FAT read the websites of 381 ranches that sell grass-fed beef direct, in 49 states, on October 26, 2026: cut-by-cut prices against September, the hanging-weight price of a side, what grass-finishing adds, who is sold out for 2027, and what your own cull cow costs as hamburger.
Environmental Watch — Week of October 26, 2026
This week’s environmental scan: no confirmed new developments on any tracked matter. The Oklahoma poultry-litter joint motion to vacate still awaits a ruling, and EPA’s offshore seafood-processor NPDES comment period has now closed.
Blade Tenderized: The Two Words on a Steak Label That Change How You Should Cook It
Since May 2016, raw beef that has been blade- or needle-tenderized must say so on the label and carry validated cooking instructions. What the rule requires, why, and where it stops.
ASPCA ShopKind Companion Dataset — Online Meat Roster Scored Against the 16 FAT Categories
Working dataset (DRAFT): 96 online-orderable ASPCA ShopKind meat suppliers scored against FAT’s sixteen disclosure categories, with methods and limitations.
Environmental Watch — Week of October 19, 2026
This week’s environmental scan: no confirmed new developments on any tracked matter. The Oklahoma poultry-litter joint motion to vacate still awaits a ruling, and EPA’s offshore seafood-processor NPDES comment period closes today.