Although there’s a lot to be troubled by in the world of animal ag, we have also sought to highlight farmers and ranchers forging a different path. For instance, before we even officially launched, we reported on Joel Salatin, a self-described “grass farmer” and owner of Polyface Farm in Virginia. We also featured Paul Willis, who, with Bill Niman, started Niman Ranch, to create a sustainable pork production. And we explored what the recent sale of Niman Ranch to ag giant Perdue could mean for farmers. We have highlighted the work of the “Pope of Pork,” Russ Kremer, a fifth-generation pork producer and now a driving force in the movement for more sustainably raised, antibiotic-free livestock. And we’ve shared the story of sustainable bison ranchers.

While industrial animal agriculture poses serious threats, we’ve also sought to report on the solutions to many of these problems. We have featured women ranchers who are banding together to sell their meat; a Butchers Guild offering customers a conscientious product prepared with skill; the rise of meat CSAs; students who are taking pork from the school farm to the cafeteria; and one New York State ranch that is serving its own beef in its local restaurants.

We also took our readers to a Vermont slaughterhouse that has public viewing windows, which allows visitors to observe how animals become food, and took a look at “group sow housing,” an alternative to gestation crates. We’ve explained some of the challenges of being a pasture-raised rancher in winter; examined what it takes for a small rancher to make a living raising ethical meat; examined how prisons are training inmates to fill a widening gap in butchers; and looked at whether better grazing could help prevent with climate change. We’ve also taken a hard look at what “grass fed” really means.

As more people seek to reduce their meat consumption, we have looked at the success and challenges of the Meatless Monday campaign; how to eat less and better meat in the Meat Eater’s Guide to Health & Climate Change; and cookbooks that help folks to focus more on plant-based foods or go vegan, and looked at the Low Carbon diet, (and the opposite, the Paleo diet) and the campaigns for “cool food” that reduce the effects of climate change. We’ve written about former vegetarians crossing back over to eating meat; “conscious carnivores,” who vow not to eat confinement-raised meat; and about the alternatives to animal ag, from Hampton Creek’s eggless mayo, to a multitude of plant-based meat analogue products, and lab-grown chicken breast.

And it’s not just land animals at stake; we’ve also covered seafood, including early reporting on the problems in shrimp production (we also shared Barry Estabrook’s recent update about the horrific slave labor associated with Thai-farmed shrimp). We’ve reported on the ills of Chile’s salmon farming industry, while taking an early look at the GMO salmon that is still awaiting FDA approval.

We’re not alone in thinking and writing about animal agriculture. Over the past few years, some incredibly important books have shed light on the complex economic, political, and social/health issues behind your hamburger. We have reviewed Jonathan Safran Foer’s, Eating Animals; Moby’s book on factory farms, Gristle; Animal Factory, by David Kirby; The CAFO Reader, by Dan Imhoff; Christopher Leonard’s The Meat Racket; The Chain, by Ted Genoways; Nicolette Niman’s Defending Beef; and Pig Tales, by Barry Estabrook.

These stories are critical to shining a light on an industry that has operated often at great cost to our well-being and to that of animals and the planet. We aim to not just ask the hard questions, but also to seek out and report on stories that showcase the positive changes being made to reclaim a better animal agriculture. This is a topic that demands our attention and we will continue to cover it with rigor. Whether we choose to eat meat or not, we all play a part in the larger conversation and can make informed choices to help create a better food system.