Humane Education

In October 2009, FACT kicked off a new humane education project for youth in Chicago. Our goal is to cultivate compassion in young people for animals that are raised for food.  FACT believes it is vital to raise awareness about the importance of farm animal welfare among the next generation of citizens and consumers.  This project is part of our larger effort to promote “humane living” as a lifestyle choice. 

FACT’s approach seeks to instill the desire to live with intention, compassion, and respect among young people and their families.  Many children raised in urban settings have never seen, let alone learned about animals raised for food. They are disconnected from farms and do not know where their food comes from. Moreover, children need to be taught an attitude of compassion and respect for other creatures. This is not an innate behavior and therefore must be cultivated through educational efforts.  FACT seeks to address both of these issues as part of our humane education project.

Our project uses engaging presentations to raise awareness about the struggles faced by farm animals.  We currently offer three interactive workshops free of charge to students across the Chicago metro area:

The Awesome Adventures of Sweet Pea the Pig: Sweet Pea’s tale tells the story of a courageous pig who escapes from a factory farm. With the help of friends she meets along the way, she finds a new home on a family farm where she is treated humanely.

The Egg-cellent Adventures of Rhoda the Hen: Disbelieving of Sweet Pea’s tale, Rhoda the Hen goes on her own journey to find out the truth about factory farming. In the end, Rhoda realizes that she was wrong and apologizes to Sweet Pea for not believing her. 

Hannah Moo-tana and the Case of the Curious Calf: In this story, Hannah Moo-tana the dairy cow and her inquisitive calf Douglas investigate pollution coming from a factory farm. Douglas learns a lesson about listening to his mom and why it’s important to stop water pollution.

FACT’s brand of humane education relies on a creative mix of animal stories, puppetry, and mindful movement. In each workshop, children learn basic yoga poses while listening to a story that teaches the importance of being kind towards all creatures. We conclude with a chance for discussion and questions from the children. 

Partners: To date, FACT has established partnerships with Namaskar Yoga, Bloom Yoga Studio and two local branches of the YMCA (the Irving Park YMCA and the Lakeview YMCA). If you live in near Chicago and would like to host one of our workshops at your community, school, library, scout troop or recreation center, please contact Larissa McKenna at lmckenna@foodanimalconcerns.org or (773) 525-4952.   

Benefits:  FACT’s humane education program benefits both students and their families in a number of concrete ways, including:

1. Students learn key character development traits such as kindness to  oneself and all creatures, patience, gentleness, gratefulness, self-control and perseverance;

2. Students gain knowledge about farm animals and how they should be raised with respect and care;

3. Students participate in supervised physical activity.

FACT’S expertise:  FACT staff members Jacki Rossi, Lisa Isenhart and Larissa McKenna present the workshops. Lisa and Larissa are both Certified Humane Education Specialists through the Humane Society University and certified yoga instructors. They were invited to present at the Association of Professional Humane Educator’s Annual Conference in 2011. Jacki has an extensive background with the Girl Scouts and in working with children’s programming.