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Every day, Americans eat more than a half pound of meat per capita — one of the highest rates on the planet. The vast majority of it is produced with methods that abuse the environment, animals, workers, and public health as a matter of course. The handful of companies that dominate U.S. meat production suck in more than 40 percent of the corn grown by our farmers — that’s more than 15 percent of the corn grown worldwide. Industrial corn, of course, is our most ecologically destructive crop.

In our society, I can think of two broadly defined groups that abhor our animal-agriculture regime: 1) conscientious omnivores, inspired by the work of figures like Wendell Berry, Vandana Shiva, Michael Pollan, and Eric Schlosser, who think that animals have a place in our farming and our diets, but in a much different way than the prevailing manner; and 2) vegans, who wish to remove animals from our farms and tables altogether.

The two groups present radically different visions, but share an enemy: industrial animal agriculture. Yet rather than collaborate, too often they squabble. Meanwhile, industrial meat lurches on, consolidating its grip on our food system and spreading globally. Enough! The lion must stand in solidarity with the lamb, in opposition to, uh, … the dragon. Thus my new idea: the launching of the Vegan/Omnivore Alliance against Animal Factory Farming (twitter hashtag: #VOAAF).