The Ethical Choices Program explores sustainable agricultural systems and healthy lifestyles that help prevent and relieve diseases, preserve ecosystems, and ensure humane treatment of farmed animals.

The program does not try to tell students what to think; rather, it seeks to help students find answers for themselves. We encourage them to think about their own experiences that may have involved exploitation or abuse and their knowledge about how humans have exploited or abused each other and other species. By providing students with choices, they may find which paths accord with their own values and beliefs.

Our program raises awareness of important issues related to modern agricultural systems. The typical American diet contributes greatly to the high rates of many diseases, including heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and certain cancers. In addition, this diet contributes to environmental damage and depletion of natural resources.

The quest to maximize profits has encouraged the growth of "factory farms," which raise animals in crowded, stressful, and miserable conditions. As a consequence of factory farming, the vast majority of farmed animals experience great pain and suffering, mutilations without anesthesia (such as castration and tail-docking), extreme crowding, and barren environments in which animals are unable to perform any of their natural behaviors.

At the same time, contemporary farms often dump all the byproducts of raising animals and crops - excrement, fertilizers, pesticides, antibiotics, hormones - into the environment with few, if any, regulations or controls. These practices are polluting the water, the air and the soil, causing damage to our health and the delicate ecosystems where animals and plants live. Further, they tend to deplete our planet of valuable resources (water, fossils fuels and soil to crop).

Few people grow up knowing how we obtain meat, eggs, and other animal products. People can only make informed, ethical choices if they understand how their choices impact the world.

The leaders of The Ethical Choices Program believe that we can all make a difference, if we have the knowledge and inspiration to do so. We are convinced that humane education is an excellent way to work towards sustainable living, healthier bodies, and a more compassionate society.