Farm Animal Rights Movement (FARM) is an international nonprofit organization working to promote a vegan lifestyle and animal rights through public education and grass roots outreach. It operates ten national and international programs from its headquarters in Bethesda, Maryland. FARM has the abolitionist vision of a world where animals are free from all forms of human exploitation, including, food and clothing, research and testing, entertainment and hunting. FARM's mission is to spare the largest number of animals from being bred, abused, and slaughtered for food, as this accounts for 98% of all animal abuse and slaughter. FARM was co-founded by Dr. Alex Hershaft in 1976 as the Vegetarian Information Service to distribute information on the benefits of a vegetarian diet. In 1981, it became the Farm Animal Reform Movement by embracing veganism and the right of animals not to be used for food. In 2011, it adopted the DBA of Farm Animal Rights Movement to emphasize its commitment to ending the use of animals for food, rather than merely reforming their treatment. History In August 1975, Dr. Alex Hershaft became involved in the vegetarian movement after attending the World Vegetarian Congress in Orono, ME, and meeting Jay Dinshah. In 1976, Hershaft founded the Vegetarian Information Service (VIS) to distribute information on the benefits of a vegetarian diet. That same year, he participated in the hearings before the Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs, which led to the publication of Dietary Goals for the United States, and eventually to the periodic publication of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Subsequently, VIS testified before Congress in favor of the 1978 National Consumer Nutrition Information Act and the Federal Meat Inspection Act of 1978. Accordingly, in the summer of 1981, Hershaft organized Action For Life, a national conference in Allentown, Pennsylvania, that effectively launched the U.S. animal rights movement. Participants included such animal rights pioneers as Cleveland Amory, Ingrid Newkirk, Alex Pacheco, Peter Singer, Henry Spira, Gretchen Wyler, as well as radio host Thom Hartmann. These conferences continued for seven more years in San Francisco (1982), Montclair, NJ (1983), Los Angeles (1985), Chicago (1986), Cambridge, Massachusetts (1987), and Washington (1984 and 1991). Immediately following the 1981 conference, Hershaft co-founded the Farm Animal Rights Movement (FARM) to promote a vegan lifestyle and animal rights. FARM's early programs were Gentle Thanksgiving (1976), Action for Life conferences (1981–1991), Compassion Campaign (1982–1992), Veal Ban Campaign (1982–1986),