As the movement for a just and sustainable food system has expanded and diversified, so has our programming. In addition to visiting schools to raise awareness of factory farming’s devastating impacts, we now provide intensive education and advocacy training for high school and college students. We plant “new roots” by preparing our fellows to contribute meaningfully to the movement in myriad ways.
The mission of New Roots is to empower the next generation with knowledge and training to end factory farming. Our new logo represents the root system that nourishes our movement, creating a groundswell of energy, knowledge, and commitment.
Our previous name, Factory Farming Awareness Coalition, and branding left many confused about who we were and what we stood for. At New Roots Institute, we have a big goal—to end factory farming. To achieve this goal, we need to reach, engage, and empower as many people as possible. This requires a simple and powerful name, a unique and distinctive look, and clear communications that are rooted in a cohesive and consistent brand strategy.
We dug deep! Over the course of many months, we asked ourselves the big questions, like why we exist, who we are, what we do, and how we show up for others. We conducted countless interviews and surveys, analyzed all of the feedback from you, defined our brand personality, and got to the heart of our mission—our core reason for existing. This led us to the toughest part of all—unearthing a new name that emerged from the recurring themes we identified as being embedded in our core identity. We are inviting, credible, empowering, ground-swelling, synergistic, and optimistic.
Imagine plucking a vegetable from the ground (or even a grocery store shelf). Pause for a moment. Marvel at its bright color and sweet crunch, and consider how it came to be. That vegetable you’re holding wouldn’t exist were it not for the life-giving support of an intricate root system. Roots are the foundation for life. And new roots give way to new life, creating a new future.
This is exactly what we’re committed to at New Roots Institute. Day by day, we plant “new roots” by empowering the next generation with knowledge and training to end factory farming. Student by student, person by person, we share the truth about where our food comes from and how it can be better, healthier, and more just—for people, animals, and the planet.
But just like in nature, roots rarely thrive alone. They connect. They communicate. They grow. Like our approach at New Roots Institute, they form deep networks that give rise to new life from the ground up. A new day, a new food system.
Purple evokes wisdom and [em]power[ment], and yellow, energy and optimism. Together, these strengths will sustain our movement for decades.
We slightly revised our mission statement to make it more specific. Our mission is to empower the next generation with knowledge and training to end factory farming. Our vision remains the same as it has always been: a just and sustainable food system for all.
Our skilled educators will continue to teach lessons in high school and college classrooms to inspire critical thinking about the connections between industrial animal agriculture and current key issues impacting us all—including climate change and environmental sustainability, social justice, human health, and animal welfare. Students who show particular interest or engagement with the lesson will be invited to apply to our Leadership Program (formerly the Advocacy Institute).
Instead of taking place over the course of a single semester, our Leadership Program Fellowship now extends through an entire year. New Roots Institute fellows deepen their knowledge of the issues, enhance their communication and leadership skills, and engage in effective advocacy to create real, lasting change in their communities and beyond.
Those who graduate from our fellowship become members of our esteemed Alumni Network. Alumni Network members receive ongoing support from New Roots Institute as an integral part of our Leadership Program. All of these programs work collectively to build capacity for the movement to end factory farming.