Global Animal Partnership Board of Directors member, Chairman of Farm Forward, and former Fortune 1000 business consultant, Steven Gross, Ph.D., has transformed both animal advocacy and corporate support for animal welfare improvements, having led negotiations between animal advocacy organizations and some of the world’s largest companies, including Burger King, McDonald’s, Wendy’s, and Safeway.
With paralyzed rear legs, she struggled to pull herself up the truck ramp as a man hit her repeatedly with an iron rod. I’d never before seen such blatant cruelty. It made me sick, angry, and transformed me into an animal advocate.
I have worked to reduce animal suffering for 22 years—as a founder and lobbyist for the first state animal welfare PAC in the United States; a consultant for PETA for 12 years, and CEO of Farm Forward, an organization dedicated to ending industrial, intensive confinement production while supporting sustainable farmers who adopt the best animal welfare husbandry practices.
Since Global Animal Partnership’s inception, I have had the privilege to serve on the Board of Directors. It’s been an honor to work with the multi stakeholder group and see the idea of promoting and encouraging continuous improvement in animal agriculture become a reality with the development of our 5-Step Animal Welfare Rating Standards.
GAP is one—if not the only—organization whose standards were developed by a diverse group of interested parties from farming, ranching, retail, animal science, and four of the largest animal advocacy organizations in the world. For farm animal welfare standards to gain acceptance by such disparate stakeholders is nothing short of amazing, and our work to help develop markets for these farmers and ranchers shows our commitment to improving farming and the welfare of animals.
Our uniqueness not only lies in our multi-stakeholder leadership and our multi-tiered standards that promote continuous improvement. Global Animal Partnership seeks to engage the broad spectrum of industry, both producer and purveyor, and actively solicits participation from farmers, ranchers, food retailers, and restaurants.
Global Animal Partnership offers responsible farmers and ranchers hope and helps to put a nail in the coffin of industrial, intensive confinement production.
—Steven Gross, Ph.D.
