Chapter 21
Farm Forward: A Pragmatist Approach
to Advocacy in Agriculture
Joseph A. Tuminello III
Abstract In this chapter, I examine the philosophical and ethical views under-
girding Farm Forward, a nonprofit animal advocacy group focused on reforming
agricultural practices and ending factory farming. Specifically, I frame Farm
Forward as an organization that embodies key dimensions of the pragmatist
philosophical tradition. I begin by providing a brief overview of existing pragmatist
work within animal ethics and describing the pragmatist concepts of pluralism,
particularism, and amelioration. After placing Farm Forward’s general vision for
agricultural reform within this philosophical context, I review a number of the
organization’s recent projects to illustrate their commitment to the above pragmatist
principles, as well as the progress that they have attained through particular
advocacy strategies including education initiatives, public engagement, negotiations
with multinational corporations, and building coalitions with other advocacy
groups. Farm Forward’s pragmatist approach to advocacy in agriculture, I argue,
serves as an exemplary model for achieving positive change in concrete and
inclusive ways.
Keywords Animal ethics
Á
Agricultural ethics
Á
American pragmatism
Á
Animal
advocacy
21.1 Agriculture, Advocacy, and Pragmatism
In this chapter, I examine the philosophical and ethical views undergirding Farm
Forward, a nonprofit animal advocacy group focused on agricultural issues.
Specifically, I frame Farm Forward as an organization that embodies key dimen-
sions of the pragmatist philosophical tradition. I begin by providing a brief over-
view of existing pragmatist work within animal ethics and describing the pragmatist
concepts of pluralism, particularism, and amelioration.
J.A. Tuminello III (&)
Department of Philosophy and Religion, University of North Texas, Denton, TX, USA
e-mail: joseph.tuminello@unt.edu
© Springer International Publishing AG 2017
I. Werkheiser and Z. Piso (eds.), Food Justice in US and Global Contexts,
The International Library of Environmental, Agricultural and Food Ethics 24,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-57174-4_21
247