Jim Mason begins this three-session interview discussing his experiences growing up on a farm in Missouri during the 1950s. He analyzes at length the rural outlooks on animals, including in agriculture and hunting. He describes his initial interests in biology, entry into college as a pre-med student, and eventual decision … Read More

The November/December 2019 issue of The Animals Voice Magazine featured the cover story, “Three Wise Men,” profiling three animals activists making tremendous contributions toward the improvement of animals’ lives. The interviews were conducted by Animals Voice Associate Editor Susan Barzallo. This is the first of the three.

Jim Mason is an … Read More

I think a lot of people see veganism as extreme, as some sort of cult practice. Although, I think this has more to do with the meat-eater mentality than it does with any behavior on the part of vegans. You know, the eye of the beholder. In my view, the … Read More

An Interview With Jim Mason By Claudette Vaughan
First published in Vegan Voice
Jim Mason is a high-profile person in the animal rights movement who makes a definite connection between non-human animal cruelty and the wider picture of power, privilege, patriarchy, and persecution. He says his vegan meals are, in part, rituals … Read More

A few dollars per pound is a bargain, but who else pays the price?
by Peter Singer and Jim Mason
Americans eat a phenomenal amount of chicken, more than any other meat. Those of us over 50 can still remember when chicken was a treat for special occasions because it … Read More

An Interview with Jim Mason
from No Compromise Issue 21
Jim Mason is a pioneering author within the animal liberation movement. In 1980, he co-authored Animal Factories with Peter Singer, which served as an eye-opening expose of the conditions on factory farms in the United States. Mason’s next groundbreaking book, An … Read More

In our mind’s eye the farm is a peaceful, pleasant place where calves nuzzle their mothers in a shady field, pigs loaf in the mudhole, and chickens scratch and scramble about the barnyard. We comfort ourselves with these bucolic images — images that are implanted by calendars, coloring books, and … Read More

By Jim Mason
Poor old animal agribusiness. It is getting hit from all directions. According to Feedstuffs, the authoritative weekly newspaper for agribusiness, “The 1990s will be a difficult decade for animal agriculture with consumption trends, cost/price squeezes, food safety, the environment, and animal welfare all influencing production systems.”
Citing the … Read More

By Jim Mason
A friend heard an advertisement on the local radio about the Butterball Turkey Company needing workers in artificial insemination, called “AI” for short. So I went to the personnel office across the street from the turkey killing plant in this small midwestern town. Latinos, Asians, and poor … Read More

By Jim Mason
Americans, at least, have a tremendous appetite for meat, dairy products and eggs. They have little appetite, however, for information on the lives of the animals who produce what they eat. Perhaps they sense something. Do they sense that beyond the mountain of steaks, hamburgers, sausages, cold … Read More