“Advocates for the Farmer, Families, their Land & the Planet”
Multi-Disciplinary Collaboration
Our enterprise is a partnership among deeply devoted players. The Barretts, first and foremost; RAP, the newly established Arkansas Fungi, LLC, our venture capital investors, generous donors. We aim to blaze a trail for other chicken farmers who have similar situations to the Barretts–big debt to the banks, a desire to farm in a way that helps feed the world and provides a real livelihood for their families while caring for animals and the environment. This is Big Scale Change, happening on one farm in Arkansas.
Are you a Farmer Wanting to Transition out of Animal Ag? Are you a Plant Based Company Looking to Partner with Farmers?
The Rancher Advocacy Program is pioneering a global resource that will encourage farm transitions by bringing investors, resources, academics, filmmakers, authors, attorneys, lobbyists, and other plant-based and manufacturing experts to the table.
For Farmers
For Plant-Based Companies
Fill out this form if you are a farmer or rancher interested in transitioning away from animal agriculture.
Fill out this form if you are a plant-based company interested in partnering with a transitioning farmer.
Fill out this form if you are interested in investing in a plant-based business model.
Rancher Advocacy Program
Once in a generation there’s a convergence of the right people and the right idea, and these elements come together at the right time and in the right place. Rowdy Girl Sanctuary (RGS) and Rancher Advocacy Program (RAP) are shining examples of this convergence. Rowdy Girl Sanctuary (RGS) was born from a rancher’s wife’s love for a calf, Rowdy Girl. Feeding and caring for Rowdy Girl opened Renee’s eyes and heart to the land and the other animals who live on it. Renee King-Sonnen, founder of Rowdy Girl Sanctuary, created the world’s first successful cattle ranch transition to a non-profit sanctuary model. Her husband, Tommy, joined RGS as co-founder once he transitioned to vegan. On July 18, 2018, Renee and Rowdy Girl Sanctuary launched the Rancher Advocacy Program (RAP). Now three more ranches are transitioning.
The Rancher Advocacy Program is a global resource that will accelerate farm transitions by bringing resources, academics, film makers, authors, attorneys, lobbyists, and other plant-based and manufacturing experts to the table. Together, we can transition the archaic traditions and culture of animal agriculture into a new normal that will look back on this generation and be proud of the difference we all made for the future.
RAP programming began after the Rowdy Girl story went viral on the CBS Evening News in 2016. Ranchers and their families consistently sought me out about their feelings regarding their cows, their traditions, other family members etc. A unique niche began to develop in the animal rights movement because of these conversations that led me to realize that I was more than an animal rights activist, I was also a Rancher Advocate.
The heartbeat of RAP is the connections I’ve made with ranchers and animal farmers. I’m able to reach that place deep inside where we have common ground. Where we:
- Love animals and kill them
- Love the land, and we destroy it too
- Love our families yet pass down generations of suffering through devastating animal agriculture.
What is the Rancher Advocacy Program (RAP)?
The Rancher Advocacy Program is a platform that addresses complex issues that arise when cattle rancher and/or animal farmer family members:
- Experience emotional conflict regarding the animals they are raising for slaughter and the personal role they currently play in the larger system in which they and their families participate;
- See the reasons – health, ethical, environmental, financial, social – for abandoning the practice of raising animals for slaughter and want to transition away from animal agriculture and the practices associated with factory and family farms;
- Need assistance and support in creating a viable transition plan and business solution as well as creating strategic partnerships in order to convert their ranch or farm to a business that collaborates with the growing world and economic trends of a plant-based future.
How does RAP do it?
RAP is a conduit–a bridge that brings folks from all occupations together to create a network of relationships for buyers, end users and companies within the plant-based sector for potential partnership and coalition building.
We are building a scaffolding blueprint of innovation, ideas, business models, and solutions that is resulting in a new vision for the plant-based economy, farmers, their families, and the land we all love.
We are becoming a central Clearing House for Farm Transition technology and are committed to the evolution of animal agriculture.
