A new organization is campaigning to stop the teaching of animal agriculture at Iowa State and other universities.

Responsible Policies for Animals, Inc., a Pennsylvania-based nonprofit organization, began its “10,000 Years is Enough” campaign last spring with a mailing to each 1862 land grant university in the United States.

The campaign’s strategy is to contact influential people, and a second mailing to the same 50 land grant universities will go out later this month, said David Cantor, founder and executive director of Responsible Policies for Animals, Inc.

Responsible Policies for Animals, Inc. wants to get the word out that universities have conflicts of interest in teaching agriculture and should leave it up to businesses to train people for production agriculture, he said.

The organization’s dual message is that animal agriculture is “inhumane, polluting, wasteful … and harmful” and that animal agriculture has no place at universities, Cantor said.

“Teaching people to make animal products is infinitely worse than any other major could possibly be,” Cantor said.

“The factory farms that most animals are now raised on are enormous polluters,” he said. “We don’t think those are the kind of careers for which universities should prepare students.”

Catherine Woteki, dean of the College of Agriculture, said animal science students get a broad educational background at Iowa State.

“Our students do go into a wide variety of different careers in agriculture,” Woteki said. “Some of them do go back to their family farms.”

Cantor disagreed.

“The vast majority of jobs in the food industry are with large corporations,” Cantor said. “You’re enabling people to choose that even if you’re also enabling them to choose something else.”

Tressa Eckhoff, senior in dairy science, said small farms make a profit by investing in animal care.

“If they’re not healthy, you’re not going to make any money,” she said.

After the ISU dairy farm announced it would be closed for the next three years due to budget cuts, Cantor wrote a letter published in the Daily June 26.

“Iowa State should not only let its dairy go but should forget about building a new one,” Cantor said in the letter. “[Land grant universities, established under the Morrill Act in 1862, were meant to] assist the small farmers the ag giants have now mostly driven from the land.”

Eckhoff, who said she plans to use her dairy science degree in a career as a dairy nutritionist, disagreed.

“So should business colleges not teach students how to run a business?” she said. “That’s what the ag college is doing. It’s teaching us to run a business … every business needs to advance.”

Cantor said pork industry ties also create a conflict of interest for the university.

The Iowa Pork Producers Association donated $100,000 to the university last summer. The gift was used to fund a new animal science faculty position, filled by Ken Stalder, assistant professor in animal science.

“A university can provide [Iowa pork producers] with unbiased, research-based information,” said Rich Degner, executive director for the Iowa Pork Producers Association.

Woteki agreed.

“Funds that come from the producers support practical problem-solving research,” Woteki said.

“Refining management practices for the pork industry is a smokescreen for perpetuating the pork industry,” Cantor said. “We don’t need pork.”

Cantor e-mailed President Gregory Geoffroy about the donation in July, said Charles Dobbs, assistant to the president.

Dobbs said he responded to Cantor’s e-mail Monday and indicated in the e-mail that Stalder’s extension education program will help producers refine management practices and reduce the environmental impact of their operations.

“While the pork producers contributed money, that does not mean they determine his research,” Dobbs said.

Stalder could not be reached for comment.

The second mailing from Responsible Policies for Animals, Inc. will address the arguments university representatives made in response to the first mailing, Cantor said.

“We never assumed anyone initially would agree to stop teaching animal agriculture,” Cantor said.

The organization will begin recruiting members when the campaign develops further, but Cantor said wanted to do some substantial work before asking people to join.

“I would love for students to understand our campaign and get involved to the extent that they can,” he said.

Cantor said he began Responsible Policies for Animals, Inc. to test his approach of contacting influential people rather than appealing to a broader audience, he said.

“Modern life is what produced animal rights [organizations],” Cantor said. “If animal agriculture remained the way it was in 1862, it would not be a target of animal rights activists. Period.”