People have always relied on animals for the food we need to thrive. Today, we depend on them more than ever to support a balanced, wholesome diet. Through the Protein PACT, we can all work together to make the foods we love more sustainable than ever so that we may continue to share them for generations to come.

For People

Wholesome, safe meat, poultry and dairy are the leading sources of high-quality protein and other essential nutrients in Americans’ diets, and America’s farmers, ranchers, and processors are at the center of strong communities.

The Protein PACT is committed to providing balanced diets to feed more people and support more jobs than ever before, all while sustaining safety and opportunity for our diverse workforce in strong communities.

Every American farm produces enough food for about 165 people2, and about 800,000 people work in meat and poultry processing.1

1 https://www.meatinstitute.org/index.php?ht=d/sp/i/286/pid/286/cat_id/103201

Almost all of America’s more than 900k beef operations are family-owned or individually operated, and beef producers are committed to the best stewardship of their operations for future generations.2

2 https://www.fb.org/newsroom/fast-facts

Meat, poultry and dairy are complete proteins that are rich sources of nutrients and amino acids that are very hard to replace from other foods. To learn more click here.3

3 https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/ndb/

For Animals

Wholesome meat, poultry and dairy start with providing the most humane care and raising healthy animals.

The Protein PACT supports the highest standards for safeguarding animals’ welfare throughout their lives, so we can feel good about the food that sustains us.

+98% of U.S. milk comes from dairy farms adhering to the Farmers Assuring Responsible Management™ (FARM) program.


To learn about how farmers and veterinarians work together to keep animals and food safe, visit the Animal Agriculture Alliance.


From 2018-2020, more than 69K U.S. pig farmers and farm employees were certified through the National Pork Board’s flagship animal care education program, Pork Quality Assurance Plus.


More than 80% of U.S. beef producers participate in the Beef Quality Assurance program, which helps producers continuously raise standards for sustainability and animal care.

For the Climate

At every step of the journey from farm to table, our food impacts the land, air and water we all share.

The Protein PACT unites, amplifies and strengthens commitments from farmers, packers, and processors to conserve energy and water, maintain healthy soil and reduce emissions as we progress toward carbon neutrality. Producing the meat, poultry, eggs and dairy we need using less land, water and energy has never been more important.

The U.S. dairy industry has committed to achieve GHG neutrality by 2050, further building on U.S. dairy’s achievements reducing dairy farm greenhouse gas emissions that are already the lowest in the world.4

4 http://www.fao.org/3/CA2929EN/ca2929en.pdf

U.S. beef has reduced its environmental “hoofprint” by more than 16% since 19774, and the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef has developed a framework to do even more.


More and more U.S. pig farms use renewable energy – even capturing methane from manure to power their farms. Some are already carbon neutral or negative, and the National Pork Board is working with farmers to aim even higher.


Sustainable animal feed production makes significant contributions to sustainable animal agriculture - U.S. soybean and corn farmers are building on their sustainability achievements by committing to further reduce erosion and greenhouse gas emissions, among other goals.


Animal feed helps use up leftovers that would otherwise go to waste – more than 40% of animal feed ingredients are left over from making human food.