iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Andrea Polanco, PhD @andreapolanco.bsky.social · 26/03/2026

Did companies meet the popular 2025 deadline to go #cage-free? As of February 2026, only 64% of global cage-free egg commitments with a deadline of 2025 or earlier have been fulfilled vs. 93% of those with a 2024 deadline. New analysis from @faunalytics.bsky.social 🔗 faunalytics.org/tactics-in-p...

Infographic titled “Figure 5. Summary of Evidence for Cage-Free Egg Corporate Outreach & Commitments.”

On the left, a vertical flow with icons presents four key points:

1) Consumers are willing to pay more for higher-welfare products—up to 40 cents more for cage-free eggs and $0.40–$1 more per pound for slow-growth chicken.
2) Corporate outreach encourages companies to make public commitments to higher-welfare policies.
3) Corporate commitments increase cage-free housing.
4) Cage-free housing and better chicken commitment (BCC) policies help prevent animal suffering.

On the right, a stacked bar chart compares progress toward commitments. For cage-free commitments, 64% have been fulfilled and 36% remain. For BCC commitments, only 6% have been fulfilled while 94% remain unmet. A note emphasizes that not all companies have kept their promises.

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Andrea Polanco, PhD @andreapolanco.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

There are also upward trends in monkey use in both countries, likely due to COVID as monkeys are commonly used for vaccine testing. As revealed by investigations, COVID research is connected to wildlife trafficking —plucking monkeys from the wild in Cambodia so they can be used in research overseas.

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Andrea Polanco, PhD @andreapolanco.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

This is what the chart would look like if rodents were counted in the U.S. (assuming they make up 95% of all laboratory animals in the U.S.). This is actually still on the conservative end, as other people have estimated rodent numbers to be over 100 million annually: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

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Andrea Polanco, PhD @andreapolanco.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

@faunalytics.bsky.social tracked the # of animals used in research in Canada (since 1985) & the U.S. (since 1973) as reported by gov't or national agencies. The # of tracked animals in science is increasing in Canada, but decreasing in the U.S. (But the USDA excludes rodents, fish, & other species)

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Andrea Polanco, PhD @andreapolanco.bsky.social · 28/01/2026

There’s v limited longitudinal research on humane ed delivered as an ongoing curriculum, making its impact hard to measure. That said, the evidence we do have is promising 👀 Even a single university lecture on the ethics of eating meat led to a 9% reduction in meat consumption lasting 3 years.

Bar chart titled “Figure 3. The Impact of Humane Education on Long-Term Diet Change,” with the subtitle “Long-Term Reductions.” The y-axis shows percentage from 0 to 100. Four studies are displayed. Two teal bars represent self-reported reductions: Bryant & Dillard (2020), measured 3–30 months later, shows a 52% reduction; Faunalytics (2022), measured up to five years later, shows a 58% reduction. Two orange bars represent actual meat purchase reductions: Jalil et al. (2020), measured over eight months, shows a 7.8% reduction; Jalil et al. (2023), measured over three years, shows a 9% reduction. A legend distinguishes self-reported reduction (teal) from actual meat purchase reduction (orange). A note states that compared to control groups, treatment participants ate less meat over the entire study period after receiving humane education in the studies by Jalil and colleagues (p < 0.01).

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Andrea Polanco, PhD @andreapolanco.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

These are my best pictures of 2025 😤

Screenshot of list titled “My Top 2025 films.” A grid of 12 movie posters is shown. The posters include Sinners, Frankenstein, The Ugly Stepsister, Bugonia, Dracula, No Other Choice, One Battle After Another, Marty Supreme, Weapons, 28 Years Later, Mickey 17, and If I Had Legs I’d Kick You.

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Andrea Polanco, PhD @andreapolanco.bsky.social · 19/01/2026

For those who enjoy experimental music or want to listen to something new, I highly recommend Industry Standard by @tracksinvest.bsky.social & Gnostic Front. GF manipulated audio from undercover footage into music. It's mindblowing. BUY the vinyl here: www.tracksinvestigations.org/industrystan...

A close-up image of a vinyl record (red and white swirls) titled 'Industry Standard', a new album by Gemunu de Silva (Tracks Investigations) and Gnostic Front. The center of the vinyl features a macaque caught in a net, a result of wildlife trapping.

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Andrea Polanco, PhD @andreapolanco.bsky.social · 24/12/2025

Started a list on @letterboxd.social focusing on fictional portrayals of the ALF. What am I missing? No documentaries please, just movies!

Letterboxd list called, "Animal Liberation Front" with a description, "fictional portrayals of the ALF or animal rights activists." There are four films on the list: Bold Native, Okja, 12 Monkeys, and 28 Days Later.

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Andrea Polanco, PhD @andreapolanco.bsky.social · 18/12/2025

My fab colleague conducted desk research on how international orgs (IFC, UN FAO, & WTO) influence the growth of animal agriculture in low- & middle-income countries (LMICs). LMICs are the world's top-producing animal slaughter countries, with consumption predicted to ⬆️ by 14% in these regions.

A vertical stacked bar chart titled "Percentage of Global Animal Slaughter Totals by LMIC Status," comparing animal slaughter in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) versus non-LMIC countries. The chart displays six categories of animals, showing that LMICs account for the vast majority of slaughter in every category.
Goats: 97% in LMICs, 3% in non-LMICs.
Sheep: 80% in LMICs, 20% in non-LMICs.
Cows: 71% in LMICs, 29% in non-LMICs.
Pigs: 67% in LMICs, 33% in non-LMICs.
Chickens: 66% in LMICs, 34% in non-LMICs.
Fishes: 64% in LMICs, 36% in non-LMICs (measured in live weight tons).

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Andrea Polanco, PhD @andreapolanco.bsky.social · 28/11/2025

We asked U.S. adults (~1k, representative) about their level of acceptability to standard animal agriculture practices, such as extreme confinement & painful mutilations. Unsurprisingly, most people don't approve 👇. Check out the full @faunalytics.bsky.social study: faunalytics.org/public-accep...

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Andrea Polanco, PhD @andreapolanco.bsky.social · 30/07/2025

🔍 We found that social justice is often missing from core missions (e.g., only 20% of orgs mention it) & DEI is often forgotten about (just 22% of orgs have formal DEI workplace policies). Yet 43% have a program dedicated to social justice, suggesting one-off efforts.

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Andrea Polanco, PhD @andreapolanco.bsky.social · 18/12/2024

Obv it's hard to say w/o a proper social network study tracking veganism. But advocates should consider peer groups: ppl are 11.8x more likely to quit 🚬 if their partner quits & 4.4x if their partner is a nonsmoker, while those w/ smoking partners are least likely to quit.

HOW PEERS INFLUENCE THE ODDS OF QUITTING SMOKING*

A Partner Who Quits: People are anywhere between 1.3 and 11.8 times more likely to quit smoking if their partner also quits.

A Non-Smoking Partner: People are anywhere between 1.6 and 4.4 times more likely to quit smoking if their partner doesn’t smoke.

Friends, Coworkers, and Siblings
People are:
-43% less likely to smoke if their friends quit.
-34% less likely for coworkers quit (in small firms).
-25% less likely for siblings.

More Distant Connections: Friends of friends of friends are able to influence smoking, but not any connections beyond that.

*Quitting smoking and abstaining from meat have a number of similarities. We believe that by studying the social spread of smoking cessation, it may provide a model for understanding how veganism may spread in social circles. Thus, these findings should be interpreted as a framework for vegan contagion.

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Andrea Polanco, PhD @andreapolanco.bsky.social · 18/12/2024

Did your partner or friend influence you to go vegan? In this Faunalytics study, we review the smoking cessation literature to hypothesize the peer influence of veganism! Quitting smoking & quitting meat have a lot in common, but can we expect the same social influences?

QUITTING SMOKING AS A PARALLEL FOR VEGANISM

Behavioral Similarities:
-Both are complex behavioral changes.
-Both are good for one’s health.
-Both are frequently-cued behaviors (in other words, our environments often trigger us to take these actions).
-Quitting meat and tobacco can be difficult and some folks have previously failed to quit.

Key Differences:
-Meat is socialized as Natural, Normal, Necessary, and Nice in a way that tobacco isn’t.
-Tobacco use has decreased globally, while meat consumption has been increasing in most countries.
-Motivations for veganism may be broader than health and may include ethics or environmental concerns.

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Andrea Polanco, PhD @andreapolanco.bsky.social · 09/12/2024

Imagine being a uni student & using your life savings to travel to the US in hopes of gaining pro dev, but only to end up working in a factory farm where you were forced to participate in standard (cruel) industry practices for low pay & major health risks.

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Andrea Polanco, PhD @andreapolanco.bsky.social · 17/11/2024

Was excited to find this book at the leftist book sale today, I wish I had come across it in grad school!

Book cover for "Organize The Lab - Theory & Practice", edited by Science For The People

The back cover of "Organize The Lab" book. It says, "Today, science is a billion-dollar enterprise operating through governments, universities, and industries. But like every other productive activity under capitalism, it wouldn't exist without scientists' labor. Recent waves of unionization campaigns have shown us that the only way to overcome precarious and oppression, which defines our everyday experience as workers in the lab, is through collective action. In this collection of essays, written by and for student workers, union organizers, and radical scientists within STEM academia, we seek to understand the structure we set out to change, share strategies for building power through labor organizing, and inspire scientists of all career levels to enact an alternative version of science" .

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