Around eight billion of us live on planet Earth and many of us have some dependence on farmed animals. We eat their flesh and eggs, and drink their milk. We feed them to our pets, and we eat plants that have been fertilised with their manure.

Farmed animals sustain us, and have done so for thousands of years. However, over time things have changed. As the human population has grown, so too has our need for food.

With this need for more sustenance, we have created farming systems that focus on producing the highest quantities of food in the fastest and cheapest ways. We’ve altered the shape of farm animals — modifying their bodies so they’re able to provide us with the maximum amount of meat, fish and dairy. And we’ve adapted farms, so that the largest number of animals can be reared in small spaces. Some farms are home to happy and healthy animals. But many aren’t. Lots of farmed animals are reared in cages on land or in water, stark concrete buildings, or crowded outdoor spaces with no access to grass, natural vegetation, or protection from the weather.

In the same way as human beings, farmed animals experience pain and emotion. When they live in tight overcrowded spaces — they don’t like it. When they’re unable to move naturally because parts of their body are damaged or too big — this hurts them. And, just like us, when they don’t eat a healthy diet, socialise with their friends, have regular exercise and experience mental stimulation — they become unhappy, unhealthy and often reliant on medication.

Happy farmed animals have choices. These include choosing which animals they’d like to socialise with, what they’d like to eat, when they’d like to rest and where (within reason) they’d like to wander. They don’t have bits of their bodies (e.g. tails and beaks) chopped off, they aren’t handled roughly by humans, they aren’t taken away from their mothers when they’ve just been born, and they don’t have fearful, painful deaths.

As consumers, we have choices. We can choose to consume less animal protein. And, where possible, we can choose to buy food that’s come from compassionate farms that take responsibility for the wellbeing of their animals. One farm that has transformed the way they work, to focus on the happiness of their animals, is the Ethical Dairy. Situated in the Scottish county of Dumfries and Galloway, this organic farm has an online shop selling vegetarian cheese from cows that live alongside their young. Ethical Dairy calves, both male and female, are left with their mothers to suckle naturally, sharing the cow’s milk with the farm, and benefitting from maternal care. The farmer may get less milk, but also less stress. And less stress means a happier life for the cows, their calves and for the people who work with them.