Is Freedom for all Just a Slogan?

What if your baby was taken from you the moment you gave birth to them?

What if someone judged your worth based on how heavy you were, or how fast you grew up?

What if you lived your whole life never hearing a name, only a number, or perhaps nothing at all?

What if you had a price tag but your own pain didn’t even register?

What if, no matter how scared, nice, or curious you were, the world viewed you as nothing more than food?

This is the sad reality for so many animals. About 300 million animals are killed annually in Israel alone. These include 10 million turkeys and 220 million chickens. That’s a huge number—and it’s sad to think that so many animals never even get the chance to be happy or free. I wish we could treat animals the way we’d want to be treated—kindly and with love. But… What if animals weren’t food or products? What if they were living, feeling beings with their own families and personalities. This is the vision that’s slowly becoming a reality at Freedom Farm Sanctuary in Israel, an organization that’s changing the way we think about and treat animals.

I had the opportunity to visit Freedom Farm over Passover, and the timing could not have been more significant. Passover, after all, is a holiday entirely about freedom and liberation—and here, in the center of Israel, I was visiting animals who had already been given their freedom. Animals that were once caged, beaten, or tied up for slaughter were now in peace, each bearing a name, a past, and a home to call their own.

Freedom Farm is not another animal sanctuary. It was founded with very deep compassion and kindness, not only to care for animals, but also to teach people how to see animals for what they really are. In essence, Freedom Farm is a home for rescued animals, a destination where people can come and see, and an educational facility where the intention is straightforward: to show people that animals are individuals with feelings and needs, not objects or products we can use. The farmers initially met at an event by an organization called Vegan Friendly, and they shared the same dream: that animals are treated with compassion and respect. They decided to make this dream come true by dedicating their lives to providing care for animals that were abandoned, neglected, or abused.

What they do is incredibly more than just rescuing animals. They’re also working hard every single day—cleaning up after goats, chickens, and other beings, and caring for a beautiful piece of property where all these animals can live. For the love of it, with no expectation of reward or compensation. They like establishing a quiet, safe haven for animals to heal and live out the rest of their lives. And it’s this kind of dedication that makes Freedom Farm so special—it’s not just about rescuing animals; it’s about showing the world how to truly look at them for who they are.

One of the most amazing things about Freedom Farm is how they treat guests. The refuge is based on the idea that people and animals aren’t really all that different, after all, and that the key to real connection is in getting to know one another. When you visit, you won’t be asked what you eat, what you wear, or what you believe. No interrogative questions, no lectures on veganism, and no guilt trips. Rather, the farm crew welcomes people to partake in another means of thinking: a thinking that is based on understanding and compassion. People are encouraged to interact with the animals as naturally as possible and draw their own conclusions regarding what they see—not from what they’ve been instructed, but from what they perceive.

Rather than compelling people to change their perspective, the farm merely encourages the animals to be who they are. The founders feel that the manner in which we treat farm animals—whether as pets or products—dictates the manner in which we are able to think about them. By showing the visitors that animals deserve the same respect, love, and care that we extend to our pets in the home, Freedom Farm hopes to create a little bit more empathy. The goal isn’t to make people feel guilty or in an outrage and transform overnight—it’s to present information in a kind, respectful way. They provide them with facts and stories that lead them to think and question their beliefs, but without shaming them or embarrassing them.

My Dad and the owner and founder of Freedom Farm, Adit Romano, posing in front of the logo for a picture.

The impacts aren’t instantaneous, but that’s okay. Some guests leave feeling completely changed, challenged to re-look at their diets or their beliefs about animal welfare. Some others may not go home and suddenly change everything about their lives, but they go home with a greater respect for the animals that they once considered food or products. Freedom Farm doesn’t measure success by the number of people who choose to become vegan or drastically change everything about their life. Instead, they are measuring success by the emotional shifts that happen—those quiet, personal moments when people begin to form a connection with the animals and start to see them as individuals.

It’s these quiet, simple moments that make Freedom Farm so strong. It’s impossible to change the world in one night, but Freedom Farm is changing the landscape where animals are valued as living, breathing beings with worth and value. And by raising awareness quietly, they’re gradually but inevitably changing the way people think, one visitor at a time.