Public money.
Public records.
Public accountability.

Animal exploitation in the United States runs on public money. Universities collect federal grants to experiment on animals. Public school districts, prisons, and government cafeterias buy meat and dairy with state and federal dollars. Industrial agriculture is held up by subsidies most taxpayers have never heard of.

The True Cost Project exists to make that spending visible and to hold the institutions behind it accountable to the people paying for them.

We do that work in a few different ways. We file public records requests and read what comes back. We conduct First Amendment audits of the government offices that oversee these programs. We bring evidence to journalists, lawmakers, and the boards and committees that have the power to change how this money gets spent. When institutions refuse to answer questions the public has every right to ask, we put that refusal on the record too.

If you believe taxpayers deserve to know how their money is being spent, you already have a reason to be here. This work is funded entirely by people who believe in it. If you can support it, please do.