What the agricultural industry considers “normal” production practice is very different from what consumers think of as food produced with integrity. Whistleblowers, including former U.S. Meat and Animal Research Center (MARC) scientist Dr. James Keen, have exposed for decades that what is common practice in industry should not always be our standard for comparison. Someone […]
When scientists confront a problem, they need to compile all the data possible to come up with a solution. But in the case of antibiotic resistance, we’ve got an information hoarder on our hands. The agriculture industry doesn’t want to share their drug use practices, and the FDA – as the information gatekeeper – won’t release […]
Why does mainstream media refuse to cover the genetically modified organism (GMO) issue in a balanced way? Last Wednesday, at the Whistleblower Summit for Civil and Human Rights, a panel of two journalists, an author, and a scientist spoke to a packed room about the media’s biased coverage of GMOs. “Scientists and other scholars are […]
This piece was originally published in the Huffington Post. An Idaho court found that agricultural whistleblowing is not a crime. Consumers who want to know the truth about the food system won a big victory this week against the culture of silence thanks to U.S. Chief Judge B. Lynn Winmill, who struck down Idaho’s anti-whistleblower […]
(WASHINGTON) – Perdue contract farmer Rudy Howell has collected more than 70,000 petition signatures urging Congress to ensure protections for poultry farmers who face reprisal for speaking out. The Food Integrity Campaign (FIC, a program of the Government Accountability Project) is backing Howell’s petition, which stems from industry-wide reports of retaliation against contract farmers who […]
In an atmosphere of intimidation and fear of retaliation, it takes a lot to speak out against powerful chicken corporations. But Perdue contract farmer Rudy Howell is taking a chance and bravely speaking about the lies that Perdue told him and about the harsh reality that chicken farmers face just trying to make ends meet. […]
This piece (originally published in the Huffington Post), was authored by Louis Clark, President of the Government Accountability Project (GAP) – the nation’s leading whistleblower protection and advocacy organization. Nationwide, supporters of truth and transparency in the food system are mourning the enactment of North Carolina’s anti-whistleblower Ag Gag law. Designed to chill truth-tellers who […]
Two former restaurant supervisors are blowing the whistle on Pollo Campero – a business that claims to be “the world’s largest Latin American chicken chain.” Elsy Ortega and Evelin Iglesias claim they were unjustly fired in 2013 after refusing to use expired chicken at two of the chain’s establishments in Maryland. Two years later, the […]
Over the weekend, the Food Integrity Campaign team attended Washington D.C.’s Green Festival – the longest-running sustainability and green living event. It was great to see so many people who care about transparency in the food system! We spoke with hundreds of individuals about issues across the food spectrum – from Ag Gag laws to […]
What a win for transparency! Today, North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory vetoed the state’s anti-whistleblower Ag Gag bill. This is a significant move in support of agriculture whistleblowers who, under the measure, would be criminalized for exposing wrongdoing at factory farms. In a statement, Gov. McCrory explained his concerns with the bill: “I believe it […]