Protecting Food. Empowering Whistleblowers.
Protecting Food. Empowering Whistleblowers.
Despite efforts to prevent Iowa’s “Ag Gag” legislation, including a FIC op-ed that appeared in the Cedar Rapids Gazette last week, Gov. Terry Branstad signed the bill into law on Friday. This is disconcerting news, however unsurprising (as the Associated Press points out) given Branstad’s “strong ties to the state’s agricultural industry.” Iowa is a […]
The following op-ed was written by FIC Director Amanda Hitt. Editor’s Note: While the Iowa Senate amendment did remove the specific language restricting undercover video, the bill is clearly aimed at holding whistleblowers who use such means to convey the truth legally accountable (More on this here). Some things people just have to see to […]
Update (2/29/12, 9:15 AM ET): Last night, the Iowa House agreed to the Senate language on this Ag Gag legislation. The bill has now been sent to the Governor for approval. Although legislators removed the language that specifically restricts the recording of undercover video, the bill is clearly aimed at whistleblowers who use such, as […]
A recent study shows that chemical exposure – including that from food products – may cause child IQ reduction that rivals the impacts of major medical conditions. The finding reveals that the effect on society of widespread lead, organophosphate pesticides and methylmercury exposure “may be more severe than what previous studies of individual risk would […]
It doesn’t seem like the Jimmy John’s sandwich chain can escape negative publicity this week. Once again, its raw sprouts have been linked to a foodborne illness outbreak (despite switching from alfalfa to clover sprouts after a Salmonella outbreak a year ago), sickening 12 people in five states with E. coli this time. On top […]
Great news! Yesterday it was announced that Trader Joe’s has, at last, signed an agreement with the Florida-based farmworker organization – the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) – to support the group’s Fair Food Program and demand better labor standards from the store’s Florida tomato suppliers. The agreement involves an increase in tomato farmworkers’ wages […]
Monsanto, a self-proclaimed solver of global agriculture problems, has really just brought more and more chemicals into our food supply. GAP coalition partner, the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), gave the company a failing grade yesterday in documenting eight ways Monsanto has taken agriculture in the wrong direction. In addition to suppressing independent research on […]
Comforting news in Florida this week: Proposed “ag-gag” legislation – criminalizing whistleblowers who take photographs or video to expose wrongdoing at farm operations – was killed in both the House and Senate. Sound familiar? Similar bills in Florida and a few other states were introduced but then failed to pass last year. Unfortunately, they have all […]
Tuesday was Monsanto’s annual shareholder meeting at the biotech company’s headquarters in St. Louis, MO, where corporate changes were voted on – including a proposal to study the financial risks and impacts of Monsanto’s genetically engineered crops. The proposal was submitted last August by Harrington Investments Inc. (HII), a socially responsible investment advisory firm and […]
Disappointing news came from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Friday regarding a new proposal to “modernize” the country’s poultry inspection, although the agency would have you believe it’s actually a good idea. In an attempt to “save money for businesses and taxpayers while improving food safety,” the USDA plans to expand a pilot program – […]