Before the start of the 2020 hurricane season, researchers predicted that this year would be busier than normal. The increasing frequency and intensity of hurricanes due to climate change disproportionately impact vulnerable populations, especially lower-income communities and communities of color. Confounding the problem, these communities also face disproportionate exposure to industrial pollution, including the impacts […]
Note: this article featuring Government Accountability Project and the Food Integrity Campaign, was originally published here. NELP to USDA: Faster Poultry-Processing Line Speeds During COVID-19 Pandemic ‘Irresponsible and Reckless’ Washington — The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety Inspection Service in April approved 15 poultry processing plants’ requests to increase line speeds 25% – despite […]
Racial Injustice: The Truth about Industrial Agriculture Racial injustice is at the forefront of our collective thoughts, yet the continued structural dependence of the food system on racial oppression is often overlooked. For those of us demanding food system reform and for those of us for whom racial injustice is a lived experience, it comes as no surprise that the meat industry has thrived even as communities of color […]
FIC works to have USDA compensate farmers – not the corporations- directly for Covid 19 losses. FIC and its farmer advocacy partners are suggesting legislative language that would ensure farmers do not face bankruptcy during Covid-19. The pandemic has shown in sharp relief the many ways our industrial meat system has been designed to drive profit at the expense of animals, workers, and […]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 15, 2020 House and Senate Propose Best Practice Whistleblower Rights for COVID Spending WASHINGTON – Today Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) and nine other Senators, as well as Representatives Jackie Speier (D-CA) and Jamie Raskin (D-MD), introduced the COVID 19 Whistleblower Protection Act, legislation which would protect whistleblowing employees of businesses or contractors […]
Note: this article, featuring Government Accountability Project and the Food Integrity Campaign, was originally published here. North Carolina’s Property Protection Act Violates 1st Amendment North Carolina’s 5-year-old Property Protection Act, the first state law to use civil action rather than criminal law, to discourage undercover animal welfare investigations, contains unconstitutional elements. Chief Judge Thomas D. […]
COVID- 19 Outbreaks in NC: Symptoms of a Sick System By Sally Lee Tyson Foods recently disclosed that 570 employees have tested positive for COVID-19 at their Wilkesboro chicken processing plant. In this unprecedented time, we must take care to not be divided by the meat industry’s all-too familiar blame shifting tactics. The Trump administration’s official response to this crisis in meat plants has been to simultaneously declare […]
We are excited to announce our new Instagram story series. Throughout these unprecedented times, we will be sharing updates from FIC whistleblowers and how the pandemic has impacted their lives and food integrity advocacy. The work of a whistleblower never stops, even in a pandemic. As you know, Covid-19 has exposed serious flaws in our […]
Empty Shelves, Culled Animals: COVID-19 Intersects with Decades of Industrialized Agriculture For decades, whistleblowers have told us that it is dangerous when Big Ag puts profits over people. Companies such as Tyson, JBS, and Smithfield, which have historically bulldozed independent businesses to gain control of our meat supply, have built fragile global supply chains in […]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 8, 2020 Food Integrity Campaign Petition to Protect Meat Inspectors During COVID-19 Garners Thousands of Signatures Petition Launch Follows Thousands of COVID-19 cases in Meat Industry WASHINGTON – This week, the Government Accountability Project’s Food Integrity Campaign launched a petition to expand and strengthen protections for essential workers employed within the meat industry. Meat industry […]