Protecting Food. Empowering Whistleblowers.
Protecting Food. Empowering Whistleblowers.
Ag Gag laws that aim to criminalize truth-tellers at factory farms have been introduced in various states, but opposition is strong. The Food Integrity Campaign is happy to share some good news: measures in Arkansas and Kentucky have both failed, and New Mexico’s legislature allowed its Ag Gag bill to languish, leaving it “almost certainly […]
It’s Sunshine Week – the time of year when our fellow watchdog groups come together to champion the cause of transparency. The Food Integrity Campaign advocates for a transparent food system year-round, but this week is a good reminder to the powers that be of the work still left to do. Particularly in the food system, […]
FIC client Craig Watts shares his story as a Perdue contract farmer and whistleblower in this segment of PBS Food’s “Original Fare.”
Fusion Network recently aired an illuminating one-hour investigative segment on our client, Craig Watts, and his experience blowing the whistle on top poultry producer Perdue. What started out as a story about Perdue’s deceptive labeling and animal welfare concerns became much more. Craig’s story unveils the struggles that many contract farmers like him face and […]
Craig Watts is about as farmer as they come. He chews tobacco, he’s gruff, he wears overalls, and he loves Willie Nelson. He’s not what you think of when you think of whistleblowers like Deep Throat or Edward Snowden. But six months ago he embarked on a journey to expose what he calls hidden injustices […]
By LINDSAY ABRAMS The chicken farmer who took the brave and unusual step of speaking out against poultry giant Perdue Farms is filing for federal whistleblower protection for the retaliation he says he experienced for coming forward. Craig Watts, of North Carolina, had been raising chickens for Perdue, the country’s third-largest poultry producer, since 1992. […]
By MARYN MCKENNA Back in December I wrote about a chicken farmer who took the extraordinary step of inviting animal-welfare activists into his barns to document the conditions under which his contract compels him to raise his birds. The farmer, Craig Watts of North Carolina, has raised chicken for Perdue Farms for two decades and […]
(Washington, DC) – Today, the Food Integrity Campaign (FIC, a program of the Government Accountability Project) filed a whistleblower retaliation complaint on behalf of its client, Perdue contract farmer Craig Watts. Mr. Watts alleges that the poultry company initiated intimidation tactics against Watts after he publicized animal welfare concerns. This is an historic event, the […]
(Minneapolis, MN) — The Government Accountability Project (GAP) applauded a federal judge’s decision to dismiss a challenge brought by the American Farm Bureau Federation and National Pork Producers Council against the Environmental Protection Agency in Minneapolis late yesterday. The industry groups were seeking to block the federal agency’s ability to release public information regarding highly […]
By LEAH GARCES Last month, something unprecedented happened that rocked the chicken industry’s world. Perdue contract farmer Craig Watts decided he’d had enough. Together with my organization, Compassion in World Farming, he released a video that gave the public a unique view into the secretive world of the chicken industry. He revealed what the National Chicken Council […]