Rural Partnerships for a More Just Food System
FIC’s Rural Partnerships campaign houses initiatives that focus on the people who produce our food and the communities impacted by industrial agriculture. FIC recognizes that rural food system whistleblowers (such as processing plant workers, farmers, and neighbors of industrial ag operations) face extraordinary and unique challenges. To overcome those hurdles, our Rural Partnerships campaign works to align values and foster lasting coalitions. FIC works closely with grassroots and community organizations to line up whistleblower disclosures with existing local efforts to improve food safety, workplace safety and worker rights, environmental justice and clean energy.
Revitalizing Whistleblower Protection in NC – REDA
In our first state-level anti-retaliation initiative, we are focusing on whistleblower and anti-retaliation protections in North Carolina. FIC is calling attention to the Retaliatory Employment Discrimination Act (REDA). REDA states that employers may not retaliate against employees who file for workers’ compensation, file a complaint, initiate an investigation, or provide information to the public as whistleblowers on critical issues.
REDA is a bipartisan effort that was passed in 1992 in response to a fire at a poultry processing facility in which 25 workers were tragically and needlessly killed.
Recently, the Department of Labor in NC has drawn criticism over lax enforcement of REDA during the COVID-19 crises. Complaints from poultry processing workers related to COVID-19 have been piling up. As of July 15, 2020, the DOL had received 75 complaints from poultry workers specifically about COVID-19 concerns, but nearly half were dismissed and the agency has not conducted any site visits. North Carolina workers and the public must be able to count on our government agencies to enforce our laws and ensure accountability, especially in times of crisis.
A functional REDA in NC can help keep business and government honest and efficient, protecting public interest, and ensuring taxpayer dollars are not misspent. If we turn our backs on North Carolina workers, we open the door to unchecked corruption, health and safety violations, and fraud.
Keeping Clean Energy Honest – Industrial Ag Biogas
As the impacts of climate change intensify, the demand for change in how we produce our food and improving our energy sources increases. In this rapidly evolving landscape, new technologies are popping up frequently while corporations are making bold promises for going green. Food Integrity Campaign is committed to maintaining truth and transparency as we support our partners in advocating for a more just and sustainable future.
In connection with Government Accountability Project’s Environment, Energy and Climate Change Program, FIC works to investigate critical emerging issues in the intersection between industrial agriculture and energy production.
Biogas in Industrial Animal Production
In several parts of the country, Big Ag and Big Energy are teaming up in a new initiative to market their efforts to produce “green” energy. Major meat companies including Smithfield Foods have been encouraging the farmers they contract with to invest millions in technology that will extract methane from animal waste lagoons and transform this captured gas into “biogas” for injection into natural gas pipelines.
On the surface, the prospect of industrial animal waste-to-biogas production may appear to be a win-win situation. The environmental damage wrought by industrial animal production every year has been well documented, and much of it stems from waste management problems. Proponents of waste-to-biogas systems claim that utilizing the waste to produce biogas will mitigate some of the environmental damage. But taking a closer look at actual waste-to-biogas operations, including the plans being rolled out by Smithfield in North Carolina, it is clear that this strategy will not offer a solution to industrial ag waste. In fact, it may actually make the situation worse.
As these projects take shape across the country, FIC is paying close attention to the implementation and impacts on farmers, pipeline and industry workers, and the surrounding communities.
Rural Investigations
Since our founding in 2009, FIC has received numerous calls from farmers, workers, and other rural food system whistleblowers seeking our help to bring their truth to the public. As part of our Rural Partnerships Program, we have increased our capacity to investigate calls and support whistleblowers in developing their case and telling their story. Please click here to complete our intake application.
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