Protecting Food. Empowering Whistleblowers.
Protecting Food. Empowering Whistleblowers.
When it comes to bringing horrific truths to the public eye, undercover footage and images are often an effective outlet for whistleblowers who otherwise risk retaliation when speaking up. Such use of media to promote transparency in our food system has come under attack, however, in recently proposed legislation. Florida state Senator Jim Norman (R-Tampa) […]
Food service industry workers have it tough, according to a new report — Behind the Kitchen Door: A Multi-Site Study of the Restaurant Industry — released by Restaurant Opportunities Centers (ROC) United, a national restaurant workers’ organization launched in 2008. In fact, workers face conditions that threaten both themselves as well as public health — […]
President Obama’s State of the Union address Tuesday night didn’t include significant mentions of food or agriculture, but what he did bring up regarding the inadequate structure of government agencies, or Regulatory Chaos as we like to call it, has major play in the areas FIC serves. From Obama’s speech: We live and do business […]
The unionization effort at Jimmy John’s sub sandwich outlets in the Minneapolis area scored a victory Monday when the National Labor Relations Board nullified an October election that defeated the union move. The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW, or ‘Wobblies’) had sought to represent workers at 10 of the restaurant chain’s shops but lost […]
Navigating the regulatory maze that is our food system can be quite a task, especially figuring out who monitors what and various agencies’ process for enforcing rules. But when it comes to food additives, that’s the FDA’s business. Caffeine has become hit news lately, particularly its dangerous effects when mixed with alcohol. The agency’s recent […]
FIC is coming down from a mile high! Last week I was in Denver, Colorado at the 138th American Public Health Association Convention. Over 12,000 nurses, doctors, and those concerned with public health, converged to participate in this year’s APHA Convention themed “Social Justice: A Public Health Imperative.” Without a doubt, social justice is an […]
Government Accountability Project mourns the passing of our client, Dr. Dean Wyatt, who succumbed to brain cancer on November 11, 2010 at the age of 59. Dr. Wyatt came to Government Accountability Project roughly three years ago for legal assistance. During the course of our representation, we came to know Dr. Wyatt not only as […]
An insightful piece by former GAP client John Munsell was posted on Food Safety News, spotlighting significant shortcomings in the USDA’s deregulated meat inspection program, and its unfortunate capacity to suppress whistleblower concerns and compromise the integrity of our food supply. A noted whistleblower himself, Munsell ran a USDA-inspected meat plant for 34 years, and […]
One year ago this Saturday, USDA public health veterinarian and whistleblower Dr. Dean Wyatt was vindicated for slaughterhouse humane handling complaints he had brought up repeatedly since 2007, but were ignored by his superiors. That was the day that the Humane Society of the United States released undercover footage of horrific animal abuses (including excessive […]
Unionization in the food sector means giving workers a voice that will ensure the integrity of what ends up on our dinner plates. But our country has never seen a union for the fast-food industry. We may soon witness history, after employees of 10 Minneapolis Jimmy John’s sandwich shops vote on the issue Friday. Fast-food […]