Center for Food Integrity Launches Ag Gag Whistleblower Initiative

The Center for Food Integrity (CFI) has launched a new initiative called See it? Stop it! It gives farm workers the tools to take action to stop animal abuse, neglect, mistreatment, and harm. The initiative is in response to so-called ag gag laws that have been passed in many agricultural-heavy states, making it a crime to video animal abuse on farms.

Just this year, the Wyoming House passed an ag gag bill, and a bill was introduced in Illinois, New Hampshire, and Nebraska. These bills are opposed by animal rights groups such as the Humane Society. The Illinois bill, in fact, imposes criminal charges against anyone who complains about inhumane treatment that the Department of Agriculture finds is “false or unfounded.” The bills are in response to uproars triggered by undercover videos that showed appalling abuse of farm animals.

The initiative helps farm workers understand what constitutes abuse and mistreatment and gives them a venue to make a complaint instantly. The program is endorsed by the American Humane Association.

CFI has an animal care review process that analyzes undercover video investigation. Animal care specialists look at the video and provide expert opinion. The panels cover pork, dairy, and poultry. Th panels are comprised of veterinarians, animal scientists, and ethicists; many are professors at universities around the country. They also provide training programs and educational materials such as Project Public Voice, which encourages “an informed discussion of food system issues that support responsible production, processing and distribution that will allow us to meet the growing global demand for food, because that is the ethical choice for people, animals, and the planet.”