Big agriculture: Exposing animal cruelty should be against law

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We all know the corporations own the politicians and the politicians own the country. The fact is if you have enough money and influence you can convince any politician to vote your way, despite your conscience. This story is yet another example of that untoward influence and it comes in the wake of undercover videos that have exposed the extent of animal cruelty on farms all over America. The fat farm boys don’t want that to happen and they are trying to influence state legislators to make exposing animal cruelty against the law.

Hard to believe? Read this story from Tom Laskawy at Grist:

NPR had a report today on the anti-whistleblower laws in Florida and Iowa that would make it illegal to take photos or undercover videos of livestock facilities. (It’s always nice to be NPR’s assignment editor!)

But it doesn’t end in those two states — this “campaign” by Big Ag to shield its production techniques from scrutiny is going national.

Writer Will Potter — author of the book Green Is the New Red about “how animal rights and environmental activists are being labeled ‘eco-terrorists,’ and what that means for the safety and freedom of us all” — uncovered a Minnesota bill that would go even further. The bill — proposed by a state legislator who is, according to Potter, the “past president of the Minnesota Pork Producers, and a current member” — wouldn’t just make it illegal to produce an undercover video at a factory farm. It would also make it illegal to possess or distribute it. “Hello, Big Ag? It’s the Constitution calling. Remember me … ?”

It would be nice to think this spate of bills is just a merry coincidence. But Big Ag, whether through farm groups or individual corporations, has been known to coordinate legislative campaigns state by state. One of the more notorious was Monsanto’s campaign to pass bills prohibiting the labeling of milk as containing artificial hormones in 14 states across the country. They failed everywhere but in Ohio — and that “success” was overturned by the courts.

But this new campaign could have greater success. Kansas and Montana have already passed ag-focused anti-whistleblower laws. Iowa –with a little help from Monsanto — may do so soon. And now Minnesota will take its shot. Are you ready for an iron curtain to drop across industrial food production? Because, hard as it is to believe, it does seem to be happening.

Et Tu Minnesota? Another Law Proposes Making Factory Farm Photography Illegal? (treehugger.com)
Big Ag Wants To Make It a Crime to Expose Animal Abuse at Factory Farms (alternet.org)
Iowa Legislators Want to Put Animal Abuse Whistleblowers in Jail (news.change.org)
Agriculture Industry Pushes To Make Undercover Filming Of Farm Animal Abuse Illegal (huffingtonpost.com)
Iowa Bill Would Send You To Jail For 10 Years For Exposing Animal Cruelty on Farms (treehugger.com)

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Professor Mike

Professor Mike is a left-leaning, dog loving, political junkie. He has written dozens of articles for Substack, Medium, Simily, and Tribel. Professor Mike has been published at Smerconish.com, among others. He is a strong proponent of the environment, and a passionate protector of animals. In addition he is a fierce anti-Trumper. Take a moment and share his work.

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