Protecting Food. Empowering Whistleblowers.

Food Integrity Campaign Blog

Blowing the Whistle on Big Chicken: The Inside Story (VIDEO)

Food Integrity Campaign | February 27, 2015

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 […]

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Fusion: Cock Fight – Meet the Farmer Blowing the Whistle on Big Chicken

February 25, 2015

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 […]

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Salon: Chicken farmer who spoke out against factory farm abuses files for federal whistleblower protection

February 19, 2015

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. […]

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WIRED: A Factory Farmer Strikes Back at the Company He Farms For

February 19, 2015

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 […]

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Historic Filing: Farmer Sues Perdue for Violation of FSMA Whistleblower Protection Law

Food Integrity Campaign | February 19, 2015

(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 […]

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VICE: Why a Chicken Farmer in North Carolina Exposed the Depressing Conditions on His Own Farm

February 3, 2015

by WYATT WILLIAMS On a cold December morning, Craig Watts met me in the driveway of the farmhouse that his great-grandfather had built in North Carolina more than a century ago. His family has been working on this land for much longer, perhaps hundreds of years, but as Watts led me into his house, it […]

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Food Safety News (Op-Ed): Chicken Industry Acts More Like Ostriches

January 27, 2015

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 […]

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You Can Promote Truth in Agriculture: Lend Your Voice to a Small Farmer!

Food Integrity Campaign | December 8, 2014

The Food Integrity Campaign announced Friday that we are representing contract poultry farmer Craig Watts, who bravely publicized concerns last week that behemoth chicken producer Perdue is being misleading about its animal welfare labels. We know consumers care about these issues, and with your help spreading Craig’s message through social media, you can demand accountability […]

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GAP Represents Chicken Farmer Who Speaks Out against Perdue Practices

Food Integrity Campaign | December 5, 2014

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, the Government Accountability Project (GAP) announced that it will represent Perdue contract farmer Craig Watts. Watts recently publicized allegations involving questionable labeling practices and the mistreatment of chickens. Watts is risking his livelihood to make these important disclosures. GAP, through the Food Integrity Campaign, works to protect and empower honest food […]

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