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Food Integrity Campaign Blog

Press Advisory: Meat Inspector Speaks Out Against Unsafe COVID-19 Plant Conditions

FIC Staff | November 19, 2020

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 19, 2020   Meat Inspector Speaks Out Against Unsafe COVID-19 Plant Conditions WASHINGTON — Since the beginning of the pandemic, Government Accountability Project’s Food Integrity Campaign has closely followed the impact of COVID-19 in meat plants. Now, a whistleblower who once worked at the Tyson Foods plant in Waterloo, Iowa is […]

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Press Release: Pilgrim’s Pride Admits to Colluding to Suppress Competition in the Chicken Industry

FIC Staff | October 15, 2020

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 14, 2020 Pilgrim’s Pride Admits to Colluding to Suppress Competition in the Chicken Industry  The guilty plea signifies a tremendous win for advocates of a more just food system. WASHINGTON—In a major win for advocates fighting corporate concentration, on October 13 Pilgrim’s Pride became the first major corporation in a broad […]

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COVID-19: The New Hamlet Fire

FIC Staff | September 22, 2020

On September 3, 1991, a horrible tragedy rattled North Carolina’s business community. Around 8:30 that morning the Imperial Food Products chicken packing plant in Hamlet, North Carolina, burst into flames. When the fire broke out, many of the key exit doors were locked. In an effort to keep workers from stealing chickens, fire exit doors […]

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NC CASE STUDY BLOG

FIC Staff | September 18, 2020

BLOG #4 – NC CASE STUDY BLOG:    So far in this blog series we have explored measures through which the public may vet new pipelines, and discussed legal options for addressing pipeline concerns, including recent court decisions that have impacted major pipeline projects. We explored the topic of “waste-to-biogas” as an up-and-coming means of energy production that big ag and energy […]

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Introducing Waste-to-Biogas

FIC Staff | September 11, 2020

BLOG #3 – INTRODUCING WASTE-TO-BIOGAS  So far in this blog series we have explored the different measures that allow the public to vet new pipelines, as well as assessed the legal options for responding to pipeline projects and protecting those who blow the whistle on pipeline-related problems.    As the landscape shifts around major oil and gas pipelines in the US, new conversations […]

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Blue Ridge Public Radio: NC’s Anti-Retaliation Law For Workers Is Not Working

August 21, 2020

This radio show mentions Food Integrity Campaign and originally appeared here.  North Carolina’s 1992 Retaliatory Employment Discrimination Act (REDA) is intended to protect workers from retaliation when they file complaints related to on-the-job injury and other health and safety concerns. It should keep employers from firing workers who complain. But in a new investigative piece […]

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A Perfect Storm: Climate Change, Coronavirus, and Sprawling Factory Farms

FIC Staff | August 5, 2020

Before the start of the 2020 hurricane season, researchers predicted that this year would be busier than normal. The increasing frequency and intensity of hurricanes due to climate change disproportionately impact vulnerable populations, especially lower-income communities and communities of color. Confounding the problem, these communities also face disproportionate exposure to industrial pollution, including the impacts […]

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Safety and Health Magazine: NELP to USDA: Faster Poultry-Processing Line Speeds During COVID-19 Pandemic ‘Irresponsible and Reckless’

June 22, 2020

Note: this article featuring Government Accountability Project and the Food Integrity Campaign, was originally published here. NELP to USDA: Faster Poultry-Processing Line Speeds During COVID-19 Pandemic ‘Irresponsible and Reckless’ Washington — The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety Inspection Service in April approved 15 poultry processing plants’ requests to increase line speeds 25% – despite […]

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Racial Injustice: The Truth about Industrial Agriculture

FIC Staff | June 18, 2020

Racial Injustice: The Truth about Industrial Agriculture Racial injustice is at the forefront of our collective thoughts, yet the continued structural dependence of the food system on racial oppression is often overlooked. For those of us demanding food system reform and for those of us for whom racial injustice is a lived experience, it comes as no surprise that the meat industry has thrived even as communities of color […]

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FIC works to have USDA compensate farmers – not the corporations- directly for Covid 19 losses.  

FIC Staff | June 17, 2020

FIC works to have USDA compensate farmers – not the corporations- directly for Covid 19 losses.   FIC and its farmer advocacy partners are suggesting legislative language that would ensure farmers do not face bankruptcy during Covid-19. The pandemic has shown in sharp relief the many ways our industrial meat system has been designed to drive profit at the expense of animals, workers, and […]

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