Contract Farmers Expose Big Ag

• Animal Welfare
• Transparency

FIC is actively working to protect a growing number of farmer whistleblowers, including the heroic individuals below who were willing to share their stories with the public.

Ordinary Farmers with Extraordinary Courage

Craig Watts

Craig Watts risked everything so that you could know the truth about the chicken industry. A humble farmer from North Carolina, Craig raised chickens under a Perdue contract for 22 years and became appalled by the company’s practices. He made national headlines in 2014 when he revealed the shocking conditions in which Perdue chickens live, food safety risks, and the company’s misleading animal welfare labels he says “couldn’t be further from the truth.” His story aired on HBO’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver and countless other media outlets.

Rather than heeding Craig’s concerns, Perdue took the low road with repeated attempts to intimidate and discredit Craig. In response, GAP helped him launch a complaint against Perdue for whistleblower retaliation, the first case and filing of its kind in the United States. Craig’s truth-telling effort has paved the way for others to speak out against a system that aims to manipulate, control, and silence farmers.

Rudy Howell

Long-time Perdue contract farmer Rudy Howell was inspired by Craig’s whistleblowing and has added his voice to the cause. He reached out to GAP’s Food Integrity Campaign because he was sick of watching the big chicken companies deceptively trap farmers like him into a business that makes it near impossible to stay afloat, and then punish farmers if they don’t do exactly what they’re told. Like Craig before him, Rudy took a big risk to stand up against industry practices that disempower truth-telling farmers. With FIC’s help, Rudy gathered more than 100,000 signatures urging Congress to protect honest chicken farmers who raise concerns.

Mike Weaver

Photo by Andrew Jenner

Mike Weaver is a West Virginia contract farmer who has been raising birds for Pilgrim’s Pride for 16 years. He has been speaking out against the injustices of the industry and the need for reforms since 2010. Since then, he has received lower rankings in the chicken grower tournament system, as well as letters from Pilgrim’s about his poor performance and the potential for disciplinary action. Despite suffering retaliation, Mike continues to speak out and has connected with FIC to prevent further reprisal.

Eric Hedrick

Eric Hedrick is the biggest Pilgrim’s Pride contract chicken grower in the state of West Virginia. After speaking out against injustices in the industry at a government hearing in 2010, there was a marked decrease in the quality of birds he received from the company. Now, Eric is close to declaring bankruptcy due to the burdensome demands Pilgrim’s puts on farmers without securing the corresponding income stream to meet them. With the support of FIC, Eric continues to speak out and has launched a petition urging Congress to protect farmers against retaliation.

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