Cases

We bring lawsuits in collaboration and alignment with allies across movement sectors to dismantle corporate consolidation of power in the meat industry.

Our cases seek to hold bad actors accountable, and empower those harmed by Big Ag, from meatpacking workers put at risk of contracting COVID-19 by their employers, to environmental justice communities subjected to land, air, and water contamination from factory-sized operations.

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December 6, 2024

Stopping Big Ag Exploitation of J-1 Visa Holders (Alvarado v. Livingston)

Represented by FarmSTAND, Legal Aid of Nebraska, and Radford Scott LLP, these three Guatemalan men are suing Livingston Enterprises and Worldwide Farmers Exchange, the company that deceptively recruited them. The lawsuit targets a practice that has allowed employers like Livingston to exploit the J-1 visa program for profit, and alleges that these enterprises violated federal trafficking, racketeering, and civil rights laws, as well as state laws.
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October 24, 2024

No Greenwashing Factory Farm Gas (Blumm v. Northwest Natural Gas Co.)

Utility companies shouldn’t be allowed to exploit public concern about climate change to prop up polluting factory farms. Customers of Oregon’s Northwest Natural Gas are suing the company over misleading claims at the heart of its Smart Energy program, which the company advertises as a...
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October 24, 2024

Tackling Deceptive Climate Claims (Environmental Working Group v. Tyson)

Industrialized meat production generates tremendous volumes of climate-warming emissions at every stage of the process. Tyson, which produces about 20 percent of U.S. beef, chicken and pork, has greenhouse gas emissions that exceed those of Austria or Greece. For over three years, Tyson has been...
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October 30, 2023

Yakima Valley Dairy Cases

In October 2012, the Center for Food Safety and the Community Association for Restoration of the Environment (CARE) warned four major Yakima Valley (Wash.) factory farms that they would take them to federal court unless the farms stopped contaminating local drinking water supplies with runoff from their dairy operations...
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October 30, 2023

Iowa Public Trust Doctrine (Iowa CCI & FWW v. State of Iowa)

FarmSTAND (formerly the Food Project at Public Justice), Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, and Food & Water Watch filed a lawsuit against the State of Iowa claiming that the state has violated its obligation to protect the Raccoon River for the use and benefit of...
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October 30, 2023

Center for Biological Diversity v. Swift Beef

FarmSTAND (formerly the Food Project at Public Justice) represented the Center for Biological Diversity and Food & Water Watch in a lawsuit against JBS-Swift Beef Company to stop illegal discharges of slaughterhouse pollution into Colorado’s South Platte River. The Lone Tree Wastewater Treatment Plant in...
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October 30, 2023

Dakota Rural Action v. USDA

A coalition of groups representing family farmers, sustainable agriculture advocates and concerned citizens throughout the country filed suit against the United States Department of Agriculture. The suit aims to stop a USDA policy allowing industrial agriculture facilities to set up operations in communities without undergoing...
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October 30, 2023

Freedom of Information Act (Public Justice Foundation et al. v. Farm Service Agency)

FarmSTAND (formerly the Food Project at Public Justice), Animal Legal Defense Fund, Center for Biological Diversity, Center for Food Safety, and Food and Water Watch sued the Farm Service Agency for their pattern and practice of violating the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The Farm...
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October 30, 2023

McKiver v. Murphy-Brown

In an historic victory, hundreds of mostly Black and brown community members in Eastern North Carolina won a series of mass action lawsuits against Smithfield for the public nuisance caused by factory hog farms. Smithfield’s factory farms, located largely in communities of color, produce copious...
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October 30, 2023

Sierra Club v. Walnutdale

FarmSTAND (formerly the Food Project at Public Justice) represented the Sierra Club in an enforcement action alongside the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) against Walnutdale Farms for violating a 2004 consent decree to clean up their act. The Great Lakes are known for their pristine waters,...
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October 30, 2023

Petition to EPA: Industrial Agriculture is a Climate Polluter

Industrial agriculture is a major driver of climate change. However, the Environmental Protection Agency has failed to treat the industry like the climate polluter it is. That is why FarmSTAND (formerly the Food Project at Public Justice) led 25 climate, environmental justice, and rural community...
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October 30, 2023

Yakima Factory Farms Clean Up Their Act

In a landmark victory for clean water, two factory farms in Yakima, Washington agreed to clean up groundwater and limit future pollution – a result of our Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) case brought on behalf of the Community Association of Restoration of the Environment (CARE), Friends of Toppenish Creek, and Center for Food Safety.
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