In a victory for transparency in the food system, FarmSTAND (formerly the Food Project at Public Justice) successfully challenged a Utah statute that criminalized whistleblowing in the animal agricultural industry\u2014in particular, slaughterhouses, meat processing plants, and factory farms. The law at issue\u2014enacted by the state of Utah in 2012\u2014made it a crime to \u201cinterfere\u201d with any agricultural operation or facility by virtue of taking photographs or recordings of the operation without the owner\u2019s consent. That prohibition\u2014colloquially known as an \u201cAg-gag\u201d statute\u2014criminalizes what has been, since the turn of the twentieth century, the key vehicle for exposing inhumane, unsafe, and illegal conditions in the industrial agriculture system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ag-gag laws such as Utah\u2019s pose a serious threat to public health and safety.\u00a0Over the last few years, a number of major federal recalls of meat, poultry, and dairy products were prompted by undercover investigations launched by whistleblowers from the public interest community. These recalls helped stem the outbreak of diseases that have killed and injured thousands of unsuspecting consumers. Laws like Utah\u2019s are expressly designed to block such investigations in order to prevent the public \u2013 and federal and state government\u2019s \u2013 from knowing about unsafe conditions inside animal factories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n