Jonathan Reynolds,
This Dish Is
Veg
July 2012
The aforementioned information makes it very clear that corporate power in government is out of control, and that if nothing is done to put an end to this growing trend, investigations of factory farms may soon become a thing of the past.
Pigs with bloody, untreated sores abandoned to die alone and uncared for;
hens rotting away in grime-crusted cages; newborn calves with their heads
being ruthlessly stomped into the ground -- all of these horrifying
revelations would never have been discovered without undercover
investigations, investigations which are now being threatened by the
ever-increasing corporate-state partnership.
Beginning in late 2011, lawmakers in a number of states began considering
legislation which would criminalize photography and videos on farms for the
purpose of exposure. But why? Who benefits? Certainly not the consumer, who
should have every right to know the details of where their food is coming
from for reasons of both health and ethics. So, if the constituents aren't
pulling for these laws, who is? Perhaps unsurprisingly, corporate interests.
Nearly every lawmaker in every state considering the so-called Ag-Gag laws
has ties to a powerful "super-lobby" group known as the American Legislative
Exchange Council (ALEC). Essentially, corporations pay thousands of dollars
to be members of ALEC, and in turn ALEC drafts "model bills" which are
introduced across the country to legislators. Of the 60 Iowa lawmakers who
voted in support of Iowa's Ag-Gag laws, at least 14 of them -- 23 percent --
are members of ALEC. Some of ALEC's corporate sponsors backing Ag-Gag laws
include BP, Chevron, Dow Chemical, Duke Energy, Exxon, General Motors, Koch
Industries, Marathon Oil, Shell, and many others. All of these corporations,
in some way, shape, or form, stand to benefit from the status quo on
contemporary factory farming methods.
As reported by Republic Report, other interests supporting Ag-Gag laws have
included the Iowa Corn Growers Association, which donated $2,500 to
Democratic Senator Joe Seng, and $2,000 to Republican Senator Annette
Sweeney, who are both advocates for the legislation; the Iowa Farm Bureau
Association, which donated $1,254 to Sweeney; Monsanto, which gave $500 to
Sweeney; the Iowa Turkey Federation, which gave $300 to Sweeney; and the
Agribusiness Association of Iowa, which gave $300 to Seng. In total, the
agriculture industry has spent more than $1 million on campaign
contributions since 2010, according to records from the National Institute
on Money In State Politics. Republican member of the Missouri House of
Representatives Casey Guernsey even openly admitted at one point that he was
pushing the Ag-Gag bill on behalf of the industry, saying it was needed to
"protect an industry that drives the economy" in his state. Guernsey's top
donor in 2010? Smithfield Foods, a well-known "victim" of undercover
investigations which have exposed their hell-shattering treatment of pigs.
The aforementioned information makes it very clear that corporate power in
government is out of control, and that if nothing is done to put an end to
this growing trend, investigations of factory farms may soon become a thing
of the past.
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