Ag Gag Laws
Food Chain Radio Show #1026
Michael Olson, Author & Urban Farming Agriculturalist
Ag Gag Laws – To Know or Not To Know
Guests: Maisie Ganzler, VP Bon Appetit Management Company
Randy Krotz, CEO U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance
Rodger Wasson, Wasson Idea Farming
Who should control what may be known about food?
Knowledge is power!
Not too long ago, most everyone lived on the land, and so had an intimate knowledge of their food. Then most everyone moved into town and lost their knowledge. For many, food is what comes in pretty packages from the supermarket.
Michael Olson Food Chain Radio – Ag Gag Laws Food – Should public web cameras be installed in animal processing facilities?
Imagine the surprise, then, when someone comes along with knowledge of how food is actually produced and says, “Pssst! Look at how they treat the pigs!”
“Tell us more!”
This note-and-tell journalism got its start in 1906 when Upton Sinclair published The Jungle, a novel that opened the doors of the Chicago meat packing industry to consumers of meat. It continues to this day with the publishing of clandestine videos spirited out of the nation’s confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs) and, in fact, from throughout the nation’s food chain.
To protect their brands from the prying eyes of the public, many producers seal themselves off with high fences and protective laws. Their legal protections include “Ag Gag laws” that outlaw the taking of clandestine videos and anti-labeling laws that preclude Country of Origin or GMO labeling.
Though the high fences and protective laws may hide the knowledge of how food is produced, it does not seem to stem the desire of many consumers to gain access to that knowledge so they can decide, for themselves, which food they want to eat. And so we ask…
Leave your comment below: Who should control what may be known about food?
Tune in here, for the syndicated Food Chain Radio Show #1026 August 22, 2015 Saturday 9AM Pacific
