The Ag Gag Laws: Hiding Factory Farm Abuses from Public Scrutiny

Cody Carlson, a former investigator for the Humane Society of the United States, writes in The Atlantic that last month, politicians in Iowa bowed to corporate pressure when they passed a law designed to stifle public debate and keep consumers in the dark. Instead of confronting animal cruelty on factory farms, the top egg- and pork-producing state is now in the business of covering it up. HF 589 (PDF), better known as the “Ag Gag” law, criminalizes investigative journalists and animal protection advocates who take entry-level jobs at factory farms in order to document the rampant food safety and animal welfare abuses within. In recent years, these undercover videos have spurred changes in our food system by showing consumers the disturbing truth about where most of today’s meat, eggs, and dairy is produced.