Ag-Gag Laws Muzzle Meat-Industry Whistle Blowers

Emma Foehringer Merchant

Ag-gag laws, which have passed in five states and may pass in two more, are designed to halt undercover photography or filming at meat processing plants—a practice that usually provides negative and gruesome images of the meat industry. In this video from Schumann Media Center, Bill Moyers unveils the corporate-funded American Legislative Exchange Council’s push for these laws, through a model bill handed out to state legislators, “The Animal and Ecological Terrorism Act”, and explains how such ag-gag laws hurt both public health and animal safety.

Emma Foehringer Merchant is a summer 2013 editorial intern.
The text is from the poem “QUADRENNIAL” by Golden, reprinted with permission. It was first published in the Poetry Project. Inside front cover photo by Golden.
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