The Examiner reports that Utah Gov. Gary Herbert has signed a bill that “now makes it a Class A misdemeanor for anyone to give false statements on job applications for ‘agricultural production’,” as well as prohibiting the taking of unauthorized videos and/or pictures of the production process. The bill follows a similar bill implemented in Idaho.
According to Food Safety News, “Iowa and Utah were not the first to adopt what we now call ‘ag-gag’ laws. About 20 years ago, there was a similar push for these laws in farm states with very similar language adopted in North Dakota, Montana and Kansas.
“This means there are at least five states that now make illegal the sort of undercover work conducted by several major animal welfare groups, which involves sending someone in as an employee to record what is actually going on.”
According to Food Safety News, “Iowa and Utah were not the first to adopt what we now call ‘ag-gag’ laws. About 20 years ago, there was a similar push for these laws in farm states with very similar language adopted in North Dakota, Montana and Kansas.
“This means there are at least five states that now make illegal the sort of undercover work conducted by several major animal welfare groups, which involves sending someone in as an employee to record what is actually going on.”
- KC's View:
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And you wonder why a percentage of Americans don’t trust the mainstream food production industry?
Give me a break.
These bills are silly. Inevitably, they will be ineffective - because the people who really care about these issues, or reporters who think they have a lead, will be willing to challenge the law in pursuit of the truth. (And if not the truth, a really good story.) And prosecuting these folks will only make the industry look guiltier.
