Urgent Action Needed - Agricultural Appropriations Act
Urgent Action Needed: Stop Pork, Egg and Beef Industries From Hiding Their Shameful Secrets
In a shocking act of collusion, big agricultural commodity groups have successfully introduced a provision in the 2017 Agricultural Appropriations Act (H.R. 5054) that exempts them from the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). In an email to the House subcommittee obtained by The Guardian, several big ag organizations including the United Egg Producers, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, and the National Pork Producers, argued that their research and promotions programs, known as checkoff programs, are not federal and should not be subjected to FOIA. The language of the email appears almost word-for-word on page 34 of the Act.
If H.R. 5054 is passed in its current form, it means that records from big ag would be shielded from citizens, media groups, and other organizations, in a blatant attempt to exempt their practices from laws designed to protect citizens. Checkoff programs, which are responsible for advertising campaigns such as “Got Milk” and “The Other White Meat” have a twenty year history of abuse. These programs spend more than $500 million per year on promoting specific agricultural commodities. As early as 1997, the National Pork Council used checkoff funds to spy on activist groups, and in 2015 the American Egg Board illegally organized a campaign against a vegan competitor, Just Mayo. Just last year, a lawsuit by the Humane Society alleged that $60 million of funds were used on illegal activities. All of these wrongdoings were exposed through FOIA requests.
The argument that checkoff programs are not federal simply doesn’t hold water. These programs are federally mandated and overseen by the Secretary of Agriculture. In a 2005 Supreme Court Ruling, Justice Antonin Scalia ruled that checkoff programs constituted “government speech” and fall under the purview of FOIA.
Don’t let big agriculture take away our rights! Join us in telling our elected representatives in Congress that we are sick of big agriculture’s shady practices. Contact your Representatives today and ask them not to pass H.R. 5054 until the language exempting big agricultural companies from the Freedom of Information Act is removed.