Source: Lisa M. Keefe, MEATINGPLACE, 8/5/15


A petition posted on Change.org on behalf of Rudy Howell, a contract poultry grower for Perdue Farms, has garnered 80,000 signatures in the two weeks that it’s been posted, according to the Food Integrity Campaign, a unit of the Government Accountability Project whistleblower organization in Washington, D.C., that is supporting the petition.

Advocates for the "poultry growers' rights" movement say the petition is addressed to Congress and is titled, “Tell Congress to protect family farmers from big business bullying.” It specifically asks Congress to allow USDA’s Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) to “hold the poultry industry accountable for fair conditions in how farmers are treated.”

In the description of the petition, Howell explains that he was motivated to come forward after the news satire show, “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,” ran a feature on the U.S. poultry industry.

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