Cock Fight – Meet the farmer blowing the whistle on big chicken
Posted in Daily
Fusion Media Network, LLC.
Meet the farmer blowing the whistle on Big Chicken
Craig Watts is about as farmer as they come. He chews tobacco, he’s gruff, he wears overalls, and he loves Willie Nelson.
He’s not what you think of when you think of whistleblowers like Deep Throat or Edward Snowden. But six months ago he embarked on a journey to expose what he calls hidden injustices in the chicken industry.
Watts invited Fusion along to document his story. We followed Craig as he wrestled with becoming a whistleblower, showed us the conditions on farms, got nationwide attention for stepping forward—and then saw how the chicken industry reacted. Here is his story.
Below is a documentary that aired on Fusion cable last night. It’s about how the meatpackers have captured the chicken industry. Dudley Butler is included in this story. This is the model the packers are now applying in the beef industry. Yes, the beef industry is very different from the poultry industry, but the strategy remains the same: 1. Controll access to the market; 2. Promise producers timely market access if they enter contracts; 3. When the price-discovery market is eliminated, dictate prices and terms to producers; 3. Transform the marketing contracts into production contracts to dictate what genetics are to be used and what production practices must be performed. As the documentary reveals, the USDA is helping the packers to accomplish their goal of capturing the livestock and poultry supply chains away from independent producers.
This story should be spread far and wide.
Bill Bullard
R-CALF USA