New Solut

Abstract

The term "ag-gag" refers to state laws that intentionally limit public access to information about agricultural production practices, particularly livestock production. Originally created in the 1990s, these laws have recently experienced a resurgence in state legislatures. We discuss the recent history of ag-gag laws in the United States and question whether such ag-gag laws create a "chilling effect" on reporting and investigation of occupational health, community health, and food safety concerns related to industrial food animal production. We conclude with a discussion of the role of environmental and occupational health professionals to encourage critical evaluation of how ag-gag laws might influence the health, safety, and interests of day-to-day agricultural laborers and the public living proximal to industrial food animal production.R01 AI130066/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/United StatesR01 ES026973/ES/NIEHS NIH HHS/United StatesT42 OH008428/OH/NIOSH CDC HHS/United States2020-05-01T00:00:00Z30451569PMC7195182763