If you knew that the food you purchased, consumed, and fed to your family came from a place where animals were tortured, housed in incredibly unsanitary and inhuman conditions, would you still eat that food? Probably not.

This is exactly the reason why large factory farm businesses (i.e. Perdue,  Tyson, etc.) want to make sure that the truth about how animals are treated on their facilities NEVER reach the public. According to the ASPA, 99 percent of farm animals in the United States are raised on factory farms. In 2011, these factory farms pumped out a record breaking 92.3 billion pounds of meat, so it is apparent that we have a big industry with an even bigger problem…whistleblowers.

The only thing standing between the meat industry and unimaginable profits are whistleblowers who expose the truth about their products. Most whistleblowers are former employees or undercover reporters from animal activist groups, and the abuses they have uncovered are downright repulsive.

Rather than working to end abusive conditions for animals on factory farms, the agribusiness industry has attempted to prevent these troubling practices from ever surfacing by pushing anti-whistleblower bills through state legislatures. Some states’ senators (*cough Washington cough*) have even gone so far as to pass a law labeling anyone who protests animal or natural resource facilities (i.e. factory farms) as “terrorists.” Yikes.

Luckily, many state governments have seen the light, recognizing the ridiculousness of this desperate attempt to keep consumers in the dark. Shutting down “ag-gag” bills can be a difficult task considering the never ending supply of money that agribusiness can throw into positive PR and legal teams. But, with enough public support (71 percent of American’s support undercover investigation of farms!) and the help of animal rights organizations, these bills can be put to rest for good. To inspire you to fight ag-gag bills in your state, here is a list of states that have already stopped these bills from passing and just how they did it.