The Factory Farm Gag Reflex: Allow Animal Cruelty, Ban People From Exposing it | One Green Planet
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The Factory Farm Gag Reflex: Allow Animal Cruelty, Ban People From Exposing it
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The Factory Farm Gag Reflex: Allow Animal Cruelty, Ban People From Exposing it
across the country: workers at Idaho’s largest dairy factory farm beating cows with canes, jumping on their backs as they moaned in distress, kicking them in the face, and even dragging sick and injured animals across concrete flooring with chains attached to their necks.
Captured on hidden camera by an investigator working with Mercy For Animals, these horrific images led to criminal animal cruelty charges against multiple workers, including a manager of that facility. Consumers were outraged and started calling for greater oversight and stronger laws to protect animals on factory farms. Major food retailers, including Kraft Foods, Wendy’s, and In-N-Out Burger, responded by immediately cutting ties with the facility or implementing meaningful animal welfare policies.
Image source: Mercy for Animals&
But what’s perhaps even more shocking than the graphic video footage is the response from Idaho’s
and its lackeys in the state legislature. Rather than working to ensure that animals are protected from needless cruelty and violence, the dairy industry proposed, and the state passed,
that makes it a crime, punishable by imprisonment, to simply photograph or videotape abusive, unsanitary, or otherwise unethical activity on a farm.
In other words, they don’t want to stop criminal cruelty to animals. They just want to stop people from exposing it. Even employees and journalists who take photos or video to document misconduct on farms — whether it&#8217;s mistreatment of animals, food safety hazards, worker safety violations, sexual harassment, embezzlement, or environmental crimes — could face criminal prosecution under this dangerous new law.
Image source: Mercy for Animals&
Many of the lawmakers behind Idaho&#8217;s ag-gag law received massive campaign contributions from the dairy industry. As documented by the nonprofit National Institute on Money in State Politics in 2012, Idaho&#8217;s agricultural lobby paid more than half a million dollars to political powers in the state.
One Nation, Under Gag
Although similar ag-gag laws have been passed in a few other states at the behest of the multibillion-dollar meat, dairy, and egg industries, the majority of ag-gag bills have been defeated. In fact, last year 15 ag-gag bills were introduced in 11 states, and all of them were voted down, vetoed, or dropped following widespread and vocal opposition from the American public. That’s because Americans want more transparency in food production, not less. We want to know how our food is produced and how animals on factory farms are treated so that we can make informed decisions.
Sadly, too many animals on factory farms suffer out of sight and out of mind because there is no governmental body charged with overseeing their welfare. Furthermore, employees who witness abuse are often too fearful of violent retaliation or losing their jobs to report it. In this broken system, the job of documenting and enforcing animal cruelty laws is often left to concerned citizens, journalists, and investigators with nonprofit charities.
Given the abysmal state of affairs, our lawmakers should be pressing for stronger animal protection laws, more oversight, and greater transparency. The push for
nationwide.
What You Can Do
Expose factory farm cruelty – Share videos of
with as many people as you can and help expose their cruel and corrupt practices. Don’t let the industry keep the American public from seeing where our food comes from. A good video to start with is available at the site, .
Choose to go meatless (even for one day a week) – Each time we eat, we can choose kindness over cruelty. Adopting a diet free of meat, dairy, and eggs is the single most powerful action you can take to prevent needless cruelty to farmed animals. Visit
for free recipes, tips on making the switch, and more. You can also check out the following OGP posts for delicious recipe ideas and ways to reduce your meat consumption:
Lead image source:
/ Wikipedia Commons
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Submit to OneGreenPlanetFactory Tours USA
Factory Tours
Celebrating American Imagination and Industry!
IMPORTANT: Always call the business before going to take the factory tour.
We try and keep our data s up-to-date as possible but you should always check first.
The Longaberger Company
5563 Raiders Road,
Frazeysburg, OH & 43822
& & & & & Latitude: 40.138032 & Longitude:
-82.079334
This tour is free
Description
Some 29 years after Dave Longaberger founded The Longaberger Company with five weavers, the Company reflects our early roots and family tradition of handmade artisanship. When a customer purchases a Longaberger basket, they also are sharing in the Longaberger story and family tradition. The Company?s mission statement ? ?To Stimulate A Better Quality Of Life? ? reflects Longaberger?s commitment to the Company?s founding philosophy that people are the key to our success. We are a family-owned Company with a family-friendly environment. The Longaberger HistoryIn 1896, when the Longaberger family moved to Dresden, Ohio, the tiny village still enjoyed its prosperity as a rural transportation and industrial hub in the rolling foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. There was a hotel on Main Street, three railroad stations, a woolen mill and a paper mill. In the not-too-distant past, a side-cut canal had connected the community with the historic Ohio Canal, transforming the village into a bustling canal town.In the early 1900s, baskets were as commonplace as paper bags and plastic containers are now. Ware Baskets, made at the Dresden Basket Factory, were used to carry pottery ware for the region&#39;s booming pottery industry. In 1919, J.W. Longaberger (Dave?s father) took a job with the Dresden Basket Factory. As a full-time apprentice he meticulously learned the basketmaking art by first crafting basket bottoms. Later he mastered the precise, tight weaving style that would become his trademark. J.W. grew to love the art of basketry.While working at the basket factory, J.W. met Bonnie Jean Gist from the neighboring community of Trinway. Their courtship led to marriage in 1927. During the Great Depression, the Dresden Basket Factory closed. J.W. found work at the local paper mill, but continued making baskets after work and on weekends. In 1936, J.W. and Bonnie purchased the closed Dresden Basket Factory and the home on that property. J.W. then named his new business The Ohio Ware Basket Company, reflecting the importance of Ware Baskets and the pottery industry to his small side business. The Longaberger family eventually grew to include 12 children ? six boys and six girls. Bonnie worked full time at the woolen mill to help make ends meet and the older children helped their father by making basket bottoms, carefully arranging the up-splints for pottery Ware Baskets and even selling baskets to the neighbors. In 1934, a fifth child was born to J.W. and Bonnie ? Dave Longaberger. Early in life, Dave had three strikes against him. His family was economically disadvantaged, he stuttered so badly people had difficulty understanding him, and he had epilepsy in a time when the condition was not widely understood.Dave&#39;s liabilities did not stand in the way of his ambition, however. As a youngster he worked in a grocery store, shoveled snow, delivered papers, mowed grass and hauled trash. He ran the projectors at the local movie house. Because Dave was always making money from one job or another, his family called him the &25-cent millionaire.& At age 21, Dave finally graduated from high school. He began his career by driving a bread truck for several years for two different bakeries. From 1961-62, Dave served in the U.S. Army. In the early 60s, his first daughter Tami was born, and Dave grew anxious to take the many lessons he had learned over the years to work for his own business and family. In 1963, when Harry&#39;s Dairy Bar in Dresden came up for sale, Dave and his wife bought it. The restaurant had two booths, two tables and eight stools. Later Dave also purchased the defunct A&P Grocery in town, remodeled and expanded the building, and opened the Dresden IGA Foodliner. As always, Dave worked very hard during those years, and between both businesses he earned a solid living for his family, which now also included younger daughter Rachel.In the early 1970s, Dave noticed that baskets were becoming very popular, and he also noticed that many department stores were beginning to sell imported baskets. Dave wondered if people would appreciate baskets like the fine handcrafted ones his father used to make. He asked his father to make a dozen market baskets, and then took them to a nearby town. They sold immediately and the shop requested more! J.W. made several dozen more baskets. Sadly, however, J.W. died at the age of 71, just as the family trade was being renewed. Dave opened J.W.&#39;s Handwoven Baskets? in 1976 in Dresden. Interest in these beautiful handmade baskets continued to grow, until Dave had to find a place in which to expand his small basket factory. He found a very unlikely building: the old woolen mill where his mother had worked, built in the 1890s. It had stood vacant since 1955, and had broken windows, uneven floors and a sagging roof. The brick walls were all that remained solid and strong of the facility. In this dilapidated building, Dave envisioned a basket factory with hundreds of craftsmen and craftswomen weaving, tacking, talking and laughing. He had proven to himself from his previous business ventures that he had a knack for envisioning the unlikely, so he approached his new venture with great enthusiasm.Dave became increasingly convinced that American consumers wanted the handmade craftsmanship and quality of Longaberger baskets. He tried different ways to sell baskets at malls, department stores and other retails outlets, with varying degrees of success. In 1978, Dave discovered that the most effective way to sell the company?s baskets was not through retail outlets but through home shows, where an educated basket associate could show Longaberger baskets and share the history and explain the craftsmanship that each basket holds. The Longaberger Company?s direct sales organization was born.In 1984, Dave?s daughter Tami joined the Company full-time after her graduation from The Ohio State University. Tami worked in virtually every area of the company, and in 1994 Dave appointed her president. Working side by side until Dave&#39;s death in 1999, Tami learned her father?s management principles first-hand. Clearly cut from the same visionary cloth as her father, she used her own extraordinary gifts to diversify the company into other home lifestyle areas, which now account for nearly half of the company?s revenues.Under Tami?s leadership, collectors have developed a passion for baskets and the Company has experienced consistent annual growth. The Company has been featured for its cutting edge employee programs and outstanding corporate citizenship. Dave?s younger daughter Rachel carries on the family?s tradition of philanthropy by heading The Longaberger Foundation, which has donated millions to local charities and educational institutions since its inception in 1998.Today, The Longaberger Company is the premier maker of handmade baskets in the United States, employing nearly 7,000 craftsmen and craftswomen as well as professional support staff and 70,000 Independent Sales Associates. Under the direction of CEO and President Tami Longaberger, the Company has grown to a $1 billion organization and diversified into product lines including wrought iron, pottery and fabric accessories. The Longaberger name is syn our baskets are handmade to be handed down and home accessory items add pleasure and functionality to the home.Longaberger is one of Forbes magazine&#39;s top privately held companies. The Company was recognized as the 18th largest woman ? owned company in the U.S. by Working Woman magazine and has been cited by Newman?s Own, Inc. and George magazine as one of the Top 10 Most Generous Companies in America. Longaberger travel destinations include our basket-shaped Home Office, our manufacturing tour and Longaberger Homestead, our shopping, dining and entertainment complex.Basketmakng Tour ? Guests can tour the 880,000 square-foot basketmaking facility from the mezzanine above and watch how each of the company&#39;s baskets are individually crafted by hand.
The self-guided tour allows visitors to learn about the rich history of the basketmaking craft and The Longaberger Company, as well as how to use Longaberger products in the home through innovative Home & Life displays. The newly expanded Just For Fun retail shop provides lots of opportunities for tour souvenirs.
The manufacturing tour also includes an enhanced Make A Basket area, which allows up to 50 people at a time to handcraft their own Longaberger Basket on the manufacturing tour with the assistance of a basketmaker. The cost for Make A Basket is $54.95 per person, with a discounted group rate of $43.95 per person for groups of 15 or more.
Tour hours:March 30 - Nov. 26:Monday - Saturday, 8 a.m. - 6 p.m.,Sunday, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m. Nov. 28 - Dec. 23:Monday - Thursday, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.Friday, Saturday, 9 a.m. - 8 p.m.Sunday, 11 a.m. - 8 p.m. Closed on the following Holidays:New Year&#39;s Eve Day, New Year&#39;s Day, Easter Sunday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve Day, Christmas Day
For site problems or suggestions please use the contact form}