Charity Threatened with Libel for Citing Concerns About Intensive Pig Farm

When the profits of agribusiness are threatened, a little thing like free speech can't be allowed to get in the way.

by Heidi Stevenson

25 January 2011

American-style factory farm poison is trying to enter the UK in dairy and pig agribusiness. When there's agribusiness money behind a venture, any and all methods to push it through will be used, including slapping legal threats on those who oppose. It's gone even further in the case of a proposed Derbyshire "farm". The Soil Association, a veteran charity promoting organic farming in the UK, has been threatened with libel. No one suggests that they've actually maligned the company trying to push the "farm" through. They're accused of raising general concerns about such an operation's effects on disease, antibiotic resistance, and animal welfare.

The Complaint

The Guardian reports that the London legal firm of Carter-Ruck has sent a letter, viewable here, to the Soil Association that says "its objection is defamatory and should be withdrawn". There's even an implication that they might be sued for going public about it; the letter is marked "private and confidential, not for publication or broadcast". Carter-Ruck said that the Soil Association's objections should be withdrawn. View the Soil Association's comments on the Planning Application here.

But it gets worse! The Soil Association won a lottery grant of £16.9 and Carter-Ruck wants them to share it with the accusers! The grant is for improving school lunch programs. Apparently, Carter-Ruck wants to take good food out of the mouths of children.

The Guardian reported the group called Article 19, which campaigns for libel reform, called the Carter-Ruck letter "legal bullying", and that its goal is to stifle public debate. Carter-Ruck says that the Soil Association's objections are not relevant and are defamatory. Article 19's Senior Legal Counsel, David Banisar, states:

Libel law is intended to protect an individual's human right to a good reputation from someone who is trying to deliberately wreck it. It should never be used to prevent criticism in a public process of a plan by a large agribusiness which may have serious heath effects on the community.

In the UK, though, that is precisely how libel law is used. The costs of defending against such a lawsuit in the UK are prohibitive. Do you remember the McLibel trial that pitted the might of McDonald's against two health campaigners, Helen Steel, who made £65 a week, and David Morris, a single parent getting income support, for having the gall to give out flyers claiming that McDonald's sold unhealthy food? They won the case, but it cost them several years of their lives.

The Pig "Farm" Application

The factory farm application by Midland Pig Producers is for 2,500 sows to be kept with as many as 25,000 piglets—like flesh-creation machines—in conditions much like the above photo. They suggest that this is the solution to the loss of pig farms from foreign competition in the UK. That is, they suggest that applying the same sort of inhumane methods and environmentally destructive processes in the UK is the solution.

According to The Guardian, the only reason Midland Pig Producers didn't ask for more pigs at the location is that "a larger herd would create enough waste to classify the site as a power station, which would require different permissions." That's how toxic such a factory "farm" is. The pollution that results is horrific, destroying the health of citizens over a wide area, polluting ground water and rivers, and creating a stench that's beyond belief.

The Soil Association's expert on livestock disease stated:

There are a lot of pig diseases that can pass to humans – salmonella, campylobacter, E coli, MRSA, streptococcus suis, which can cause meningitis in humans, to name a few. With many of these we are seeing new strains that are multi-antibiotic resistant. Some are already in the UK herd, others are being found in herds abroad. The H1N1 virus [swine flu] is an amalgam of different strains of flu from pigs, poultry and humans. It's now being seen in UK pigs.

Our basic concern is that there is lots of research showing that the more pigs you have together the greater the risk of disease and the greater the potential for amplification of any problems.

In theory they are proposing a very clever system, but it's gold-plating a fundamentally flawed one. Past experience shows this brave new world approach to problems usually goes wrong and when it does the consequences for humans are very serious

The state of health and environmental issues is at a critical point. More and more people are realizing that their welfare, even their existence, is threatened by agribusiness practices. However, agribusiness's financial might is being used to squelch every sort of protest. Now, we've reached the point where each and every citizen who opposes one of their plans must wonder in fear of being targeted, either criminally or civilly, by the legal forces that will target anyone and anything that stands in the way of their masters.

That's agribusiness. Its money and power is so great that it can buy and twist the justice system.

You can help support the Soil Association with donations here.

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