Do you wonder what happens on the farms that produce your food? Do you believe you have a right to know how animals raised for food are treated?

In the last few years, the farm industry has been driving the introduction of "ag-gag" or “whistleblower suppression” bills in state legislatures across the country. The purpose of these bills is to criminalize acts related to investigating the day-to-day activities of industrial farms, including the recording, possession or distribution of photos, video and/or audio at a farm. Such investigations have previously formed the basis of animal cruelty prosecutions and spurred reforms to protect the safety of our food supply.

If you want to know how ag-gag laws affect animals and consumers like you, join us and our panel of experts for our #OpenTheBarns Twitter chat on Thursday, April 23 from 1:00 to 2:00 P.M. ET to have your questions answered. Just follow the hashtag #OpenTheBarns and include it in your tweeted questions to have them answered!

Our #OpenTheBarns Twitter chat participants include:

Daisy Freund, Sr. Manager, Farm Animal Welfare, ASPCA
Kendra Kimbirauskas, Chief Executive Officer, Socially Responsible Agriculture Project
Cody Carlson, former undercover investigator, Humane Society of the United States & Mercy for Animals
Patty Lovera, Assistant Director, Food and Water Watch

We’ll be discussing the dangers of ag-gag laws, how they impact animals and consumers alike, as well as what you can do to stop them in your state!

Not quite sure how to join a Twitter chat? No worries! Check out our handy guide.