In 1992, Craig Watts got into growing chickens for Perdue Farms because he was told he could turn a good profit. Instead, he found himself hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt, and unable to bargain for better working conditions because Perdue was the only game in town. Things seemed hopeless, until, in 2010, President Obama’s Department of Justice announced that they were going to look into the relationship between big poultry companies and their growers. 

In this episode, reporter Leah Douglas tells us how farmers like Craig fought to change the balance of power in chicken growing a decade ago — and what has happened since.

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Featuring:

Byrd Pinkerton (@byrdala), podcast producer, Vox

Leah Douglas (@leahjdouglas), reporter, Food and Environment Reporting Network

Host:

Dylan Matthews (@dylanmatt), senior correspondent, Vox 

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