Urge Congress to Keep NAIS Out of Country of Origin Labeling and the Farm Bill
Action Alert from the Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance:
Ask the House Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry to strip section 121 out of the draft Farm Bill!
Farm bill provision on NAIS: A preliminary draft of certain sections of the Farm Bill was released on Wednesday afternoon. Section 121 of the draft would allow the USDA to use a mandatory animal identification system in order to implement Country of Origin Labeling ("COOL"). Current law prohibits mandatory NAIS for COOL, and this would be a move in the wrong direction! You can read the draft provisions of the Farm Bill at http://agriculture.house.gov/inside/2007FarmBill.html. And read more about NAIS and Country of Origin Labeling at http://farmandranchfreedom.org/content/NAIS-and-COOL
The Subcommittee met today to discuss the draft. This is our first opportunity - but not the last - to ask Congress to get rid of Section 121 of the draft. Please write, email, fax, or call the Subcommittee. The fight over the Farm Bill is beginning!
Take Action: Call, fax, or write all of the following members:
1) The Honorable Leonard BoswellChairman House Agriculture Subcommittee on Livestock Dairy and PoultryUnited States House of Representatives Washington D.C. 20515Phone: 202-225-2171Fax: 202-225-8510Email: agriculture@mail.house.gov
2) The Honorable Robin HayesRanking Minority MemberHouse Agriculture Subcommittee on Livestock Dairy and Poultry1305 Longworth House Office BuildingWashington, DC 20515Phone: 202-225-0029Fax: 202-225-0917 Email: AgRepublicanPress@mail.house.gov
3) Any member of the Subcommittee who comes from your state. All of the members are listed below, and it's very important that the members hear from the people within their state.
Message: Please strip Section 121 from the draft Farm Bill. The law prohibiting the USDA from using mandatory animal identification to implement COOL should not be changed, and NAIS should not be put into the Farm Bill.
Members of the Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry
Name (State), Phone number, Fax number
Leonard L. Boswell, Chair (IA), (p) 202-225-3806, (f) 202-225-5608
Kirsten Gillibrand, Vice-chair (NY), (p) 202-225-5614, (f)202-225-1168
Steve Kagen (WI), (p) 202-225-5665, (f) 202-225-5729
Tim Holden (PA), (p) 202-225-5546, (f) 202-226-0996
Joe Baca (CA), (p) 202-225-6161, (f) 202-225-8671
Dennis Cardoza (CA), (p) 202-225-6131,(f) 202-225-0819
Nicholas Lampson (TX), (p) 202-225-5951, (f)202-225-5241
Joe Donnelly (IN), (p) 202-225-3915, (f) 202-225-6798
Jim Costa (CA), (p) 202-225-3341, (f) 202-225-9308
Timothy Mahoney (FL), (p) 202-225-5792, (f) 202-225-3132
Robin Hayes, Ranking Minority Member (NC), (p) 202-225-3715, (f)202-225-4036
Michael Rogers (AL), (p) 202-225-3261, (f) 202-226-8485
Steve King (IA), (p) 202-225-4426, (f) 202-225-3193
Virginia Foxx (NC), (p)202-225-2071, (f) 202-225-2995
Mike Conaway (TX), (p) 202-225-3605, (f) 202-225-1783
Jean Schmidt (OH), (p) 202-225-3164, (f) 202-225-1992
Adrian Smith (NE), (p) 202-225-6435, (f) 202-225-0207
Tim Walberg (MI), (p) 202-225-6276, (f) 202-225-6281
Talking Points
* Please strip Section 121 from the draft Farm Bill. The law prohibiting the USDA from using mandatory animal identification to implement Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) should not be changed, and NAIS should not be added to the Farm Bill.
* COOL can and should be implemented without mandatory animal identification
* Requiring all imported livestock to be identified with a country of origin marking is enough to implement COOL
* Requiring U.S. cattle producers to individually identify all domestic cattle to prove their eligibility for a USA label is not necessary for COOL. We don't need to know every farm or sales barn an animal has been in order to know it was raised in the U.S.
* Using mandatory animal identification to implement COOL would impose heavy burdens on American farmers and ranchers, in both time and money. NAIS will drive independent ranches and farms in America out of business.
* The purpose of COOL is to provide information so that consumers can choose whether to buy domestic or foreign products and, as a hoped-for result, providing American farmers and ranchers with economic rewards for raising food in this country.
* Mandatory animal identification would harm American farmers and ranchers, contrary to the goal of COOL.
* The right to know where our food comes from will be an empty right if it is purchased at the price of a mandatory animal identification system, such as the National Animal Identification System (NAIS). If mandatory animal ID is implemented, consumers would be fooled into believing that they were supporting American farmers and ranchers through the "Made in the USA" label. Yet more and more of the food labeled that way would be raised by international corporations that are willing and able to comply with NAIS.
For the last 6 months, the focus of the fight against NAIS has been on individual states pushing for anti-NAIS bills. The state-level fight will continue, but it's clear that the federal-level fight is heating up. Please keep educating your friends and neighbors, we have a lot of work in front of us!!
Working together, we can make our voices heard!
Judith McGeary; Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance
Friday, May 25, 2007
Friday, May 11, 2007
CFA & THE 2007 FARM BILL
This year, Congress will revisit the Farm Bill, an enormous piece of legislation that addresses a wide range of issues including crop subsidies, the Food Stamp and WIC (Women, Infant, and Children) programs, the National School Lunch Program, and conservations easements. In short, the Farm Bill sets the rules for the American (and by extension, global) food system. CFA has joined several national organizations and coalitions to call for a Farm Bill that supports family farmers and our rural and urban communities. In CFA's May newsletters, we published an excerpt of an article written by George Naylor, president of the National Family Farm Coalition (NFFC). Below are links to helpful pages that can help explain the Farm Bill, platforms and proposals that CFA has endorsed, and good articles that offer some analysis and perspective on the Farm Bill. Get educated and then contact your Members of Congress and let your voice be heard!
Farm Bill 101: A Quick and Easy Guide to Understanding the Farm Bill
Oxfam America's guide to the Farm Bill.
National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture's primer that explains all the programs funded through the Farm Bill, what they do, who administers them, application and eligibility guidelines, etc.
Food from Family Farms Act
An “alternative Farm Bill” drafted by the National Family Farm Coalition (NFFC) that addresses the connection between domestic agriculture policy, international trade and the need to respect food sovereignty (the right of every country to establish its own food and farm policy and meet its basic food needs through domestic production). The Act details how market price supports, farmer-owned reserves, and conservation compliance can work together to ensure fair prices while meeting food security, humanitarian, and energy needs.
The Community Food Security Coalition (CFSC) was a member of The Farm and Food Policy Project (FFPP), a collaboration that produced this comprehensive policy statement on how American agriculture can be renewed. The FFPP has also launched a website which lets individuals sign an on-line letter to Congress to show support for policies which advance fresh, local, and healthy foods in the 2007 Farm Bill.
Farm, Nutrition, and Community Investment Act
The Farm, Nutrition, and Community Investment Act (H.R. 2144), introduced by Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and Rep. Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD), is a comprehensive farm and food policy package that addresses nutrition, healthy diets, conservation, dairy, and new markets, including renewable energy, and local food systems. The Act is what is called a "marker bill"— it’s not intended to be voted on, just to express the opinions of the legislators. Click here for more analysis of this proposal.
"The 2007 Farm Bill: What We Need and Why" by George Naylor
Makes the case for price supports rather than crop subsidies.
Cleverly connects the dots between the overproduction of commodity crops to the abundance of cheap junk food in the American diet.
Explores the relationship between the Farm Bill and school lunches.
Thursday, May 03, 2007
ACT NOW TO PREVENT PRO-NAIS REGULATIONS IN KENTUCKY!
Very soon, the State Vet's office at the KY Department of Agriculture will submit new regulations concerning animal identification, movement and health status of all livestock. In the last CFA NEWS, we reported that after CFA testified at the public hearing and submitted written comments, KDA had withdrawn the proposed NAIS regulations for Kentucky. Now, KDA and the State Vet’s Office have decided to resubmit regulations similar to the NAIS program for Kentucky.
Once the revised set of regulations are filed, there will be a thirty day comment period and a public hearing sponsored by KDA to hear public input on these regulations. CFA members disagree with the proposed regulations and see them as an attempt to ease Kentucky into the NAIS program, and will resubmit written comments explaining this position and testify at the public hearing in opposition. CFA requested that KDA publicize the new regulations as well as information related to the comment period and public hearing by sending a press release to county papers across the state.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
Join CFA Today and Help Us Stop NAIS! Several CFA members and producers across the state are concerned and have decided to hold house meetings and roundtable discussions about NAIS and these new regulations. If you would like to be a part of these discussions, or would like to host a house or barn party…
Contact Kaycie Len Carter at the Frankfort CFA office: Kayciecfa@bellsouth.net, or 502-223-3655
To read the new regulations, you may request a copy from the State Vet’s Office. Once the regulations have been filed, you may submit written comments on the regulations to prevent them from being approved.
Once the revised set of regulations are filed, there will be a thirty day comment period and a public hearing sponsored by KDA to hear public input on these regulations. CFA members disagree with the proposed regulations and see them as an attempt to ease Kentucky into the NAIS program, and will resubmit written comments explaining this position and testify at the public hearing in opposition. CFA requested that KDA publicize the new regulations as well as information related to the comment period and public hearing by sending a press release to county papers across the state.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
Join CFA Today and Help Us Stop NAIS! Several CFA members and producers across the state are concerned and have decided to hold house meetings and roundtable discussions about NAIS and these new regulations. If you would like to be a part of these discussions, or would like to host a house or barn party…
Contact Kaycie Len Carter at the Frankfort CFA office: Kayciecfa@bellsouth.net, or 502-223-3655
To read the new regulations, you may request a copy from the State Vet’s Office. Once the regulations have been filed, you may submit written comments on the regulations to prevent them from being approved.
Contact the State Veterinarian:
Office of the State Veterinarian Dr. Robert Stout, DVM
100 Fair Oaks Lane STE 252 Frankfort, KY 40601 (502) 564-3956
Office of the State Veterinarian Dr. Robert Stout, DVM
100 Fair Oaks Lane STE 252 Frankfort, KY 40601 (502) 564-3956
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
