These, from Organic Consumer Association...
Showing posts with label NAIS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NAIS. Show all posts
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Sunday, November 2, 2008
NAIS, A Threat to Everyone
I highly recommend reading Monica's recent article on this subject...I'll mention it more in this post. Her article is thorough and a really important read...this is a crucial time period in history and our freedoms are at stake in a very real way.
The implementation of the so-called "voluntary" National Animal Identification System and its cousin The Real I.D. monitoring system, are both are current, real, and active systems threatening our basic freedoms guaranteed by the 1st, 4th, 5th, and 14th Amendments to the U.S.Constitution.
Here are excerpts from this site as to how:
1st Amendment violation -- some faiths "cannot comply with the Department's proposed program because it violates their First Amendment right to free exercise. For example, the Old Order Amish believe they are prohibited from registering their farms or animals in the proposed program due to, inter alia, Scriptural prohibitions."
4th Amendment Violation - "The Department proposes surveillance of every property where even a single animal of any livestock species is kept; and to require, at a minimum, the radio-frequency identification tagging of every animal...
...In these instances, the "premises" that the Department plans to subject to GPS satellite surveillance and distance radio-frequency readingare the homes of these tens of millions of citizens. The government is not permitted to use sense-enhancing technologies to invade the privacy of citizens' homes. The sanctity of the home is entitled to privacy protection in circumstances where an industrial complex is not.
This is not speculation."
5th and 14th Amendment Violations - "The proposed NAIS is the first attempt by the federal government at forced registration in a huge, permanent federal database of individual citizens' real property (the homes and farms where animals are kept) and personal property (the animals themselves). Indeed, the only general systems of permanent registration of personal property in the United States are systems administered by the individual states for two items that are highly dangerous if misused: motor vehicles and guns. It is difficult to imagine any acceptable basis for the Department to subject the owner of a chicken to more intrusive surveillance than the owner of a gun..."
Please read the full article here
If this sounds like conspiracy theory material, survivalist paranoia, Orwellian Big Brother-ism, or Sci-Fi convention propaganda, think again.
I've written about it here, as have so many others on their sites. Monica's article at Women Not Dabbling in Normal is excellent, and I'm posting here to head folks to her excellent NAIS post ...here's the link.
By the way, if you think we can opt out by not opting FOR these, we're mistaken. Farmers are routinely included on the NAIS lists without their knowledge, and to not be included automatically in the program must then identify themselves as a farm not wishing to participate (which i believe singles them out further)...and as of yet are not legally provided with a comprehensive registry list in order to determine if they are still on it or not. Please check out Monica's article...excellent!
The implementation of the so-called "voluntary" National Animal Identification System and its cousin The Real I.D. monitoring system, are both are current, real, and active systems threatening our basic freedoms guaranteed by the 1st, 4th, 5th, and 14th Amendments to the U.S.Constitution.
Here are excerpts from this site as to how:
1st Amendment violation -- some faiths "cannot comply with the Department's proposed program because it violates their First Amendment right to free exercise. For example, the Old Order Amish believe they are prohibited from registering their farms or animals in the proposed program due to, inter alia, Scriptural prohibitions."
4th Amendment Violation - "The Department proposes surveillance of every property where even a single animal of any livestock species is kept; and to require, at a minimum, the radio-frequency identification tagging of every animal...
...In these instances, the "premises" that the Department plans to subject to GPS satellite surveillance and distance radio-frequency readingare the homes of these tens of millions of citizens. The government is not permitted to use sense-enhancing technologies to invade the privacy of citizens' homes. The sanctity of the home is entitled to privacy protection in circumstances where an industrial complex is not.
This is not speculation."
5th and 14th Amendment Violations - "The proposed NAIS is the first attempt by the federal government at forced registration in a huge, permanent federal database of individual citizens' real property (the homes and farms where animals are kept) and personal property (the animals themselves). Indeed, the only general systems of permanent registration of personal property in the United States are systems administered by the individual states for two items that are highly dangerous if misused: motor vehicles and guns. It is difficult to imagine any acceptable basis for the Department to subject the owner of a chicken to more intrusive surveillance than the owner of a gun..."
Please read the full article here
If this sounds like conspiracy theory material, survivalist paranoia, Orwellian Big Brother-ism, or Sci-Fi convention propaganda, think again.
I've written about it here, as have so many others on their sites. Monica's article at Women Not Dabbling in Normal is excellent, and I'm posting here to head folks to her excellent NAIS post ...here's the link.
By the way, if you think we can opt out by not opting FOR these, we're mistaken. Farmers are routinely included on the NAIS lists without their knowledge, and to not be included automatically in the program must then identify themselves as a farm not wishing to participate (which i believe singles them out further)...and as of yet are not legally provided with a comprehensive registry list in order to determine if they are still on it or not. Please check out Monica's article...excellent!
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Immediate Action Needed --The NAIS and School Lunches
You may have read about this already. I just received this in my email inbox from the Weston A. Price Foundation -- (I've put certain sections in bold print)
ACTION ALERT: Mandatory Requirement for NAIS in School Lunch Program Put in House Agriculture Appropriations Bill. CALL NOW!
The House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee has included pro-NAIS provisions in the Agriculture Appropriations bill for 2009. According to the press release, the bill would require USDA to purchase meat products for the School Lunch Program from livestock premises registered with National Animal Identification System beginning in July 2009.
This is a back-door method for mandating NAIS through the power of the purse strings. The bill also provides a total NAIS funding level of $14.5 million or about $4.8 million above 2008.
We must stop these provisions from going any further! The full House Appropriations Committee will meet about the Agriculture Appropriations bill this Thursday, June 26. Sometime after that, it will go to the full House.
We also need to contact our Senators now, to keep them from doing the same thing.
TAKE ACTION NOW:
1) Call or fax your US Representative.
You can look up who represents you at www.congress.org or call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 or toll-free at 866-340-9281.2)
2.) Call or fax the members of the House Appropriations Committee who come from your State. The members are listed at: http://appropriations.house.gov/members110th.shtml When you see a member who comes from your state, click on his or her name to get contact information.
3) Call or fax your Senators. You can look up who represents you at www.congress.org or call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 or toll-free at 866-340-9281.
With each person, ask to speak to the staffer who handles appropriations. If you get their voice mail, leave the following message, or something in your own words that makes the same points:
MESSAGE: My name is ____. I am a constituent [or live in your state, if you aren't in their district].
I am calling because the Agriculture Appropriations subcommittee has inserted language requiring the School Lunch Program to only buy meat from farms registered in the National Animal Identification System.
I am against NAIS, and I do not want it to be tied to school lunch programs.
NAIS, which tracks live animals, will not improve food safety because most food safety problems start at the slaughterhouse and food processing facilities.
Funding for NAIS, particularly any mandatory NAIS, needs to be stopped.
Please call me back at _____ to let me know where the Congressman/woman stands on this issue.
When you talk to the staffer, be sure to make the same points as in the message, and expand on them with some of the talking points below. For more information, contact the Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance at info@farmandranchfreedom.org or 866-687-6452.The press release, from Chairwoman DeLauro (D-CT) is available at http://appropriations.house.gov/pdf/DeLauroSubMarkup06-19-08.pdf
MORE TALKING POINTS - state your concerns in your own words
* This bill uses the government's power to economically coerce farmers into NAIS. That is not a "voluntary" program.
* This bill throws good money after bad, supporting a program that is not sound economically or scientifically.
* USDA has presented no science to back up its claims that NAIS will address livestock diseases.
* The USDA has never completed a cost/benefit analysis to show that NAIS is worthwhile.
* NAIS will not improve food safety. The massive Hallmark/Westland beef recall this past year was caused by the slaughterhouse employees' failure to follow existing regulations for handling "downer" cows. Mandating NAIS on cattle producers will not make anybody obey the laws we already have.
* NAIS will not help Americans compete in the world market. If it is mandatory, or even adopted by most producers, those who participate will not get premiums for their meat.
* Pouring more money into the program is a waste of precious tax dollars that could be better spent on safety inspections at packing and processing plants, where most food contamination occurs.
* Using the school lunch program to force farmers into NAIS undermines the growing farm-to-school program, which helps children get fresh, local, and sustainably raised foods. Local farmers should not be forced into an unpopular program that has nothing to do with food quality or safety in order to provide food for our children.
* The claim that USDA has achieved 33% of its Premises Registration goal is wrong. USDA computes its percentage of premises registered based on farmers who answer the agriculture census. Hundreds of thousands of additional horse owners, families with a few chickens, suburbanites with a pet pot-bellied pig, and others like them are technically covered by NAIS, but USDA ignores them when it reports its supposed successes to Congress. The vast majority of people who will be impacted by NAIS either oppose it or are still unaware of it!
* NAIS has never been specifically approved by Congress. This massive program, which will impact millions of people, should be addressed through full and open debate, not snuck in through appropriations.
ACTION ALERT: Mandatory Requirement for NAIS in School Lunch Program Put in House Agriculture Appropriations Bill. CALL NOW!
The House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee has included pro-NAIS provisions in the Agriculture Appropriations bill for 2009. According to the press release, the bill would require USDA to purchase meat products for the School Lunch Program from livestock premises registered with National Animal Identification System beginning in July 2009.
This is a back-door method for mandating NAIS through the power of the purse strings. The bill also provides a total NAIS funding level of $14.5 million or about $4.8 million above 2008.
We must stop these provisions from going any further! The full House Appropriations Committee will meet about the Agriculture Appropriations bill this Thursday, June 26. Sometime after that, it will go to the full House.
We also need to contact our Senators now, to keep them from doing the same thing.
TAKE ACTION NOW:
1) Call or fax your US Representative.
You can look up who represents you at www.congress.org or call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 or toll-free at 866-340-9281.2)
2.) Call or fax the members of the House Appropriations Committee who come from your State. The members are listed at: http://appropriations.house.gov/members110th.shtml When you see a member who comes from your state, click on his or her name to get contact information.
3) Call or fax your Senators. You can look up who represents you at www.congress.org or call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 or toll-free at 866-340-9281.
With each person, ask to speak to the staffer who handles appropriations. If you get their voice mail, leave the following message, or something in your own words that makes the same points:
MESSAGE: My name is ____. I am a constituent [or live in your state, if you aren't in their district].
I am calling because the Agriculture Appropriations subcommittee has inserted language requiring the School Lunch Program to only buy meat from farms registered in the National Animal Identification System.
I am against NAIS, and I do not want it to be tied to school lunch programs.
NAIS, which tracks live animals, will not improve food safety because most food safety problems start at the slaughterhouse and food processing facilities.
Funding for NAIS, particularly any mandatory NAIS, needs to be stopped.
Please call me back at _____ to let me know where the Congressman/woman stands on this issue.
When you talk to the staffer, be sure to make the same points as in the message, and expand on them with some of the talking points below. For more information, contact the Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance at info@farmandranchfreedom.org or 866-687-6452.The press release, from Chairwoman DeLauro (D-CT) is available at http://appropriations.house.gov/pdf/DeLauroSubMarkup06-19-08.pdf
MORE TALKING POINTS - state your concerns in your own words
* This bill uses the government's power to economically coerce farmers into NAIS. That is not a "voluntary" program.
* This bill throws good money after bad, supporting a program that is not sound economically or scientifically.
* USDA has presented no science to back up its claims that NAIS will address livestock diseases.
* The USDA has never completed a cost/benefit analysis to show that NAIS is worthwhile.
* NAIS will not improve food safety. The massive Hallmark/Westland beef recall this past year was caused by the slaughterhouse employees' failure to follow existing regulations for handling "downer" cows. Mandating NAIS on cattle producers will not make anybody obey the laws we already have.
* NAIS will not help Americans compete in the world market. If it is mandatory, or even adopted by most producers, those who participate will not get premiums for their meat.
* Pouring more money into the program is a waste of precious tax dollars that could be better spent on safety inspections at packing and processing plants, where most food contamination occurs.
* Using the school lunch program to force farmers into NAIS undermines the growing farm-to-school program, which helps children get fresh, local, and sustainably raised foods. Local farmers should not be forced into an unpopular program that has nothing to do with food quality or safety in order to provide food for our children.
* The claim that USDA has achieved 33% of its Premises Registration goal is wrong. USDA computes its percentage of premises registered based on farmers who answer the agriculture census. Hundreds of thousands of additional horse owners, families with a few chickens, suburbanites with a pet pot-bellied pig, and others like them are technically covered by NAIS, but USDA ignores them when it reports its supposed successes to Congress. The vast majority of people who will be impacted by NAIS either oppose it or are still unaware of it!
* NAIS has never been specifically approved by Congress. This massive program, which will impact millions of people, should be addressed through full and open debate, not snuck in through appropriations.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Legal Defense Fund Moves to Stop Animal ID Program
Found this in my email inbox, from our local chapter of the Weston A. Price Foundation:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Legal Defense Fund Moves to Stop Animal ID Program; Files Intent to Sue Letter with USDA and Michigan Department of Agriculture
Falls Church, Virginia, (May 15, 2008)
-- Attorneys for the Farm-to-ConsumerLegal Defense Fund today sent a Notice of Intent to Sue letter to the UnitedStates Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Michigan Department ofAgriculture (MDA) over implementation of the National Animal IdentificationSystem (NAIS), a plan to electronically track every livestock animal in thecountry.
The Notice asks the USDA and MDA to "immediately suspend the funding andimplementation of NAIS," and "fully and fairly examine" whether there is even aneed for such a program.
Taaron Meikle, Fund president, said that contrary to USDA's claim, NAIS will do nothing to protect the health of livestock and poultry. "At a time when food safety and costs are a concern, the USDA has spent over $118 million to promote a program that will burden everyone from pleasure horse owners to ranchers andsmall farmers to individuals who raise a few chickens or steers on their ownland for their own use."Once fully implemented, the NAIS program would require every person who owns even one livestock or poultry animal (a single chicken or a pet pony) to register their property with the state and federal government, to tag each animal, and to report "events" to a database within 24 hours. Reportable events would include such things as a private sale, a state fair, or a horse show.
The Notice charges that USDA has never published rules regarding NAIS, inviolation of the Federal Administrative Procedures Act; has never performed an
Environmental Impact Statement or an Environmental Assessment as required by theNational Environmental Policy Act; is in violation of the Regulatory Flexibility Act that requires them to analyze proposed rules for their impact on small entities and local governments; and violates religious freedoms guaranteed by the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. "We also think there are constitutional issues at stake here," Meikle noted. "The requirement to use electronic ear tags or RFID chips violates the religiousbeliefs of some farmers, such as the Amish, and provisions in a memorandum of understanding between the USDA and the MDA could violate the Fourth and Fifth Amendments to the Constitution by requiring the state to stop and inspectvehicles carrying livestock without a warrant or probable cause."
The MDA has implemented the first two stages of NAIS -property registration and animal identification - for all cattle and farmers across the state as part of its mandatory bovine tuberculosis disease control program, which is mandated by a grant from the USDA.
"While touted as a disease control program, the NAIS will drive many small farmers out of business" Meikle noted, "and burden every person who owns even one horse, chicken, cow, goat, sheep, pig, llama, alpaca, or other livestock animal with expensive and intrusive government regulations.
"Joe Golimbieski, a farmer from Standish, Michigan and Fund member, explains: "The cost of the tags is just the start. We're at the mercy of whatever price the stockyards charge to do the tagging. And our farm doesn't have extra employees to deal with paperwork. NAIS is likely to put us out of business.
"Gary Cox, General Counsel for the Fund, states that "USDA and MDA have exceededtheir authority and they have completely failed to follow the proper procedures. We are calling on the agencies to immediately halt implementation of the programor face appropriate action. "The Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund defends the rights of farmers to produceand sell the products of their farms and gardens directly to consumers, and the rights of consumers to obtain food directly from farmers engaged in nontoxic,environmentally friendly agriculture.
Concerned citizens can support the Fund byjoining at www.farmtoconsumer.org or by contacting the Fund at 703-208-FARM.
The Fund's sister organization, the Farm-to-Consumer Foundation(www.farmtoconsumerfoundation.org), works to support farmers engaged insustainable farm stewardship and to promote consumer access to local,nutrient-dense food.
Editor's Note: The Notice of Intent to Sue the (USDA) and (MDA) is available atwww.farmtoconsumer.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Legal Defense Fund Moves to Stop Animal ID Program; Files Intent to Sue Letter with USDA and Michigan Department of Agriculture
Falls Church, Virginia, (May 15, 2008)
-- Attorneys for the Farm-to-ConsumerLegal Defense Fund today sent a Notice of Intent to Sue letter to the UnitedStates Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Michigan Department ofAgriculture (MDA) over implementation of the National Animal IdentificationSystem (NAIS), a plan to electronically track every livestock animal in thecountry.
The Notice asks the USDA and MDA to "immediately suspend the funding andimplementation of NAIS," and "fully and fairly examine" whether there is even aneed for such a program.
Taaron Meikle, Fund president, said that contrary to USDA's claim, NAIS will do nothing to protect the health of livestock and poultry. "At a time when food safety and costs are a concern, the USDA has spent over $118 million to promote a program that will burden everyone from pleasure horse owners to ranchers andsmall farmers to individuals who raise a few chickens or steers on their ownland for their own use."Once fully implemented, the NAIS program would require every person who owns even one livestock or poultry animal (a single chicken or a pet pony) to register their property with the state and federal government, to tag each animal, and to report "events" to a database within 24 hours. Reportable events would include such things as a private sale, a state fair, or a horse show.
The Notice charges that USDA has never published rules regarding NAIS, inviolation of the Federal Administrative Procedures Act; has never performed an
Environmental Impact Statement or an Environmental Assessment as required by theNational Environmental Policy Act; is in violation of the Regulatory Flexibility Act that requires them to analyze proposed rules for their impact on small entities and local governments; and violates religious freedoms guaranteed by the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. "We also think there are constitutional issues at stake here," Meikle noted. "The requirement to use electronic ear tags or RFID chips violates the religiousbeliefs of some farmers, such as the Amish, and provisions in a memorandum of understanding between the USDA and the MDA could violate the Fourth and Fifth Amendments to the Constitution by requiring the state to stop and inspectvehicles carrying livestock without a warrant or probable cause."
The MDA has implemented the first two stages of NAIS -property registration and animal identification - for all cattle and farmers across the state as part of its mandatory bovine tuberculosis disease control program, which is mandated by a grant from the USDA.
"While touted as a disease control program, the NAIS will drive many small farmers out of business" Meikle noted, "and burden every person who owns even one horse, chicken, cow, goat, sheep, pig, llama, alpaca, or other livestock animal with expensive and intrusive government regulations.
"Joe Golimbieski, a farmer from Standish, Michigan and Fund member, explains: "The cost of the tags is just the start. We're at the mercy of whatever price the stockyards charge to do the tagging. And our farm doesn't have extra employees to deal with paperwork. NAIS is likely to put us out of business.
"Gary Cox, General Counsel for the Fund, states that "USDA and MDA have exceededtheir authority and they have completely failed to follow the proper procedures. We are calling on the agencies to immediately halt implementation of the programor face appropriate action. "The Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund defends the rights of farmers to produceand sell the products of their farms and gardens directly to consumers, and the rights of consumers to obtain food directly from farmers engaged in nontoxic,environmentally friendly agriculture.
Concerned citizens can support the Fund byjoining at www.farmtoconsumer.org or by contacting the Fund at 703-208-FARM.
The Fund's sister organization, the Farm-to-Consumer Foundation(www.farmtoconsumerfoundation.org), works to support farmers engaged insustainable farm stewardship and to promote consumer access to local,nutrient-dense food.
Editor's Note: The Notice of Intent to Sue the (USDA) and (MDA) is available atwww.farmtoconsumer.org
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Some Good News from Illinois: NAIS
Just received this in comments to a past post:
HB 5776 passed through the Illinois House yesterday.
Vote? 10-0 !
It now must make it through the Senate.
Anyone interested in assisting in Illinois, please contact our Grassroots movement to get 'er done!
Michael and Sharon Sabo
IICFA
On Michael and Sharon's site, they detail their own experience and the reasons that became the catalyst for the action they took in forming the IICFA. It's what happens when individuals realize what the implications are not only for their own farm, but for the future of farming, and take action. And it's commendable that 4-H leaders came alongside to join forces and work together to educate and to meet this challenge head-on.
GREAT JOB, GUYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Farm and Ranch Freedom recorded this news among their other state updates on their site where you can find the latest updates of actions needed and contact information to make your voice heard. From their site, here's the bit about Illinois HR 5776 (below). Check out their page for ways in which you can help in your own state, as well as stay abreast of news nationwide.
ILLINOIS:
Illinois HB 5776 was approved by the House Agriculture Committee by a 10-0 vote!
Like Colorado, Illinois is requiring children to register in NAIS in order to compete in the fairs. HB 5776 was introduced to reverse that policy.
The Committee approved a committee substitute that is much stronger than the original bill, and it will now be headed to the House floor.
Click here for more information and to take action.
HB 5776 passed through the Illinois House yesterday.
Vote? 10-0 !
It now must make it through the Senate.
Anyone interested in assisting in Illinois, please contact our Grassroots movement to get 'er done!
Michael and Sharon Sabo
IICFA
On Michael and Sharon's site, they detail their own experience and the reasons that became the catalyst for the action they took in forming the IICFA. It's what happens when individuals realize what the implications are not only for their own farm, but for the future of farming, and take action. And it's commendable that 4-H leaders came alongside to join forces and work together to educate and to meet this challenge head-on.
GREAT JOB, GUYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Farm and Ranch Freedom recorded this news among their other state updates on their site where you can find the latest updates of actions needed and contact information to make your voice heard. From their site, here's the bit about Illinois HR 5776 (below). Check out their page for ways in which you can help in your own state, as well as stay abreast of news nationwide.
ILLINOIS:
Illinois HB 5776 was approved by the House Agriculture Committee by a 10-0 vote!
Like Colorado, Illinois is requiring children to register in NAIS in order to compete in the fairs. HB 5776 was introduced to reverse that policy.
The Committee approved a committee substitute that is much stronger than the original bill, and it will now be headed to the House floor.
Click here for more information and to take action.
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