Greetings, Please call your representatives, senators and everyone you can. This bill includes cats and dogs. And if you think it is about preventing disease, think about this: All of your food will be microchiped! I do know how hard it is to find those microchips and remove them when you butcher, the emu industry used them. We could all wind up with a pound of microchips in our intestines. Bright Blessings, Kim
>Worth reading. Worth thinking about. Worth writing about. Worth >fighting. > >Begin forwarded message: > >From: "Laura Haggarty" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Date: January 9, 2006 9:39:31 AM EST > >Hi all, > >I got this letter from another email list (with permission to cross-post >and use), made a few small modifications, and have sent it to my local >newspaper (have already written to my legislators.) I thought you all >might want to send it along to yours: > > Dear Editors, > >I am writing to ask the Grant County News to publish my letter in order >to inform their subscribers about the National Animal Identification >System (NAIS) which is currently in its initial stages. This USDA-run >program has as its goal the registration of every farm animal (including >non-food animals such as horses) in a centralized government database. >This program will require micro chipping of each animal (including all >forms of poultry), at the expense of the owner, and a premises ID for >every farm which will be linked to a satellite photo and Global >Positioning System record (see this link for the USDA website about the >program: www.usda.gov/nais/) > >As a hobby farm owner who has horses, goats, and poultry, I strongly >oppose the implementation of the NAIS. Agribusiness, specifically The >National Institute for Animal Agriculture (NIAA), lobbied the USDA >(after 9/11 and subsequent BSE scares) to create the NAIS supposedly to >protect U.S. citizens and their animals from diseases. The NIAA is >composed primarily of two groups - (1) large corporate producers and (2) >the makers and producers of animal ID equipment. In April 2002 a task >force composed of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) >and over 30 livestock organizations provided leadership in creating the >animal identification system. Small-scale farmers involved in animal >husbandry, homesteaders, and animal hobbyists were not represented. > >Language quoted from the Draft Strategic Plan proves this, "APHIS then >established the National Identification Development Team (NIDT), a >joint, State, Federal, and industry group to further advance this >effort. Throughout 2003, the NIDT, consisting of approximately 100 >animal and livestock industry professionals representing more than 70 >associations, organizations, and government agencies, expanded upon the >work plan to produce the initial draft of the U.S. Animal Identification >Plan (USAIP)." (Plan, p. 4) While associations, organizations, etc. may >be backing the NAIS, they did not inform their members of this proposed >legislation. Chances are the members still have no idea that their >freedoms are being given away. > > I am writing in opposition of the National Animal Identification >System >because: > > (1) Should the NAIS become law, we will be forced to pay fees to >register our farms and animals. "Even with public funding, there will be >costs to producers." (Plan, p. 11) > (2) We will be forced to report to the national animal records >repository within a short-term specified timeframe the birth, death, and >loss of identification device, sale, or movement of any animal in our >possession. > (3) We will be required to report to the national animal records >repository when an animal we own attends a livestock show, participates >in a trail ride, is transported to another farm for stud service, or >takes part in a community parade, etc. > (4) Our personal information collected through NAIS could be disclosed >- "the USDA cannot assure the confidentiality of all the information at >the present time." (Plan, p. 15) Financial institutions were not able to >keep this information confidential, so it is no surprise that USDA >cannot guarantee confidentiality. > (5) The NAIS will violate the religious beliefs of minority faith >communities by requiring them to become part of this computerized, >technology-dependent system or abandon the livestock ownership necessary >for their way of life. (Many adherents raise their own food animals and >use animals in farming and for transportation. Some, by scriptural >teaching, would refuse to take the "mark" of such a numbering system.) > (6) Our livestock would become part of the "national herd." (Plan, p. >8) > >Not only would small farm operators be negatively affected by the NAIS, >but this legislation will do serious damage to feed store owners, farm >supply houses, hatcheries that sell and ship day-old poultry, and other >businesses frequented by farmers. > >The most common types of meat contamination in the U.S. are the >occurrences of pathogens such as Listeria or E. Coli in processed meat. >When meat becomes contaminated at a large packing plant, millions of >consumers in all 50 states are exposed to the dangerous product. >Government should enact a law to closer scrutinize the large commercial >confinement food sources such as the giant broiler operations, the feed >yards that produce beef, the large commercial turkey operations, laying >houses, and the confinement hog farms. Because of over-crowded >conditions and the general biological by-products of animal production, >these are the places most likely to contribute in the spreading of >infectious disease, not the premises of small producers. If our >government is indeed concerned with BSE, why does it not test every >slaughtered animal? In fact, if you look at the USDA's prior actions, >you will see it does not care to test every animal slaughtered and in >fact forbids it. > >After the mad-cow scare in 2003, Kansas based Creekstone Farms in Ark >City asked the USDA for permission to test every animal slaughtered at >its facility, at its own expense, so that it could continue to export >its beef to Japan, however, the USDA forbid such testing. The reason, it >seems, is because large-scale packing plants like Tyson, Smithfield, >Swift & Co., and Excel Corp. do not want to do such intensive testing >and these companies control approximately 80% of the meat-packing >industry. As a result of this decision, and the loss of export to Japan, >Creekstone had to lay off approximately 150 of its 800 workers. > >Because small-scale farmers were not informed of the proposed NAIS >legislation, it appears that we are willing to enter a 'voluntary' >program as a justification of making the NAIS mandatory. We are not. >Please protect the rights of those who have had no representation and, >ironically, the very ones that have the most to lose - our very way of >life. > >Implementing the NAIS without allowing producers, rather than >organizations, to have input and a voice is, in my mind, a grave >disservice to all farm families. This program would create millions of >criminals out of honest people on the small family farms and homesteads; >those who refuse to surrender their rights without a fight. The NAIS and >this type of program is in direct opposition to the core values that >this country was built upon! > >The projected estimate for implementation of this plan is 33 billion >dollars. Let that sink in for a second. $33,000,000,000.00 to simply >implement the plan. That doesn't include the costs to maintain it once >it's begun. That is $115.78 for every single man, woman and child in the >US. It does not include the costs for farmers to microchip their animals >either, so those who raise the food get to pay even more for this plan. >Those who raise food for their own consumption have absolutely no way of >recouping the cost of this program, either, whereas commercial >operations will pass the cost onto the consumer. > >This plan cannot and will not do anything to make our food supply safer >at all. It's purportedly necessary to protect us from potential >bio-terrorism. How? It's impossible to protect anything through >registration. The only thing that can be done is to trace its movements >from point A to B to C, on and on ad infintum, and destroy the small >farmer's ability to provide for themselves. This plan will create a >veritable monopoly by corporate agriculture and thereby seriously >endanger our national economy and our food supply by creating a society >that is 100 percent dependent on the government for their food needs. >Those of us who value self-sufficiency and personal responsibility >reject this mindset wholeheartedly! > >If the real purpose of NAIS is to track the food supply for instances >like mad cow disease then: > >1) NAIS is not necessary for horses, donkeys, guardian animals or other >non-food animals - these animals are not going to enter the human food >chain in our country and should NOT be tracked by the government. There >are already safeguards in place for preventing the spread of disease in >horses. Regulations that would require implantation of a chip to track >movement and registration of premises keyed to Global Positioning System >coordinates is an invasion of privacy and makes no sense for a hobby >farmer who raises alpacas or a family with a pet pony. > >2) NAIS is not necessary for sales direct to the consumer from the farm. >In these cases there is already far better tracking of the food chain. I >am more confident in the safety of food raised on small farms than that >which is commercially raised in confined, disease-promoting >environments, pumped full of vaccines and antibiotics to counter the >effect of confinement and mass slaughtered in unsanitary packing plants >where the employees have no personal pride in the quality of the product >they touch each and every day. If NAIS is forced on small hobby farmers >and homesteaders, hundreds of thousands if not millions of individuals >may have to give up farming if they cannot afford expensive RFID readers >or cannot keep up with the excessive reporting required by NAIS. > >3) NAIS should not be at all involved with people who are raising >livestock for their own family consumption. They know exactly where the >food came from - they raised it. There is no need to have any government >involved in our own kitchens and food that we raise in our own >backyards. I see raising food for our families as a basic human right >that should not be interfered with by government. > >4) NAIS is a violation of the religious freedoms of Americans whose >beliefs make it impossible for them to comply. For example, the Amish >choose to farm and live without technology according to their beliefs >and this system is a threat to their way of life. > >NAIS if implemented, should be required only for those large commercial >operations where the health, welfare, and safety of livestock is >disregarded in favor of profit. Commercial operations are responsible >for the bulk of the meat and dairy product consumed throughout the >United States, and they are responsible for the vast majority of disease >and illness and contamination found in these products. They can absorb >the cost of such an endeavor; the small family farmer cannot and should >not! > >Inclusion of small farmers, homesteaders, and backyard hobbyists >requiring identification of animals that will never make it into in the >food chain, or even requiring pets be identified strongly suggests >ulterior motives by the government such as invasion of privacy. The >plan, as it stands, will undoubtedly result in financial hardship for >those already at risk, serving only to enhance the bottom line of >special interest groups. Further, the overwhelming scope of such an >endeavor begs failure as tracking the movement of animals, such as >horses, will require considerable resources while providing no >subsequent value to protection of the food chain. > >I am extremely skeptical whether our government would be capable of >tracking every single animal born for the entirety of its life. Given >the failure of our government to track illegal aliens in this country, I >cannot believe it will be able to track every single chicken hatched on >a small farm. Even those members of Government who promote this plan >realize this is impossible, which is why the sole responsibility has >been placed squarely on the shoulders of those individuals who do not >accept this program! As such, any failures will be a result of owner >error and will result in fines being levied on these individuals. The >government is implementing a program that they know cannot work while >taking no responsibility for its failures! > >I ask that you familiarize yourself with the details of the National >Animal Identification System and consider the consequences to the >personal freedoms and religious beliefs which our forefathers, brothers, >sisters, sons and daughters have fought and died for, and continue to >fight, so bravely to defend. In my humble opinion this is the most >destructive proposal against personal liberty that I have yet to >encounter. > > Laura Haggarty > www.pathfindersfarm.com > >(put your full address and phone number here for publication, most >newspapers require it.) > > > > >[Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > >Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > > > > > > > >Community email addresses: > Post message: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > List owner: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >Shortcut URL to this page: > http://www.onelist.com/community/PasturedPigs >Yahoo! Groups Links > ><*> To visit your group on the web, go to: > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PasturedPigs/ > ><*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > ><*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: > http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ > _______________________________________________ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
