Here come Big Brother and the Chicken Police

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Here come Big Brother and the Chicken Police

JoAnn Guest

Apr 28, 2006 20:34 PDT

 

Here come Big Brother and the Chicken Police

by Rabbi Yonassan Gershom

 

According to an article by Dr. Mary Zanoni, PH.D., in the Feb/Mar

2006

issue of " Backyard Poultry " , Big Brother is about to invade the

backyards of every American who owns even one single animal that

could

conceivably be used as food. Even if you are a vegan and never use

any

animal products yourself, you should be concerned about this issue,

because, if passed, the new U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)

regulations could spell the end of the animal welfare movement and

the

triumph of factory-farm agribusiness.

 

 

--------------------------------

For several years now, the USDA has been asking the big producers in

the meat, egg, and dairy industries to voluntarily register their

herds

and flocks under the proposed " National Animal Identification

System "

(NAIS). The goal, if the USDA has its way, is to make this

registration

MANDATORY by January 1, 2008 -- and not just for commercial

producers.

Even if you have only one chicken, turkey, goat, goose, duck, sheep,

pig, cow, horse (yes, some people do eat horse meat), ostrich, emu

or

whatever -- and even if they are beloved pets that you never plan to

sell or eat, you will still be required to:

Register your farm or backyard flock with the USDA, including your

name,

address, telephone number, and Global Positioning System coordinates

for

satellite-assisted location of your home and farm. You will then

receive

a 7-digit " premises ID number " to use in all reports to the USDA.

(By

doing this, you are essentially consenting to be spied upon.)

Register each animal individually and receive a separate 15-digit

number

for each animal. This will then be programmed into a microchip and

implanted the animal at YOUR expense.

Report within 24 hours the birth, death, sale, or any movement of

each

animal to or from your property (even to take it to the county fair

or

the vet!) -- again at YOUR expense.

If this sounds like some kind of weird conspiracy theory to you,

check

it out for yourself at the official NAIS website

(http://www.usda.gov/nais). There you will find an overview of the

plan

and the stages for implimenting it, plus updates and statistics on

your

own state, including how many animal owners have voluntarily

complied

with the request to register their premises. (The microchips will

come

later.) The USDA, in turn, is using this " voluntary compliance " data

as

" proof " that people don't object to this program -- even though most

people with backyard flocks don't even know about it. At least one

state, Wisconsin, has already made registration mandatory, with over

100,000 homes and farms registered. Other states are soon to follow,

unless people wake up to what is happening and understand the REAL

implications of this for the humane and organic movements.

 

Although this is being touted by the USDA as a way to track animals

in

case of an outbreak of a disease or pandemic such as Asian bird flu,

the

reality is, that it will hit hardest on small organic and niche

farmers,

people who want to raise their own eggs or meat, hobbyists who enjoy

the

animals as pets, and anyone who prefers free-run poultry or eggs to

those from factory farms. There are NO EXCEPTIONS to NAIS, not even

for

people like the Amish, who, for religious reasons, do not use

electronic

devices. In short, this could spell the end of the family farm as we

know it. Mary Zanoni writes in her article:

 

" The NAIS will drive small producers out of the market, will make

people

abandon raising animals for their own food, will invade Americans'

personal privacy, and will violate the religious freedom of

Americans

whose beliefs make it impossible for them to comply. The NAIS will

also

encourage increased industrial-scale animal farming, and discourage

the

humane, small-scale production of animal foods. " (Source: " The

USDA's

proposed 'National Animal Identification System': A plan for

Government

Monitoring and your Flock, " Backyard Poultry, Feb/Mar 2006, p. 44)

 

And get this: The big companies, like National Pork Producers and

Cargill Meats, get special breaks and considerations. Rather than

mark

each animal individually, they can register a whole flock of poultry

under a single ID number as the birds move through the system from

chick

to market. But backyard poultry owners, small-scale farmers, or even

classroom incubator projects will have to individually register EACH

CHICK as it is hatched, as well as keep up with all the paperwork

that

will entail. The extra costs of all this red tape in time, labor,

and

equipment (including the microchips and the computer with internet

access needed for the " within 24 hours " reports) will NOT be funded

by

the government. Even the USDA admits this on their site. For small-

scale

family farms already on the edge economically, this additional

bureaucratic burden will be the death knell.

 

So I ask myself: Are the USDA and the meat industry using the " mad

cow "

and " bird flu " scares to get this plan implimented without public

protest? Quite possibly. It is no accident that recent news stories

about bird flu show free-run birds being hauled off by workers in

anti-contamination suits, while, at the same time, touting

the " safety "

of poultry raised under roofs or in cages in the commercial [read

" factory farm " ] industry. Even though Asian bird flu is difficult to

catch unless you are actually slaughtering birds, people are now

panicking over it. To the general public, the NAIS plan probably

sounds

like a nice, modern, efficient way to protect the food supply. But

people in the organic, vegetarian, and animal welfare movements know

that meat produced in factory farms and feedlots is MORE likely to

pose

a threat to public health. " Mad cow " disease, for example, is not

caused

by free-run cattle grazing in a field. It is caused by feeding cows

commercial feeds contaminated with the virus from ground-up animal

parts

-- something a cow would never choose to eat in its natural diet. As

Zanoni explains:

 

" The NAIS is touted by the USDA and agricorporations as a way to

make

our food supply 'secure' against diseases or terrorism. However,

most

people instinctively understand that real food security comes from

raising food yourself or buying it from a local farmer you actually

know... Ultimately, if NAIS goes into effect, more consumers will

have

to buy food produced by the large-scale industrial methods which

multiply the effects of any food safety and disease problems. (Ibid,

p.

45)

 

What can you do? Zanoni recommends that small-scale farmers and

backyard

animal owners should NOT participate in any so-called " voluntary "

NAIS

registration programs. I agree. Instead, we should get organized and

create an effective movement against this unholy marriage between

the

USDA and the argricorps. Here are some activist suggestions:

 

Educate yourself on this issue by going to the NAIS site

(http://www.usda.gov/nais). Then read up on the realities of factory

farms, disease control, family farm economics, etc.

Work to make the public, and especially those in the animal welfare

movements, aware of this well-kept secret that Big Brother has not

been

telling us about. Write letters to the editors of your local papers,

email your contacts, etc.

Talk to your local farmers, Humane societies, animal activist

groups,

hobbyists, etc. and make them aware of this program and its negative

implact on farms and farm animals. Hand out info at farmers'

markets,

coops, organic food stores, etc.

Write to your Congresspersons and tell them you are opposed to this

plan. Suggest that money be spent instead to develop a bird flu

vaccine,

as has been done with other poultry diseases in the past.

As an act of civil disobedience on behalf of the animals, REFUSE to

cooperate with this program, on the grounds that it violates your

beliefs about kindness to animals by forcing them to be raised under

factory farm conditions.

Organize public protests whenever a USDA representative comes to

your

area to speak on behalf of the program. Challenge him/her with your

questions during the discussion period. You won't convince the

speaker,

but the audience is listening.

Join " Farm for Life, " an organization formed to combat NAIS and

promote

healthier, more sustainable agriculture. For more info on " Farm for

Life, " contact Mary Zanoni at ml-, or call 1-315-265-2800.

And remember -- the NAIS is not yet law -- but it soon will be,

unless

people speak out and prevent it.

 

The time to act is now!!!

 

Rabbi Gershom

 

http://www.vegsource.com/articles2/gershom_big_brother.htm

 

JoAnn Guest

mrsjo-

www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest/Diets