Dr. Mercola May 25 2007 2,605 views
You may have heard about the National Animal ID System (NAIS) already, but what you may not know is the detrimental impact this program may have on your future ability to buy organically farmed meats.
The NAIS calls for the registration of all livestock premises and individual animals, and the tracking of all animal movements. The animals included in this corporate greed scheme are not limited to specific disease-prone varieties like chickens, cows and pigs, but includes all livestock, such as horses, llamas, sheep, goats, ducks, geese and turkeys.
Livestock premises include your backyard, traveling fairgrounds, mom-‘n-pop miniature farms and that barn where you keep your riding horse. The system proposes that each animal be micro-chipped and tagged with a seven-digit number, which is then registered in a national database along with its Global Positioning System coordinates, plus the name, phone number and address of the owner. Any time an animal leaves the premises, it would have to be reported to the database within 48 hours.
Now, if you don’t have chickens pecking in your yard, or keep a pet llama for the amusement of your kids, you may think you don’t care about any of this. However, any time the government decides to impose crazy regulations, it eventually turns out to affect the health and welfare of the average American.
In this case, organic farmers across the nation have blown the whistle, calling attention to the cost-prohibiting factor of this venture. Corporate-grown livestock would be allowed to be tagged as lots (as they are herded together by the thousands and never see the light of day), which wouldn’t cost these large-scale manufacturers much. They already have the mechanics in place for tagging and tracking.
Organic farmers and small private farms, on the other hand, are looking at adding unreasonable, fixed costs. This may either drive up prices for organic meats, or worse, drive them out of business altogether.
Agribusiness and veterinary pharmaceutical giants, including Cargill, Monsanto, the National Pork Producers and Pfizer, concocted the program together with manufacturers of animal ID and tracking systems. It’s quite clear who stands to gain from this expensive, intrusive, anti-natural foods system. All the more reason to stand behind our local farmers and put our money where it belongs—out of big business’ pockets, and in our local food growers’.
Mother Earth News June/July 2007
Dear Islander,I was very interested in reading your comments about the the two organizations with which you seem familiar: International Advocates for Health Freedom (IAHF) led by John Hammell and Natural Solutions Foundation (NSF) led by Dr. Rima Laibow. I am currently on Dr. Laibow's e-mail list.
Dr. Laibow, too, is very passionate and strident about her position regarding Codex Alimentarius and the FDA. I'm not sure yet how I feel about her position on what needs to be done or her strategy for accomplishing her goals. I find it curious, however, that someone or some organization keeps "maiming" her web site (as she claims has happened recently). If some organization is deliberately trying to disable her web site, then I see the following possibilities: (1) she has some vengeful enemies on the activitist side of the fence (this possibility is very disheartening), (2) some very powerful, shady people (secret henchmen working for Big Pharma, Big Chemica, etc. corporate conglomerates) are trying to shut her up and severely hamper her ability to communicate with her supporters, (3) she has made some governmental organizations very nervous (USFDA, UN-WHO, whatever), and they have found some "creative" ways to try to shut her up, and (4) maybe a combination of #1, #2, and #3. Who knows?
It's really too bad that leaders in the Health Freedom movement don't work together more to consolidate precious time, energy, financial resources, and credibility. My guess is that these various leaders just don't see eye-to-eye on what the worst problems/offenses are and/or which appropriate strategies or solutions are best to ensure that we keep the health freedoms we still now have.
Based on your comment, I will sign up for the IAHF e-mail list as well. Since I don't really have time to check out extensively which organization I should support, it is helpful to see your comments.
Hi readers:Here's an important point to consider--the USDA has not been able to properly run the meat and poultry inspection program for at least 40 years now. I used to work for a USDA agency in Washington, DC many years ago. I've never forgotten something that another agency employee told me. Before his Washington, DC job, he was a poultry inspector in North Carolina. He said that the meat and poutry inspection program had many problems and that there were too few meat and poultry inspectors to go around--and this was back in the 1960's!!. Fast forward to 2007. Do you think that the inspection program now has a sufficient number of inspectors? Of course not. A huge chunk of the US budget is going to fight the Iraq war. Hire more inspectors to try to prevent ever larger amounts of E. coli and Salmonella-tainted meat and poultry from reaching American consumers? Oh, perish the thought, maybe later...
Now the USDA thinks that it can administer a program to track every animal used for food in the USA? Where is the money going to come from to run this program? Does anyone believe that the USDA can run this NAIS program more efficiently than the meat and poultry inspection program? We-e-ell, of course NOT!!
As several people have posted here, this NAIS plan would benefit ONLY the huge Big Agribiz and food manufacturing corporate conglomerates and severely and negatively affect the financial health of small family-run (small operation) farms. This plan is EXTRAORDINARILY UNFAIR to small-operation farmers--and for the rest of us, a huge potential threat to our ability to buy wholesome organic meat and poultry from our local, small-operation farmers.
THIS IS WAR, people, American consumers versus the Big Agribiz and food manufacturing corporate conglomerates and their puppets, the regulatory US and state agencies.