This isn’t an animal rights blog, it’s not a health blog, and it’s not a political blog. It’s a good food blog. That’s why I’m taking my first public stand on an issue here on the blog; because there’s an issue on the ballot in Ohio tomorrow that can mean a lot to the quality of food available in the state.
Let me start with the background. The Humane Society of the United States has brought several successful ballot initiatives in other states — Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Maine, Michigan, and Oregon — to prohibit the use of “inhumane confinement devices”. In simple terms, that means you can’t put livestock in pens and boxes so small the animal can’t stand up or turn around.
Rather than wait for the HSUS to come to Ohio and try to defeat them, agribusiness interests placed an issue on the ballot to amend the state constitution creating a regulatory agency for agribusiness. That means their regulations — with the force of the constitution — could not be overruled by a simple ballot initiative, or even a law passed by the state legislature.
And 11 of the 13 members of the board are appointed by the Governor. If you think the wishes of average citizens will carry much weight in that environment, you don’t understand much about politics.
It doesn’t just affect me here in Ohio. Even the supporters of Issue 2 are saying:
“Other states are watching Ohio and how we deal with this initiative,” Specht said. “We stood up to the HSUA and said we are going to fight this.”“If Ohio goes so will go the Midwest,” said Jon Jones.
Supporters of Issue 2 have raised $3.6 million to promote it, compared to $3,600 by opponents. Which is why if you’ve heard anything, you’ve probably heard a very one-sided view of it so far.
So you can check out the other side of the story at the Humane Society’s page. Or look at this writeup from another blogger who focuses on the human health aspects of factory farmed livestock:
Factory farming is linked to disease in animals and to contamination of our nation’s food supply. Acid-resistant e-coli — the strain that sickens so many people and can be fatal — is a result of factory farming. Researchers have found 315 times the amount of acid-resistant e-coli in factory farmed beef than in grass-fed, free-range beef. Moreover, people who consume factory farmed eggs are 250% more likely to contract salmonella than those who do not consume eggs from battery cage hens. Moreover, factory farming is also strong factor in the emergence of H5N1 (bird flu) and H1N1 (swine flu). Factory farms contaminate the environment as well by spreading animal waste into the waterways — sickening other animals and humans too.
If you’re in Ohio, remember to vote tomorrow. And when you do, please vote “No” on Issue 2.
11 Comments
I hate to think what pain and suffering these poor animals endure. And you are right, we end up with diseases like mad cow. There is no reason (except greed) that animals can't be treated humanly.
By the way – I made your Simple Apple Bundt Cake. Looks fab but I won't cut into it till later.
Thanks.
If I lived in Ohio, I would vote NO on Issue 2, but as I don't you have my moral support.
In addition to the deplorable conditions the animals are kept, be aware that under such conditions, these animals are pumped with antibiotics to keep them healthy while they live their lives hoof deep (or worse) in their own waste.
See the article, "7 foods that should never cross your lips" in the November 2009 Prevention Magazine (pg 79) and PBS Frontline web article at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/meat/safe/overview.html which discusses "growth promoting antibiotics" in food animals.
Buy grass-fed beef not corn-fed if you can afford it. It is more nutritious than corn-fed because God/nature intended bovines to eat grass like they have been doing for millennia.
Did you see the article on Grist.com
It is worth reading!
http://www.grist.org/article/if-you-cant-beat-em-cheat-em/
One "No" vote on issue 2 tomorrow. I had been wondering what that was about.
Thanks for taking a stand
(comment is anonymous because I don't want to give out my email, sorry)
DataPlus (by the way, great name, I'll bet your parents are real fun people), mad cow, E coli, antibiotic resistant bacteria … what's not to love?
Beth, every time I see a pointer to that show it's just after it airs.
Kimberly, that's a great article. Perfect for people who aren't worried about health issues, but are allergic to political abuses. Thanks for the link.
Anon, I don't think anyone has ever credited me with swaying a vote before. That's cool.
An important topic–we lived in Florida when the so called "pregnant pig amendment" was up for a vote.
Hope the Nos prevail in this.
Bright side: consumers vote with their money. And CAFOs can legislate until every poo lagoon in the country is brimming and every rain sends the overflow into the local water supply, but in the end it's not going to win back their market share.
Sooner or later, food that is produced by increasing soil fertility and depth, decreases allergy reactions, and (of course) tastes better will prevail. Maybe when all the silly regulations are lifted it might even be cheaper than current CAFOs meat.
Well, it wasn't even close. With the amount of money spent to promote it, I'm not surprised. They did a very good job of describing the changes in favorable terms, while leaving out the real intent — squashing real reform.
thpt, I appreciate your optimism, but right now I'm having a little trouble sharing it.
Drew, if you have time, check out "everything I want to do is illegal". It's a book written by the kind of farmer we would all like to buy from — dedicated, responsible, beyond organic, educated, and EXPANDING. Though he details many of the insane things regulations make him and his customers do, the whole thing is uplifting.
In the face of crushing regulations, the market share for humanely raised, local, sustainable foods that increase soil, watershed, and local quality is growing. By leaps and bounds.
And it's not the 'legal' way to do it. Really innovative, healing processes are nothing the current extablishment has seen before — all new and untested, untried. The companies that would fund FDA studies cannot make money off Kelp to cure pinkeye. So it's never been tested. They just keep injecting expensive antibiotics directly into the sclera. Innovative processes could never possibly be 'legal'. As Salatin explains, 'legal' means that at least 51% of the population is behind it — so it cannot BY DEFINITION be innovative.
It's the people who take the time to research, to find the good foods, who want to get away from allergens, who care about what they feed to their families who will sway this. Not regulations. Regulations say "no, can't do this". That's not the path. The quickest and most direct path is in the nooks, thumbnail holds, quietly around the edges, like weeds in a lot. It's vigorous and encroaching, not neat or regulated and it doesn't give a crap about where "can't" begins or ends. "Can't" applies to Safeway, not to Aunt Sarah's side of beef in the freezer.
We're weeds. Choose where you spend your money and you can be the forest reclaiming the old Concentrated Feeding Animal Poomaking Operation, or you can be the CAFO.
Me? I'm gonna be a thistle.
After reading this and several other sites in the last year I went out and got the movie Food Inc. Lets say for my husband and I it was an eye opener. We have now found a farmer that sells grass fed cow, pig and chicken and turkeys. We now shop at Whole Foods and our local farmers markets when we can. It is not cheaper but it does make a difference. Pollan and Salatin are right we vote every time we eat. Now if we can get the fast food joints off the street! In a 5 block radius of my house, and I live in the county, we have about 40 to 50 fast food joints and mom and pop frying places. These companies need to be held accountable for what they do. What drove americans to get away from dairy delievery, butchers and farmers into supermarkets?? That is what I am curious about. The grass fed meats and dairy is so good and how did they dull their tastebuds to this crap we eat now? Laws like this or bills like this should never even come into being.
Jonica, "How we got here" is actually pretty easy to understand. At first, farmers sold food to the people who ate it. Then as farms and towns grew, grocery stores and other distributors bought from farmers and sold to consumers.
Once there was a middleman, they wanted to turn all food into a "commodity", meaning every egg is the same as ever other egg; every steak is the same as every other steak. This is good for the distributors, as they can then make the growers compete with each other on price.
Once food was a commodity, and producers were competing on price, it was in their interest to be as big as the middleman, so they could take some of the negotiating power back. Now it's huge producers and huge distributors, with everyone in the system competing on price, figuring out how to squeeze another penny per pound out of everything they make.