NAIS threatens to wipe out family farms

[Guest guest]

I've sent a couple short mentions about the USDA's National Animal

Identity System to the Cow conference over the past couple months. I

was wondering what the implications would be for Krsna's cows and oxen

in the U.S.

 

I now find the answer: The long term implication is that they could all

be wiped out.

 

I'm not sure how many devotees on this conference own any type of

animals in the U.S., but the ramifications of this policy are

overwhelming and most grim.

 

The whole program, which I guess is already slated to go into effect

over the next few years, is so bizarre that I hardly know where to start

discribing it.

 

If anyone is in India at the GBC meetings, I hope they would notify the

GBC about this, and request that ISKCON take some public stand against NAIS.

 

Basically, by the year 2009 every farm in the U.S. which has animals

would be required to pay to register itself by GPS coordinates. And

every animal (except cats and dogs) would have to have an animal ID --

either an radio-eartag or an implanted micro-chip. This means all

animals -- cows, horses, sheep, lamas, pigs. chickens, peacocks -- they

claim this will even apply to commercially grown fish. (The exception

-- so far -- would be animals that are born and raised without ever

leaving the premises, for their whole life.)

 

And, every farmer would be required to keep records every time an animal

comes and goes from the premises, dies, loses a tag, replaces a tag, etc.

 

And, who would manage this all this data about Bhumi the cow, and Dharma

the bull and Gopal the peacock on a Krsna conscious farm? Would it be

the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture)? No, it will be a

private corporation, most likely the NCBA (National Cattlemen's Beef

Association). Do we really a very powerful beef association to have

information on Bhumi and Dharma?

 

What I have written here is just a sketch of the whole program. The

best source of info that I have seen so far is 2 or 3 articles in the

current issue of Small Farmer's Journal. You can order a copy on their

website

 

http://www.smallfarmersjournal.com/

 

Where it says "Winter 2006 contents" you can download the PDF of Lynn

Miller's editorial against NAIS -- but there is also another, more

clearly documented article in the Journal.

 

The odd thing about this, is that it is mostly about producing meat

animals. The big agribusiness companies are trying to use their

influence in Washington to expand their operations, and shut down small

farmers. For the most part, the small farmers want to produce their own

meat animals independently. So they are fighting back. Some groups,

such as the Amish, object to this animal ID system, because it's pretty

much described as a satanic policy in Revelations.

 

So, it's meat-eaters vs. meat-eaters -- but the protected animals owned

by ISKCON and individual devotees are standing to be harmed or even

slaughtered if NAIS goes into effect. This puts us in the weird

position of having to pick which group of meat-eaters we will stand with.

 

Anyway, I don't have the time to write out a careful article at this

point -- but I really would like the GBC to hear about this, while

everyone is gathered in Mayapur, if anyone can relay the message. I

realize that cow protection is a pretty low priority in ISKCON, but I'm

thinking possibly they could become interested enough to vote on a

position, and issue a press release. That would be especially helpful

for public relations for devotee farmer in the U.S. who are going to

have to fight this.

 

Here are a couple of websites:

 

http://nonais.org/index.php/2006/02/21/fax-storm-alert-radio/

 

http://www.stopanimalid.org/

 

That's all for now. I just wanted to get the word out.

 

your servant,

 

Hare Krsna dasi