Farm Bill Update: Harmful Provisions Defeated

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WHOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOO! Take THAT Charles Stenholm and ALL OF YOU AGGIES! Farm Bill Update: Harmful Provisions Defeated Thanks to the efforts of grassroots activists, two harmful provisions in the 2007 Farm Bill were defeated when on July 6, when the House Agriculture Committee voted to remove both Section 123 and a $12 million veal subsidy from the bill.Section 123 had specified that "no State

or locality shall make any law prohibiting the use in commerce of an article that the Secretary of Agriculture has (1) inspected and passed; or (2) determined to be of non-regulated status." If passed, it could have stricken numerous state and local laws—including recently-passed prohibitions against horse slaughter, gestation crates and foie gras production.The second harmful provision, a subsidy to the veal industry, would have granted $12 million to compensate the veal industry for its recent financial losses. Veal consumption has suffered a sharp decline in recent years in the U.S., owing to consumer disproval of the cruelties involved in veal production.Background:On Thursday, May 24, the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy and Poultry added an amendment to the Farm Bill granting the veal industry $12 million of tax payer money in subsidies. The Farm Bill is a massive piece of legislation, addressed every five to seven

years, that allocates money to and decides policies for various agricultural programs.This move doesn't just support the veal industry. It shows exactly how out of touch members of this subcommittee are with the sentiments of the American public, who overwhelmingly oppose crated veal production. The subcommittee's antiquated attitudes place the interests of big agribusiness over those of the public or of animal welfare. Just weeks earlier, on May 8, 2007, Farm Sanctuary addressed members of the subcommittee during a hearing on farm animal welfare issues. Farm Sanctuary President Gene Baur took the committee members to task for their refusal to address the cruelty of factory farming confinement systems like gestation crates, veal crates, and battery cages, as well as the abuses of animals at stockyards and slaughterhouses. Speaking of the subcommittee's failure to respond to public concerns, Gene testified, Voluntary "humane" standards that have been developed by producer groups are grossly inadequate…Agribusiness, like other business, is driven largely by the desire to make a profit, a priority that tends to limit perspective and undermine the ability to objectively assess whether particular farming practices are humane. Put on the defensive, former Texas Congressman Charles Stenholm, now a lobbyist for the livestock and horse slaughter industry, told hearing attendees that animal protection advocates are winning the public relations battle regarding the treatment of animals raised for food. He warned lawmakers not adopt "emotionally based regulations." He and his factory farming cohorts believe that

agribusiness should decide how it should be regulated and that the public should not influence on the way that billions of farm animals are raised and killed every year in the U.S. Supporting this industry-friendly notion, Ranking Member Robin Hayes declared that farmers and ranchers "should be dictating animal husbandry practices." The attitude was hardly surprising, considering that the subcommittee has been overtly hostile to animal welfare issues. For the past decade, it has infamously refused to even allow bills addressing animal welfare, such as the Downed Animal Protection Act, from being heard. At the May 8 hearing, the committee invited only two animal advocates, Gene from Farm Sanctuary and Wayne Pacelle of the Humane Society of the U.S., and more than 10 industry voices.But the hostility of the subcommittee has been unable to stop the spate of recent, momentous victories for farm animals, including bans on foie gras in California and Chicago, horse slaughter in Texas and Illinois, and veal and gestation crates in Arizona. These victories, achieved in only the last few years, have made it clearer than ever that despite the factory farming industry's best attempts to forestall change, reforms are all but inevitable. As Gene concluded in his address to the subcommittee, "it's also important for people to make informed decisions, and whether

individuals decide to eat animals or not, it is apparent that practices currently employed in production agriculture are repugnant to most citizens. The law currently fails to require basic humane consideration for farm animals. At the very least, laws should be enacted to eliminate the cruelest farming practices (e.g. veal crates, battery cages, gestation crates, foie gras production) and to bring agricultural practices more into line with societal values." Click here to read Gene's written testimony, and his follow up

comments submitted for the record. More background information on the issues of factory farming can be found at www.factoryfarming.com. Bored stiff? Loosen up...Download and play hundreds of games for free on Games.

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