The agriculture regulators who work so hard to prevent us from obtaining raw milk, or try insanely to register every chicken, goat, and horse in the country, like to think they hold the power to make us follow whatever crazy rules they come up with.
To a certain extent they can, but underneath their bravado, the regulators are well aware of an important truism: the public must be in general agreement for their regulations to work. Or, put another way, if those being regulated disapprove, they will find all kinds of ways around onerous regulations.
The National Animal Identification System (NAIS) is a case in point. The fact that the all-powerful U.S. Department of Agriculture, with the help of its lap dog state ag friends pushing as hard as they can, has been able to only gain one-third farmer compliance after five years of intensive effort on NAIS is testimony to the farm community’s resistance.
The reason USDA is suddenly pushing so hard on such things as “listening sessions” isn’t that the agency wants to gain feedback from farmers—it knows full well how much most hate NAIS—but rather the agency hopes to fool farmers into thinking they have a say. The Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund reported in a press release that at the first such listening session in Harrisburg, PA, Friday, 27 of 36 individuals who testified spoke against NAIS. I’m not going out on much of a limb to predict this effort will fail as fully as previous such efforts.
The real message here is that USDA is very worried that NAIS could collapse of its own unnecessary weight, and the active refusal of farmers to participate.
Implicit in comments from Sylvia Gibson and Hugh Betcha on my previous post, individuals are increasingly looking for ways around, between, or outside the regulatory meddling. They want to establish their farms and raise their herds and quietly market their raw milk or cheese or grass-fed beef outside the view of nosy and interfering regulators.
Last week, Lykke wondered if “farmers starting-up a raw milk business have adequate information from the various sources (government, university extension, farm advisors, advocacy groups). I hunt around the web and find so little about the process, best approaches (including how to navigate through the regulations, private lab tests, government testing programs, etc.).”
The obvious answer is that the establishment organizations don’t want farmers to have such information, since raw dairy production may offer them a way to raise themselves by their bootstraps, and Big Ag wouldn’t want that. But even if the USDA and state ag agencies decided they really wanted to economically help their constituencies, I venture it would take a lot of outreach to convince farmers to participate. Given the current regulation-happy approach, farmers are doing everything they can to stay off the radar screen, for fear of being registered, or even noticed.
***
Speaking of regulators, thanks to Amanda Rose for her offer last week to host a book reading/slumber party at her place in California in early October in honor of my upcoming book about raw milk. And to Lykke and Concerned Person for offering support.
We should have some early copies of the book available. I’d like to second Amanda’s encouragement to the regulator types to partake. Despite all my tough talk, I don’t bite. And the book portrays some as real people with real concerns. Besides I can’t wait to see regulators in pajamas.
David, it is difficult to have respect, let alone trust into any entity that allows the on-goings in the above link. It is the same with poultry and bovines and I would bet other animal feed lots.
Why it is ok for this toxic swill? It must be ok as they "allow" it for years to go on.
If tptb wished to assist all farmers then all information would be easily accessable.
I’m not sure that I wish to "market" milk, there is much I don’t know about milking, etc. I would learn for my private use ( I also have found limited information on safe procedures), and I have no problem paying someone to milk for me. A cow share would be an option for me, if that is an easier way for me to obtain milk. I have no problem learning to make cheese either (it’s the milking I’d rather not do dialy if I don’t have to). But, if that is the only way to obtain fresh milk, then that is what I will learn. I need real cream for my coffee and pastries. Taking excess produce to a farmers market would be an option.
Michael Pollan: Don’t Buy Any Food You’ve Ever Seen Advertised
Why pigs have their tails cut off and more.
Interesting interview however I dont share his hopefull outlook concerning the new folks in town that will guide the USDA policies over the next few years the last 70 have not work out very well for the small family farmer or consumer. Why should one think anything will "change" but thats the "promise" we always hear.
The "approved" CAFOs are a criminal enterprise {IMHO] and they produce food that produces nutritional starvation that inturn provides the unending growth for what we call the Health Care System which inturn is helping to bankrupt our once wealthy and once healthier nation.
http://obamafoodorama.blogspot.com/2009/05/dr-thomas-frieden-chief-of-donut-police.html
But, really look at where/how the disaster probably began and think if NAIS would have helped…more than likely, someone brought illegal foods into the country from a place with the foot and mouth disease virus occurs. They probably thought it was not big deal. Many of us sneak cheeses, sausages, etc. back from travel in our suitcases. But, maybe they also happened to have pigs in the yard – and threw them the scraps.
Sh*t happens. Here’s where it can get bad. If the pigs get sick from those out of country scraps, and then infect a neighbor’s sheep. If the sheep then moved around sick……then the disease spreads and spreads and spreads.
In that scenario, couldn’t the disease have been controlled locally before it got out of hand? No NAIS. Could the farmers and local vets have stopped it? Did they need a big NAIS to realize that sending diseased animals to other farms was a bad idea? In that situation, it was not controlled until it was widespread. Why?
Where does farmer responsibility end and government intervention begin? That is at the core of NAIS. Bottom line: can farmers be the first line of defense? IMHO, if they are not engaged, there is no government system to fix it. We will have more outbreaks.
All the tags and technology in the world will not make up for a concerned, smart farmer that recognizes a screw up (or prevents it to begin with – bringing in illegal feed).
NAIS is failing because "you can’t fix stupid." But, IMHO those millions could have been spent better in education and developing trust with farmers to "do the right thing" in not spreading a disease.
http://mark.asci.ncsu.edu/HealthyHogs/book2001/snelson.htm
"It has been reported that the FMD virus was introduced into the UK in early February, 2001 in contaminated meat products that were subsequently fed to swine in northeastern Great Britain. The virus spread to adjacent sheep, which were then transported to numerous sites across Great Britain."
Last I read the 2001 "OUTBREAK" of Hoof and Mouth disease in the UK was a fault of a "Science Lab" "foul up" OOPS. And 2 weeks ago The Weather Channel ran a story on the Sahara desert describing how winds carry the sands all over the world and even onto the pastures in the UK. And now "some" scientists are "starting" to think that the deserts sands brought the Hoof and Mouth disease to the UK. I did not make this up! But as an old song gos " Fairy tales can come true it can happen to you if you are young at heart" Or maybe if we have our heads burried in the desert sands.
Now back to business another MSM article.
Chicago Sun Times
http://www.suntimes.com/lifestyles/health/1577317,CST-NWS-rawmilk17.article
Raw Milk: Health Secret o"Russian Roulette"?
Drinking boiled filthy milk produced by sick cows imprisoned in "approved" CAFOs IS playing Russian Roulette with a fully loaded gun!!!
"As long as people believe in ABSURDITIES they will continue to commit ATROCITIES" Voltaire
NAIS MEETING DRAWS IMPASSIONED CROWD
by Chris Torres
Well written article on the first of the so called NAIS public hearings.One lady that was given 3 minutes to express her view wore a tee shirt that expressed her concerns it stated "I love my country, it’s the government I fear"
Was it Jefferson that said " When the government fears the people you have liberty but when the people fear the government you have TYRANNY"? Who among us do not fear these days? Are we living in the land of the free or the land of FEAR?
"Conclusion
The purpose of the above account is to demonstrate that significant shortfalls in theregulatory structure, on a large number of fronts, both contributed to the outbreak offoot and mouth disease and also to its rapid spread. Thereafter, with the disease out of control, further regulatory failures, not least the inadequacy of all contingencyplanning, ensured that the outbreak spread in an alarming and uncontrolled fashion."
"Britain imports 125,000 tonnes of lamb. However, at the same time it exports102,000 tonnes"
I am not grasping why business is done this way? If you curtail imports, the potential would be decreased. Hoof & mouth is very contagious, it can be on clothes, shoes, etc. Seems it was an all systems failure that led to the spread.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/footandmouth
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/august2007/050807_foot_and_mouth.htm
Don,
The Foot and Mouth Disease (that’s the correct name) outbreak linked to the Pirbright centre occurred in 2007. It was contained pretty quickly, but illustrates how easily this virus can spread and the need for intense biosecurity where researchers work with live virus. I was referring to the 2001 outbreak above, which was traced to pigs initially – a farmer or a visitor introduced the virus [accidentally] and then it was spread around because sick animals were moved in defiance of quarantines. Anyone with interest in NAIS (for or against it) should study the facts of that outbreak very closely and think about how to prevent a similar situation in the US…
Is there a plan in place should an outbreak of disease occur? A plan that would involve farmers to assist in tracking the outbreak? Seems simple to ask for assistance and prepration for a potential "outbreak’. We practice codes all the time, we know what to expect or at least have a good idea what to expect and how to react. Health facilities have prepared for potential pandemic of pig flu. I would hope that most if not all farmers are willing to put reasonable plans into affect for potential problems.
Perhaps had the importation of animals/foods been under severe examinations/testing, then the contamination may have been avoided in 2001. Teaching our farmers ways to avoid contamination would be a positive step forward.
The NAIS is far more tolerable for big business than small, which is why it enjoys so much more support from big ag than from small ag. It essentially rigs the system in favor of big ag by being relatively easier for big ag to tolerate. So even if it makes things more expensive all around, its still a wise choice for big ag to support it, since the little guys come out the other end of the NAIS tunnel in a relatively weakened state.
The great Albert Nocks words have relevency here: "The simple truth is that our businessmen do not want a government that will let business alone. They want a government they can use." Of course the bigger the business the firmer the grip on the government handle. Cloaking our discussions about statist actions like the NAIS in the languge of free enterprise, or safety, or responsibility, does nothing to dampen their crushing effects, it merely makes the ugliness less visible to the masses.
But more important than all that is the human factor. We ought to take a sober look at the word onerous in the current context. What exactly does onerous mean to a human being as opposed to a corporation? Something very different indeed since a human being is, well, human, with human reactions, feelings, and motivations, including the most basic of heart and mind (like, for instance, the desire for self-expression). A corporation, on the other hand, is an invented entity, a machine of sorts, created by men for the purpose of extracting profit from business. It has no feelings, and a very narrow set of motivations. We love to treat corporations and human beings as alike when we discuss the effects of statist acts like regulation and taxation, but it is a lie to do so, and an important lie, because it denies the essence of humanity. Yes, the NAIS is a tether to both humans and corporations. But a chain on the ankle of a human being is a very different thing from controls placed on machinery.
We’ll probably Tweet along the way as well.