Another reason to eat local and support your small farmer

[Guest guest]

The

Attack of the Flies; Environmental Violence from Agriculture; NAIS will Do

" NOTHING " to Stop This Violence of " Factory Farming. "

Environmental Violence from Agriculture; NAIS will Do " NOTHING " to

Stop This Violence of " Factory Farming. "

The Attack of the Flies

In the latter part of spring in the year 2000, a farmer, working for a

" Factory Farm, " spread approximately 200 tons of manure from his 100,000-hen

egg farm on about 18 acres of his land and plowed it in as he had done for many

years. However, this year, something different happened - a tremendous number

of flies bred in the manure. The reason is unknown, but it is likely that the

fly eggs were either were in the manure before spreading it on the field or

perhaps it was not plowed in deep enough, or the wet spring may have

contributed is some way. Whatever the reason, the results were the same. The

whole community around this farm was attacked by swarms of flies.

The flies were so thick that they crawled into every crevice of peoples homes

and cars, so that they could not live as usual. The news reports made it seem

like the plague upon Egypt

during the time of the Exodus (Exodus 8:24):

A local health official declared that the situation was a health hazard to the

1,200 residents of the Community, some of whom had to move out because of the

problem, with others spraying insecticide to try to eliminate the attack of the

flies. Not only did the flies present a health problem, but so does the use of

insecticide, particularly in the quantities needed to over-come these swarms of

flies.

Animal agriculture has become so sanitized in our minds that we seldom

recognize the violence connected with it.

To have a farm with 100,000 hens means that during the time that these hens

were being hatched another 100,000 male chickens were also being hatched and

killed (based upon an egg-sex population of 50% males and 50% females), and

after these hens are about two years of age, they too will be killed.

During this period of time, these hens will suffer under conditions that the

Lord never intended for these living souls. And because of this sanitized

violence to the chickens, we have experienced violence being done to our

environment, and primarily to the people surrounding this factory farm.

I personally don't believe that the " Factory Farm " intentionally set

out to cause this environmental mini-disaster, but the very nature of this

violent business contains the ingredients for such disasters, when the

corporations place " PROFITS " ahead of anything else to include animal

safety and human safety from factory farm born disease and plagues just like

the flies, described above.

We seek to cure the symptoms, with the National Animal Identification System

(NAIS), and not eliminate the cause, which is the " Factory Farm "

unhealthy environment, and as a result we, as a Nation, continue to shoot

ourselves in the foot by sanitizing violence in our society, thru the

" APATHY " and " ARROGENCE " of our Congressional and Federal

and State Government Agriculture Agency Leaders.

NAIS: What Does it Take to Raise an Alarm These Days?

It does seem clear to me that the USA PATRIOT Act had been already prepared,

waiting in the wings for just such an occasion, to be used upon full

implementation of the NAIS.

United States

citizens were happy to trade in their rights for the sense of security offered

by this USDA regulation act.

Over the past couple of years, we've been subjected to a series of media scares

relating to our meat supply. From Mad Cow, to swine flu, to e.Coli, to mutant

flesh-eating viruses, and now the Avian flu, we've been led to believe that if

we don't act immediately, we're all going to die.

And despite the fact that we haven't had a single case of Mad Cow or the Avian

flu transmitted to humans in the United States, and that the NAIS couldn't

possibly do a thing to prevent contaminations of our meat supply occurring

after the meat has been processed, we're all expected to expel a deep sigh of

relief.

The National Animal Identification System will force farmers, hobbyists, and

even pet owners to register each animal they own, and tag that animal with an

identifying tag, band, or implanted electronic chip, for the purpose of

tracking that animal through the food chain whether or not it even enters the

food chain.

Large-scale meat producers are on board with the program, perhaps because

they'll be given a break. Large herds of cattle, pigs, or other animals raised

and processed together can be identified by a single group ID number, while

farmers and ranchers with small groups of animals will, in most cases, have to

identify each animal individually for purposes of breeding, sale, or slaughter.

If you own two cows, a horse, and twelve chickens, each would require an

individual ID number if the animal is ever to leave your property for any

reason, or have any contact (commingling) with any other animal.

With full implementation of this program in 2009, the USDA intends to ensure

compliance with NAIS regulations in a manner not yet specified, but which could

be expected to include fines or seizure of animals.

Another possible reason for the enthusiastic support of the NAIS program by

large-scale meat producers is that, as stakeholders in the program, they will

likely have control over much of it, perhaps putting them in a position to

exert economic pressures on competing small farmers and homesteaders.

Will implementation of the NAIS make our meat supply safer? Probably not, and

it's not likely that we'd know if it did. It's not like people are dropping

like flies from Mad Cow disease, as it is.

The NAIS might be compared to using a cannon to hunt black flies in February.

Dean A. Ayers

Glenwood,Iowa

DeanOSI@...

http://animalsclubfreedom.org/

www.MajestyFarm.com

If you will not fight for the right when you can easily win

without bloodshed, if you will not fight when victory will be sure and not so

costly, you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the

odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival. There may be a worse

case. You may have to fight when there is no chance of victory, because it is

better to perish than to live as slaves.

Winston Churchill