No Mandatory Animal ID

I have a question as usual. What is the stated purpose behind the NAIS program being pushed by the USDA? You've got it, to protect our food supply.

According to those pushing it, NAIS will lead to a safer food supply and give us the ability to track down food borne illness to the source. This, according to advocates, will protect the health of American Citizens and protect American farmers and ranchers markets overseas from disruption.

So, let's look at the latest food borne illness in the US and how it could have been made less virulent with the proper use of NAIS. The latest food borne illness in the US was an outbreak of E.coli. E. coli comes from beef so obviously NAIS would track the beef to the source. So lets look at the news story.

More E. coli infected spinach found in US outbreak

More bags of spinach tainted with toxic E. coli bacteria have been found and could help investigators track down an outbreak that may have killed three people, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Tuesday.

SPINACH!!!??? The E. coli outbreak is in spinach? How do we protect ourselves using NAIS when the food borne illness is in spinach? I guess we will have to start a new program called National Spinach Identification Program. Each and every leaf of spinach will have to have it's own unique 15 digit identification number. This number will have to be recorded for each movement of the leaf from field to, processor, supplier, trucking company, grocery store, to the consumer, who of courses needs to give their name, address, American ID code, and personal signature acknowledging acceptance of the identified spinach and absolving the large corporations of any responsibility in any liability associated with the product. Yea, that's the way the government should handle it to protect us all.

Sounds pretty silly doesn't it. Tracking a leaf of spinach from field to consumer but that's what they want to do with animals. Why animals and not all food products? Or is the NAIS program just a precursor to labeling all food?

That's it, they will expand the NAIS system to include all food products including Spinach. Let's call it the Federal Uniform Calories Key Identification Tracking (FUCK IT). It will go right along with the Real ID program to track everything and everyone.

I, of course, exaggerate here but wanted to point out the fact that the NAIS program would not have helped with the latest food borne illness and would not significantly affect any future ones either. NAIS is not about protecting the food supply but protecting the large corporations from liability for their slaughter practices and to protect the Packers market.

An Identification number never stopped a disease, it just gives the government an excuse to help the Meat Packers.

Posted by Sarpy Sam in Personal at 04:37 | Comment (1) | Trackbacks (0)

Government's idea of 'tracking' animals

Reaction to the National Animal Identification System is shining a light on a growing problem that independent producers believe is threatening the entire livestock industry. Vertical marketing practices in the meat processing industry, combined with the industry's access to and influence on the Department of Agriculture and Congress, has the small producer against the ropes. The NAIS may be the final blow that puts independent ranchers and small farmers down for the count.

There is nothing particularly new here about National Animal Identification System (NAIS), just the same information hopefully reaching more and more people to help fight this plan. Just more information how NAIS is driven by the meat packers to further consolidate the market, and how they are using their money to influence the USDA and Congress to do their bidding.

There is strong belief among producers that the NAIS has little to do with food safety and much more to do with providing data for agribusiness. One farmer says "... agribusiness giants will then have access to all of the information on the [NAIS] database. They will have knowledge about all sources and supplies of commodity animals. They will use such information to improve their ongoing practice of captive supply and market price manipulation."

He is convinced that "The USDA has become the conscript of agribusiness. All key positions at the USDA are now held by former agribusiness people or their minions."

Funny, I've been saying the same thing all along. The Meat packers have bought and payed for the USDA and expect it to do their bidding to the detriment of the farmers, ranchers, and consumers of the USA. Either somebody is listening to me, I'm listening to someone else, or thew facts are so obvious that everybody in the industry knows this to be true. I personally think it's the last on, it's painfully obvious what's going on, getting things changed is the next problem to solve.

Sonce the problem of the big Agribusiness companies taking control of the USDA first surfaced in 1993 with Mike Espy this isn't a problem that can only be laid at the feet of King George Bush. Bill Clinton was also involved in letting the big meat packers have their way in the USDA and hurting all of us. The solution is going to take an awful big broom at the USDA, along with the political will to use it, to clean out all the influence the Agribusiness companies have and to turn the agency around to helping America's agriculture, not just helping the meat packers to the detriment of us all.

An ear tag never stopped a disease, but it might lead to an awakening of the public to corporate control of our Government.

Posted by Sarpy Sam in Opinion Piece at 04:59 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

Walter at NoNAIS.org brings us some interesting information about the need for NAIS. All along the government has proclaimed that Nais is necessary to control diseases like BSE. According to the US Food and Drug Administration;

Are the protective measures in place sufficient to ensure the safety of the human food supply in light of the June 2005 BSE positive cow?

Yes, the protective measures put into place in July 2004 by FDA ensure that cattle materials that carry the highest risk of transmitting the agent that causes BSE are excluded from human food, including dietary supplements, and cosmetics. These measures, along with similar measures established by USDA, provide a uniform national BSE policy and ensure the safety of human food.

Is the food in the U.S. likely to be a BSE risk to consumers?

FDA and other federal agencies have had preventive measures in place to reduce the U.S. consumer's risk of exposure to any BSE-contaminated meat and food products. Since 1989, USDA has prohibited the importation of live animals and animal products from BSE-positive countries. Subsequently, USDA expanded the ban to include both countries with BSE and countries at risk for BSE. Since 1997, FDA has prohibited the use of most mammalian protein in the manufacture of ruminant feed. In 2004, FDA issued a rule prohibiting the use of certain cattle materials in human food and cosmetics, and USDA issued a rule prohibiting certain cattle materials from use as human food.

So, it seems that all measures are all ready in affect to protect the consumers from BSE. Why does the Government want the NAIS then? As a prelude to numbering all people in the US maybe. It's not as far fetched as you think.

An ID number never stopped a disease, it just gives the government more control over our lives.

Posted by Sarpy Sam in Government Propaganda at 05:44 | Comment (1) | Trackbacks (0)