After my post earlier this week on the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) I decided it has time that I took heed of my own advice (along with the advice of the comments) and made sure I stayed up-to-date on the happenings surrounding NAIS and all of it's cronies. The first thing I did was to read through some of the posts I missed at NoNAIS.org and make sure I'm following it daily. It was my daily reading that lead me to this post and this link from the National Independent Consumers and Farmers Association. If you don't ever read another link I offer up on the blog you MUST read this one!It would be great if I could file this information in the, "Crazy ... Unbelievable ... No Way This Could Happen in America File", but with the money of large corporations behind it I fear that it is an all too real danger. When you combine the information in this "White Paper" from the NICFA with the very real legislation in our government right now (HR 875 check out that link ... there is commentary on the bill and a link to the bill itself) you can see why there are so many small farmers outraged at what is going on ... and I hope there is just as many consumers that are outraged!
Here are a few tidbits form the NICFA "White Paper". Tell me why I shouldn't believe this and why I shouldn't be outraged ... please tell me (it would be so much easier if I didn't think this was a problem).
"During this economic downturn, when small farms are the fastest growing agriculture sector, these expanding sources of employment and local food production would fail. At the same time, taxpayer burden would increase to pay for government agencies to oversee and enforce NAIS."
"The monetary and time costs to implement NAIS are prohibitive for any but the largest industrial livestock producers. Small farms, that make up the vast majority of agricultural holdings, could not comply and sustain their operations."
"The USDA’s claim that “modern” technology will enable 48-hour traceback during disease outbreak is untenable. In reality, NAIS will not prevent disease because it does not address the cause of disease. Traceback can help track the movement of disease, but if a cataclysmic foreign animal disease outbreak occurred, NAIS will not improve on the current system for containment and quarantine."
