The National Animal Identification System (NAIS) raises lots of emotion, if the comments about my BusinessWeek.com article (accompanying the article, and on this site) are any indication.
Four points stand out to me:
1. The idea that NAIS discriminates against small farms because large farms don’t have to register all their animals. This is a good point, and one I probably should have addressed. Here is what the USDA says: “If your animals ‘stay together’ and are raised as a group, and travel through the production chain that way, you may want to consider group/lot identification, rather than individual identification. When animals ‘stay together’ as a group, individual identification of each animal in the group is not necessary because it does not enhance disease response efforts.” In other words, advantage, factory farm.
2. The gulf between farmers and city dwellers because of misconceptions about farm subsidies. One reader, Chris Dorr, says in a comment accompanying my article, "I have no ‘beef’ with their refusal to install RFID tags. But then I expect them to refuse ALL government handouts." Many city folk tend to see farm subsidies the way they see welfare—as a gravy train—when in fact the subsidies tend to go to large farms. There’s an interesting article in the San Francisco Chronicle about release of data as to which farmers receive how much of the $16.5 billion handed out in agriculture subsidies this year; one source quoted says the data will show that large farms receive the bulk of the money.
3. Not all owners of small farms are oppposed to the NAIS, because they worry about disease. Larry Liepold says accompanying the article, "I am a small farmer, (120 sows farrow to finish- 2500 marketed conventionally). If a foreign animal disease breaks in an area I want to know where it came from, is spreading to, and what the risk is that I may contract it in my herd." My question is: Why not broadcast such information on the Internet and on the radio, and provide advice to area farmers on preventive actions to take? The reason is that the government wants to be able to come in and slaughter all animals in a geographic area, regardless of their susceptibility or likelihood of falling victim.
4. The general sense of outrage, as in, “How could the government be doing this to us? And do it so calmly and deliberately? And plow ahead despite opposition from not only small farms, but a number of states?" Lisa Imerman probes related issues in a comment accompanying the article: "Interesting that even if Mr. Clark isn’t going to participate he is already issued a US-PIN and is in the USDA system (according to the letter you posted). That seems like serious infringement of property rights, especially since the USDA says it is voluntary, yet they are registering people without permission. I wonder how the State of Michigan managed to link their current program to the NAIS without prior notice?"
Maybe the truth is just staring us in the face: the government would be just as happy if small farms went away, since factory farms are more "cooperative."
Fortunately, the marketplace may forestall such efforts. A new article at BusinessWeek.com about the celebration of the farmer at places ranging from Whole Foods to Wal-Mart provides some encouraging statistics about the growing number of farmers markets and farms. And it reports that Whole Foods is pushing its stores harder than ever to order more local products–all this apparently in response to PR concerns and shopper preferences.
I’d say the emotions are there for a reason. Our government has given us lots of reasons to be fearful about its real intentions when it claims to be trying to protect us.
Separately, The Ethicurean blog does a nice job of summarizing media reports about food. The latest Digest includes a couple of kudos for yours truly, though it is slightly off when it says I will be writing a regular BusinessWeek.com column; I’ve been writing a regular column for a few years, just not as frequently and not as heavily about health issues as over the past year.
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