{"id":25,"date":"2009-07-13T10:09:02","date_gmt":"2009-07-13T14:09:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/amishinternet.com\/?p=25"},"modified":"2023-02-08T14:59:02","modified_gmt":"2023-02-08T18:59:02","slug":"nais-listening-sessions-can-a-monsanto-administration-really-hear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/amishinternet.com\/?p=25","title":{"rendered":"NAIS Listening Sessions: Can a Monsanto Administration Really Hear?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\nBy Rady Ananda<\/a><\/p>\n

Scrap NAIS; decentralize the food industry<\/h3>\n

The hottest topic in agriculture is NAIS \u2013 the proposed National Animal Identification System. Using embedded microchips and mountains of paperwork, the federal government plans to create a database that tracks every animal in the nation. Independent producers and privacy advocates adamantly oppose the plan.<\/p>\n

From May 14th thru June 30th, the USDA held \u201clistening sessions\u201d in fourteen cities across the nation. USDA asserted<\/span><\/a> it wants \u201cto engage stakeholders and producers to hear not only their concerns about [NAIS], but also potential or feasible solutions to those concerns.\u201d<\/p>\n

USDA hoped the listening sessions would provide a forum where stakeholders could help devise a NAIS that producers could live with. Instead, ranchers and farmers want the entire NAIS plan scrapped. Over 1600 people attended these sessions, with 500 testifying. Eighty-five percent of those who spoke condemned NAIS.<\/p>\n

Listening Session Quotes<\/h3>\n

Darol Dickinson, longhorn cattleman from Ohio, believes the USDA plan is being forced on producers, despite objection.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve conveyed to us that we have no right to oppose them. They\u2019ve told people, \u2018This is going to happen.\u2019 That doesn\u2019t sit well with independent thinking people, especially ranchers and farmers.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Dickinson spoke at the Harrisburg, PA listening session and conveyed on Carl Lanore\u2019s radio show<\/span><\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cI told them that their \u2018option\u2019 reminded me of being an old herd sire \u2013 being pushed down an alley with an electric prod, and somebody mentions to the herd sire, \u2018How do you want to be castrated \u2013 with a dull knife, with a burdizzo or an elastic band?\u2019 And the answer, of course, is none of the above.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

One group opposing NAIS, the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund<\/span><\/a>, urged Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to re-focus the nation\u2019s animal disease and food safety efforts on several alternatives including:<\/p>\n