Poultry Industry Fighting Hard to Kill the Proposed GIPSA Rule

Company dealings with farmers they contract with in the poultry industry has been at issue for at least the past twenty years. It’s been a long hard battle for contract farmers to try to gain any fairness and personally I can’t count the times in those twenty years that I’ve traveled to Washington DC to speak with our illustrious politicians about the issue.

USDA Grain Inspection Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) has the authority to write and publish rules without any approval from congress. With visions of campaign contributions dancing in their heads the House caved in to corporate agriculture’s power and influence and stopped the USDA GIPSA Proposed Rule from being written and published. They’ve used the next best thing and cut funding in the House Ag Appropriations for the rule to be written and published.

No additional funding was required for the rule to be written and published. The House cut USDA funding specifically for writing and publishing the GISA Rule.

The Senate Ag Appropriation Committee is a different story. The GIPSA rule came out of committee intact. It now goes to the Senate floor and insiders are saying that we can expect an amendment from the Senate floor to be introduced to kill the bill.

It’s no secret that contract poultry farmers are afraid to speak out about the issue for fear of having their contract terminated. To further back this up anonymous calls and letters have been excepted by USDA GIPSA and now Senate offices. One would think that this is enough to convince our illustrious politicians that there is definitely a problem.

What confounds me even more is that fear of speaking out goes on unchecked in this country. We have no problem sending our young men and women to war in other countries because of tyranny yet we have tyrants bullying farmers by holding a contract over their heads. Furthermore, most of our enlisted troops come from rural America and many come from farms where their parents are afraid to speak out. That is just plain WRONG!

I received an email (below) from a friend asking for calls from constituents to be made to Senate offices . It’s apparent that a hand full of corporate types have more voice than thousands of farmers. We need to stop just writing history about the GIPSA Rule and get it done. Farmers needed this rule in place twenty years ago. Please take the time to call your Senators and tell them to take a stand for farmers and oppose any amendment that would delay or kill the GIPSA rule. Many voices will over ride the hand full of corporate type voices.

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The meat and poultry industry is fighting hard against the proposed USDA GIPSA rule, which would protect contract farmers from unfair treatment. The House of Representatives has already passed legislation that would kill the rule. Now, we have to be sure that the Senate doesn’t pass similar legislation.

In the beginning of September, we made it through the Senate Appropriations Committee meeting without any bad amendments being offered to kill or delay the rule. That is really good news. This historic rule will protect farmers’ investments and end many unfair practices in the poultry, hog and livestock industries.

But we are not out of the woods yet. Senators can still offer an amendment to the Agriculture Appropriations bill on the Senate floor that would kill the GIPSA rule.

Please call both of your senators this week and ask them to oppose any amendments to stop or delay the GIPSA rule. You can reach your senators at (202) 224-3121. Ask to speak with the agriculture legislative assistant. Here is a sample message to use:

I am a constituent who strongly supports the proposed USDA rule on poultry and livestock. The rule will level the playing field for growers and correct many of the abuses that they are facing. Will the Senator stand up for farmers and oppose any amendments to the appropriations bill that would stop or delay USDA from writing a final rule? Please call me at ______ to let me know where the Senator stands on this important issue.

P.S. Some senators are on the fence on this issue. Calls are best way to make sure they know that they should support farmers. Please take a minute to call (202) 224-3121 and ask your Senators to protect farm jobs and farm families.

Foodies and the Food Movement

Labels pasted on people have always been one of my biggest pet peeves. Lord knows I’ve had plenty of labels pasted on me over the years and my answer has always been “you can call me anything you like just don’t call me late for dinner”!

The label “foodies” sets my mind to wondering exactly what it means. Is it a certain elite class of likeminded people who are wealthy enough to afford better food produced locally in an organic method? For the generality of the label one could say yes.

Maybe in the beginning of what is labeled as the “Food Movement”, elitism was the driving force and probably something that held the movement back. Super markets such as Whole Foods stated springing up in only certain areas because there were only certain people who could afford the food being sold and which catered to only certain people. Actually it was about money and who had it to spend and who could capitalize from it.

Being a farm girl living in rural America I never saw super markets such as Whole Foods nor did I see local stores selling locally produced foods and never organic. Rural America, like the inner cities, is poor. We don’t have the extra food dollars to spend in specialty grocery stores and I would imagine that demographics have everything to do with where these stores set up shop.

Over the past 5 years, if not more, the “Food Movement” has become something more than just for special people. The number of local farmer’s markets steadily grows, more farmers are producing food to supply these markets, and more consumers are patronizing these markets. Local restaurants are shopping for local foods and many are connecting directly with local farmers. Institutions such as schools and medical facilities are participating in “buy local” programs for food purchasing. The list goes on. Does all of this fall under the label of “foodies”?

The Food Movement to me is a driving force to change the current system and methods that supply the majority of our food. In this movement are many differing reasons why the system needs changing with one goal. I consider myself to be a part of this movement and am likeminded with others in reasoning……… Change! Does this make me a “foodie”? Going back to the beginning of my post I cringe at thinking I might fit into the elite class of foodies.

It’s all in the wording folks and it wouldn’t be a far stretch to say that anyone who makes the mere mention of changing the food system is a “foodie” and part of the Food Movement. Are you a foodie?