Dear Mother: April/May 2009

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NAIS calls for anyone who owns even one livestock or poultry animal — as a pet or for their own food — to register their property with the government, individually tag each animal (in most cases with microchips or radio frequency identification tags), and report a long list of “events” to privately run, for-profit databases.

This one-size-fits-all program will not prevent or treat any animal disease. It provides no food safety benefits because it ends at the slaughterhouse, while the vast majority of contamination leading to foodborne illnesses occurs at the slaughterhouse or in one of the processing facilities.

In addition, the program penalizes small farmers and ranchers by requiring individual tagging for each of their animals, while creating a flock or herd exemption for large operations. By creating these preferences for factory farms, NAIS discourages the very farmers who are raising animals in a safe and humane way.

As protests have mounted, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has claimed that “NAIS is voluntary.” But if the USDA adopts this new proposed rule, hundreds of thousands of people who own cattle, sheep, goats and pigs will be forced to register their property. Moreover, although this proposed rule does not mandate the use of NAIS tags, by requiring tags that bear the NAIS-compliant numbering system, it lays the groundwork for the next round of regulatory changes to take that step. 

It is clear that the USDA intends to forge ahead with NAIS, doing the bidding of factory farms and industrial agriculture. With a new administration taking charge of the USDA, it’s time for the thousands of people who care about local and sustainable food to speak up! The deadline for official comments is scheduled for March 16, but even after that, writing letters to President Obama and congresspeople can impact whether or not NAIS is implemented. Please go to FarmAndRanchFreedom.org for more information on how each person can help protect our farms and food against the threat of NAIS.

Jack Kittredge
Barre, Massachusetts

Judith McGeary
Austin, Texas

Cabbage Maggots, Foiled at Last!

At last, a way to foil those devilish cabbage maggots: compressing the soil around the roots. Thank you, Arthur Dear (Country Lore). This year I plan to try Mr. Dear’s technique to foil the cabbage maggot. And thanks, Mother, for providing me with a nontoxic way to garden.

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