The Truth about Issue 2 in Ohio
Published By: All Right Magazine on October 28, 2009
By WAYNE HERROD
Issue 2 in Brief
Billed as a proposed constitutional amendment to increase food safety, and promote local Ohio farms, Issue 2 is a cruel sham and thinly veiled attempt to put into our constitution a board consisting of the very people who bankrolled it in the first place- the large corporate farms known a factory farms or large CAFO (Confined Animal Feeding Operations).
When one considers that what they are doing is setting up an un-elected and unaccountable board to set standards for livestock production, one would have to question their motives. They have been telling the Farm Bureau and other large farm groups that they must head off the advances of animal rights groups who have in other states such as California and Florida, passed legislation requiring a more humane treatment of animals in “battery cages” and veal production.
This “scare tactic” creates an image of PETA or some radical group coming in and dictating what all farmers must do. But PETA is NOT the government; it is but one of many lobbying groups and to pass such radical legislation. It would first have to introduce it into two houses- the State House of Delegates and the State Senate and get it passed in both of them. It would then go to the governor to be signed into law. That is leaving out a lot of steps. First, no elected representative in largely agricultural Ohio is going to be able to hide this from agri-lobbyists and a phalanx of opposition would spread like wildfire.
But beyond this deception, there are many more. I have seen signs up stating that this Issue would “protect” animal rights. Yeah, in the same manner that allowing a Fox to guard the Hen House would. We are talking about operations- both “in-state” and “out-of-state” that have donated over 4 million dollars for “robo-calls” and a forest of plastic signs blanketing the state as well as a slick glossy T.V. and Radio blitz. A link to a list of donors can be found at the end of this article.
Are these people grassroots small family farmers, as they say they are, who are trying to protect food choice? Or are they factory farms and CAFO wanting to set up standards so onerous as to drive all the small farms out of business so they can run their huge farms to the detriment of the environment through manure runoff and practices of hormone, and anti-biotic usage?
They also spout off about “protecting food safety.” Once again I ask, when was the last time you heard of an Amish producer, small farm meat processor, or organic operation causing a food poisoning event or food recall? Pilgrim’s Pride, Swift, Tyson and many of the large producers seem to be in the news regularly, though.
This bill is not about food safety. It is not about locally grown food, and it is not ironically about livestock care as they so blatantly claim. It is about enshrining a monopolistic and unsafe form of agriculture into our constitution to the detriment of farmers, loss of choice, quality and higher prices for consumers, and tragically, continued inhumane treatment of the animals, themselves.
Background of Issue 2
In November of 2008, Californians passed Proposition 2, the Standards for Confining Farm Animals, which requires by January 2015 that certain farm animals be confined only in ways that allow them to lie down, stand up, fully extend their limbs and turn around freely. Florida, Arizona, Oregon and Colorado have passed similar legislation.
Ohio currently has more than 200 CAFO (confined animal feeding operations), and owners are trying to prevent Ohioans from limiting them in the future. Issue 2 is a preemptive strike to keep the status quo and permit more factory farms.
Issue 2 emphasizes the need of the livestock industry to provide “affordable food,” yet ignores its hidden costs, including environmental contamination, human health impacts, and the loss of rural communities.
Issue 2 and the Ohio Constitution
The Ohio constitution exists to establish the structure and rules of our government and define the rights of citizens. Its purpose is not to define the way a particular industry operates. Issue 2 is an inappropriate use of the Ohio constitution, and would set a dangerous precedent by creating a permanent place for special interests in the constitution.
Issue 2 would change the Ohio constitution to create a Livestock Care Standards Board, stacked with Big Ag and factory farm supporters. The board would have sweeping authority to make decisions related to farms and food in Ohio that would have the force of law. It would override any act by the Ohio Department of Agriculture and the Ohio Assembly, with no accountability to the voters. There would be no further review or evaluation of the standard, no established forum for public comment, and no ability to appeal its decisions. Issue 2 would give the Livestock Board the ability to make wide-ranging decisions related to farms and food in Ohio that have the force of law. Any future changes to the Livestock Board would require a new constitutional amendment.
Abusing the Ohio Constitution to include a Livestock Care Standards Board would set a dangerous precedent by creating a permanent place for special interests in the constitution.
Most of the state’s major papers including the Columbus Dispatch, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Akron Beacon Journal, and Dayton Daily News, have editorialized against Issue 2, recognizing its constitutional over-reach.
The Problems with Issue 2 and Big Agribusiness
· Continued use of antibiotics and growth hormones, genetically engineered animals, cloned animals, NAIS (national animal identification system).
· Low doses of antibiotics are administered regularly to animals in a preemptive move to ward off the diseases bred by unnatural, unsanitary conditions.
· In addition to preventive medicines, animals are fed hormones and antibiotics to promote faster growth.
· Pens and cages restrict the natural behavior and movement of animals. In some cases, such as veal calves and mothering pigs, the animals can’t even turn around.
· Metal buildings confine animals indoors, with minimal room for normal behaviors and little or no access to sunlight and fresh air.
· In Ohio, tens of millions of egg-laying hens, veal calves, and breeding pigs are confined in crates and cages where they can barely move an inch, many of them unable even turn around or stretch their limbs. Six other states have passed laws to address this type of extreme confinement, but Ohio is lagging behind.
· Animals are mutilated to adapt them to factory farm conditions. This includes cutting off the beaks of chickens and turkeys (de-beaking) , and amputating the tails of cows and pigs (docking).
· Millions of newborn male chicks are systematically destroyed by suffocation, electrocution and being ground up alive at the hatchery, because male chicks do not lay eggs and are considered mere “hatchery debris” on the way to becoming pet food and farmed animal feed.
· Turkeys in commercial hatcheries undergo a series of painful amputations during their first three hours after breaking out of their shells. The newborn turkeys are dumped out of metal trays, jostled onto conveyer belts after being mechanically separated from cracked eggshells, then sorted, sexed, debeaked and detoed, all without anesthetic. Countless baby turkeys are “mangled from the machinery,” suffocated in plastic bags, and dumped into the “same disposal system as the discarded egg shells they were separated from hours earlier.
· Recent food safety issues, including e-coli breakouts and H1N1, are the result of confined animal feeding operations which are a breeding area for more and more resistant viruses and bacteria.
· Excessive waste created by large concentrations of animals is handled in ways that can pollute air and water.
· Man-made lagoons on industrial farms hold millions of gallons of liquid waste, from which contaminants can leach into groundwater. The manure is normally sprayed on crops, but often excessively, leading it to run off into surface waters. Nutrients and bacteria from waste contaminate waterways, killing fish and shellfish and disturbing aquatic ecosystems.
· Industrially produced food appears to be inexpensive, but the price tag doesn’t reflect the actual costs that we taxpayers bear.
a. Factory farms pollute communities and adversely affect public health, thereby increasing medical costs for those living near such farms—costs that are often shouldered by public budgets.
b. Taxpayers fund government subsidies, which go primarily to large industrial farms.
c. Jobs are lost and wages driven down, as corporate consolidation bankrupts small businesses and factory farms pay unethically low wages for dangerous, undesirable work.
Supporters of Issue 2
The Ohio Cattlemen’s Association
The Ohio Farm Bureau
The Ohio Pork Producers Council
The ballot issue is heavily backed by groups representing major agribusiness interests and opens the door for the proliferation of Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO) in Ohio. Supporters emphasize the need of the livestock industry to provide “affordable food,” yet ignore its hidden costs, including environmental contamination, human health impacts, and the loss of rural communities.
Those Opposed to Issue 2
OEFFA – Ohio Ecological Food & Farm Association
OhioACT
The Akron Beacon Journal
The Cleveland Plain Dealer
The Columbus Dispatch
The Dayton Daily News
The Food and Water Watch
The Humane Society of Ohio
The Humane Society of the United States
The League of Women Voters of Ohio
The Ohio Environmental Stewardship Alliance
The Ohio Farmers Union
The Ohio League of Humane Voters
The Ohio Sierra Club
Follow the money. Don’t let Big Agribusiness get away with a power grab that would codify abusive practices through the state constitution. Please vote NO on Issue 2!
For more information see he Secretary of State’s website and other sources.
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