This comes to us from the Weston A. Price Foundation (WAPF): Link to share: https://www.westonaprice.org/help-stop-student-surveillance-in-oregon/
Oregon lawmakers are fast-tracking a dangerous pair of bills—House Bill 2508 and Senate Bill 312—that would give the Oregon Department of Education the power to create a centralized, statewide electronic student data system, collecting and sharing vast amounts of personal information on students, including vaccine records, without meaningful safeguards or limits.
These bills would mandate the creation of a “student information system” to electronically store and manage individual student data across school districts, while declaring an emergency to fast-track its implementation.
This surveillance-style system could become the backbone of future mandates, profiling, or tracking based on students’ health, academic performance, disciplinary records, or personal identifiers.
This system threatens parental rights, student privacy, and local control of education policy. These bills are vague, overly broad, and dangerous. They allow massive data collection without informed consent, setting the stage for misuse or overreach.
HB 2508 was heard and reported out of the Joint Committee on Ways and Means today without amendments. Please act TODAY!
The WAPF does not take a position on provisions in these bills that are unrelated to vaccination.
TAKE ACTION
Contact your Oregon State Senator and Representative TODAY and urge them to vote NO on HB 2508 and SB 312.
Look up your state legislators here: https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/findyourlegislator
(that link didn’t work for me, so I found this one:
“Hi, my name is _, and I’m a constituent. I’m urging you to oppose HB 2508 and SB 312, which would create a centralized statewide student data system.
These bills directly threaten student privacy and local control of schools. They would allow the state to collect and manage sensitive student data without consent or clear limits on how that data can be used or shared.
Please protect students and families from government overreach—vote NO on HB 2508 and SB 312.”
TALKING POINTS
Keep your call or email short! Pick the 2 or 3 of these talking points – or none of them- that are most important to you, and be sure to explain why this issue matters to you personally.
Student data belongs to families, not the state. These bills shift power from parents and local schools to unelected state agencies.
Children’s vaccination records should be kept private and not handled by the school system or the state Department of Education. When these medical details are linked to school files, they are no longer safeguarded as confidential health information and may be viewed or shared more broadly across agencies. This creates serious privacy risks and could lead to unfair treatment of students and families based on personal medical choices.
These bills provide no limits on what data can be collected. Academic, behavioral, disciplinary, health, and possibly even biometric data could be stored and linked under this system.
There is no clear opt-out. Once the system is created, families may not be able to meaningfully keep their children out of it.
These bills allow for information-sharing “across the education continuum”—language that could include colleges, social services, or law enforcement.
Emergency clause limits public input. Declaring an “emergency” is a tactic to bypass full debate and transparency. Student privacy should never be rushed.
This is the foundation of future mandates and profiling. Centralized data systems often lead to risk scoring, intervention programs, or future policy requirements based on compliance.
Supporters of vaccine tracking systems claim they are a way to protect patients by guaranteeing that patients don’t receive multiple doses of the same vaccinations from different providers. According to the CDC’s statements, though, it’s clear that one purpose of these registries is to create pressure on people who are unvaccinated or partially vaccinated. The CDC openly stated that vaccine registries are a tool to identify areas of “undervaccination” so they can be “addressed” and brought into “compliance.” https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6133a2.htm
These bills would be expensive and unnecessary. Oregon already has systems for managing student records at the local level. Centralizing control wastes taxpayer money and exposes families to greater risk.
MORE INFORMATION
Read the full text of the bills and follow their progress:
On September 19, Senators Peter Welch, Bernie Sanders, and Cory Booker introduced the LOCAL Foods Act (S.5106), a vital piece of legislation that aims to support our farmers, ranchers, and consumers by allowing on-farm slaughter of livestock for personal use, making it easier to access local, sustainable food.
Why This Matters:
Currently, the language of the federal law limits the “personal use” exemption to the person who raised the animals. In other words, only the farmers themselves can process the animals, and the meat can only be used for the farmers’ personal and household use.
USDA has historically interpreted the personal use exemption to also allow non-farmers to buy animals while still alive, for on-farm slaughter. But the agency has objected to those consumer co-owners hiring itinerant slaughterers (and how many people want to process their own animals?!). And now the agency is indicating that it may backtrack and enforce the stricter, narrower interpretation that would require people to not only own the live animal, but have raised the animals themselves.
The LOCAL Foods Act updates the law to specifically allow people to buy shares of animals and then have them processed by the farmer or another agent of their choice on-farm. This change will:
Expand opportunities for small farmers, many of whom otherwise would have to drive long hours and pay high fees for inspected processors.
Improve consumer access to local meat.
Protect farmers’ rights to practice on-farm slaughter according to state regulations.
TAKE ACTION TODAY!
Call Your Senators: Urge them to co-sponsor the LOCAL Foods Act (S.5106). It’s crucial for them to hear from you about the importance of this bill for our local food systems. Need help contacting your senators? Click here toFIND YOUR U.S. SENATORS.
Sample script: “Hello, my name is [Your Name], and I’m a member of the Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance. I am calling to urge [Senator Name] to co-sponsor the LOCAL Foods Act (S.5106). This legislation is crucial for allowing farmers to sell directly to consumers and enhancing access to local foods. Thank you!”
Contact Your House Representatives: Ask them to introduce a companion bill in the House. We need legislation that reflects the needs of our farmers and communities! Need help identifying or contacting your House Representative? Click here toFIND YOUR REPRESENTATIVES.
Sample script: “Hello, my name is [Your Name], and I’m a member of the Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance. I am calling to urge [Representative’s Name] to support the LOCAL Foods Act (S.5106) and to introduce a companion bill in the House. This legislation is crucial for allowing farmers to sell directly to consumers and enhancing access to local foods. Thank you!”
Key Points to Mention:
Emphasize the importance of supporting local farmers and the economic impact of removing regulatory barriers.
Highlight the growing consumer demand for local food sources.
Mention how the act aligns with the current practice in multiple states and supports food sovereignty.
Let’s rally together to secure the future of our local food systems. Your voice is vital in making the LOCAL Foods Act a reality! Thank you for your continued support!
In solidarity,
Judith McGeary
Executive Director/Founder, FARFA
Please help the Weston A. Price Foundation restore nutrient-dense foods to the human diet through education, research and activism. westonaprice.org
I’ve been overwhelmed with work, and haven’t been attending to my volunteer Weston Price “duties” as much as is needed lately. I expect to be busy through October (2024). If anyone can help get out reminders or schedule Natural Grocers, let me know. Experience with WordPress (or other similar interfaces) would be helpful.
Tell Your U.S. Representative to Protect Traditional Forms of Cattle ID
alert from Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance
When it comes to the Farm Bill, the status quo is what the massive meatpacking corporations want on a lot of fronts, especially mandatory electronic Animal ID. If Congress does nothing, then USDA’s new rule mandating electronic ID for cattle will go into effect later this year – burdening small farmers and undermining our already stretched thin infrastructure of local sale barns and vets willing to work with those farmers.
Mandatory electronic animal identification DOES NOT address food safety or animal disease concerns, but instead, unreasonably burdens farmers and ranchers.
You may have heard that the last omnibus funding bill included electronic ID, which is unfortunately true … but it still hinges on the USDA rule going into effect. So we can still stop it if Congress takes action in the Farm Bill!
We have fought this Big Meatpacker-driven program since 2006 because of the loss of privacy, cost, inefficiency, and the burdens on small-scale farmers and ranchers. We’ve stopped it multiple times before, and we can do so again — with YOUR help!
We urge you to take immediate action and voice your opposition to the USDA’s electronic animal ID mandate.
ACTION TO TAKE
Call your U.S. Representative: Urge them to include a provision in the Farm Bill that protects farmers’ ability to use traditional forms of ID on their cattle. Calls are most effective, so be sure to follow up by phone. See Talking Points below.
Spread the word: Share this information with your friends, family, and fellow farmers. Encourage them to also call their Congresspeople and voice their opposition to the mandate. Click here to view a video posted by FARFA opposing USDA’s proposed rule.
TALKING POINTS
USDA has failed to show a need to impose more expensive requirements: Prior to imposing new regulations and costs, an agency should conduct an analysis to determine the need and whether the new requirements actually address that need. Despite numerous requests, the USDA has failed to conduct such an analysis for mandatory electronic animal ID.
The proposed rule disproportionately harms small farmers and ranchers: Moving to a completely electronic ID system carries significant costs, not only from the cost of the tag itself but also associated infrastructure costs. This impacts not only farmers, but also sales barns and large-animal veterinarians. Large corporate-controlled operations will not only benefit from economies of scale, but could structure their operations to avoid individual ID requirements altogether.
Consider what happened when Michigan implemented mandatory electronic ID for cattle on an intrastate basis in 2007. Over the next five years, the number of very small cattle farms in Michigan declined by 3%, even though nationally the number of such farms increased. And the number of very large cattle farms in Michigan increased by 35%, even though the number of such operations decreased nationally. In other words, in the real-world example of the impact of mandatory electronic ID in this country, the results show that it hurts small farms and increases consolidation. [Note: This data is based on the USDA NASS Agricultural Census of 2007 and 2012.]
The proposed rule will be ineffective improving animal traceability: Based on USDA’s own analysis, the agency estimates that it will impact only 11% of cattle in the country. Yet an earlier congressional analysis concluded that 18% was too low of a participation rate to make traceability programs effective. [see Summary, “Animal Identification and Traceability: Overview and Issues” (Nov 29, 2010), p. 2 – https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R40832].
Mandating electronic ID undermines the goal of promoting a resilient food system: If we want to build resilient, diversified supply chains, the federal government needs to take steps to avoid regulations and policies that are prejudiced against small- and mid-scale producers, such as mandatory electronic Animal ID. The solution is simple: Keep the 2013 Animal Disease Traceability Rule unchanged, allowing farmers and ranchers to identify their animal with traditional, low-tech forms of ID or electronic ID, depending on which works best for their operations.
WAPF will send out future alerts as events warrant.
This is some information I received from a local activist:
Dear Folks~
EWEB is not respecting our desire to keep our nice, safe Analog meters. Trucks started 2 1/2 weeks ago to take the analog meters off homes without consent and give you a SMART meter or Digital meter “Turned OFF”…. which is EWEB’s “New Definition of OPT OUT”. The Digital meter “Turned Off” is a lie since they still emit and cause medical harm plus fires and privacy issues. EWEB is very slithery.
If you do NOT agree to their offer to get a Digital Meter “Shut OFF” even though you told them you had “OPTED OUT” and want to keep your nice safe analog meter…their Luuvas Cobb attorney sent citizens a letter that “If you do NOT COMPLY” then EWEB claims they have the right to shut off your water and electric service ! This seems like a strong arm maneuver and illegal to do. We need to stop them ! Just tell EWEB you do not agree to their “Offer”. See the other attachments on how to do that.
This needs to be stopped and a new group is forming and a new website called “NO SMART METERS EUGENE” and we will soon have a partnership with another organization that can capture hundreds of angry customer names and emails and have a donation button for potential legal fees. The donations can also pay advertising in newspapers/ signs at Farmers Market etc to reach some of the potential 20% to 30% of EWEB customers that have “Opted Out” and want to keep their analog meters. That number of customers may be in the 40,000 to 50,000 range of more angry people that need help to protect their families. If you do not take action….they just show up and grab your meter because they are assuming you “Agree” with their “Offer to Upgrade your service”. If you are “Silent” your safety is in jeopardy.
We have found an attorney that will represent us. We just need to start gathering hundreds of names and emails of the people that want to keep their analog meters. We will keep you posted when the new website “NO SMART METERS EUGENE” is functional.
Please open the attachments for the SMART Meter Action letter and put that as the body of your email to your networks. Then send the “No Trespass SIGN” to post and the “Certified letter to EWEB” template. I borrowed them from another group in town and please excuse their formatting errors. Another reason to form another group that can be more effective.
Also start contacting your Ward City Counselor and your Lane County Commissioner to tell them about your objections to the EWEB practices re meters. If there is harm there has to be choice. There may be a chance to ask that your electric service be shifted to EPUD ( Emerald Public Utility District) that is not pressuring analog meter folks to get something else. We have to have large #s of dissatisfied EWEB customers who want a change which is done through the City/ County Commissioners. Asking these City / County officials to send a “Stay Order” to EWEB to stop the trucks would be helpful.
I have also attached the 5G/ EMF Symptom List to show you what symptoms you could expect from Smart meters and cell phones and too much WiFi in your home.
I did not want this fight but I am EMF Disabled now and I could not survive here with a Smart meter. I have 3/4 of the symptoms on that EMF Symptom list which is attached. Also put your address in the link below to find out how many 5G towers, Small Cells or antennae are within 3 miles of your house. Consider shutting off your cell phone or put it in a shielding bag, get a land line, get a wired modem for your computer and do NOT use WIFI devices in your home. Over time they will make you ill. These Smart Meters will also make you ill over time as well as the possibility of starting fires.
See the Antenna Search link & check your own home for the assault that is being beamed at you. There are apparently 2 satellites that are orbiting over the Eugene area. See the other link too.
We will send another email when we have all the links and donate buttons working with a new partnership website but this is urgent since the trucks may be coming to your neighborhood next. Please warn your networks and family so they can take steps from the Take Action list.
We will also try to make EWEB accountable and if your family was strong armed into getting a SMART / Digital meter or you went to work and found you had a new meter on your home when you got back. We will be attempting to make EWEB give you back another analog meter free of charge, since they have violated their contract with you to provide SAFE electrical service and EWEB is unable to show you that these meters are safe. There is too much research that proves otherwise. Please keep my name and my email off the emails you send to your networks and attachments because I fear that I may be targeted and find a new 5G small cell in front of my house to punish me for speaking out.Also I know of about 1,200 people that do not want these meters so far but I DO NOT want them all emailing me ! A dedicated website link will be more effective gathering names and emails, than sending me all sorts of personal requests for assistance. I would not like that. We may be a few days away to a new website “NO SMART METERS EUGENE” that will also have a link to a NON Profit button. Check out OregonForSaferTechnology to learn more about Smart Meters and 5G The attachment “Smart Meter Action” and the sign to post near your meter and fence/ property is really important so print them out. Do what you can now to protect your health and the health of your family and share this with your neighbors. The trucks are rolling and people are coming into your yard and removing the analog meters without your consent !
This comes to us from a local activist. We include it as a service to our community:
Dear Folks~
EWEB is not respecting our desire to keep our nice, safe Analog meters. Trucks started 2 1/2 weeks ago to take the analog meters off homes without consent and give you a SMART meter or Digital meter “Turned OFF”…. which is EWEB’s “New Definition of OPT OUT”. The Digital meter “Turned Off” is a lie since they still emit and cause medical harm plus fires and privacy issues. EWEB is very slithery.
If you do NOT agree to their offer to get a Digital Meter “Shut OFF” even though you told them you had “OPTED OUT” and want to keep your nice safe analog meter…their Luuvas Cobb attorney sent citizens a letter that “If you do NOT COMPLY” then EWEB claims they have the right to shut off your water and electric service ! This seems like a strong arm maneuver and illegal to do. We need to stop them ! Just tell EWEB you do not agree to their “Offer”. See the other attachments on how to do that.
This needs to be stopped and a new group is forming and a new website called “NO SMART METERS EUGENE” and we will soon have a partnership with another organization that can capture hundreds of angry customer names and emails and have a donation button for potential legal fees. The donations can also pay advertising in newspapers/ signs at Farmers Market etc to reach some of the potential 20% to 30% of EWEB customers that have “Opted Out” and want to keep their analog meters. That number of customers may be in the 40,000 to 50,000 range of more angry people that need help to protect their families. If you do not take action….they just show up and grab your meter because they are assuming you “Agree” with their “Offer to Upgrade your service”. If you are “Silent” your safety is in jeopardy.
We have found an attorney that will represent us. We just need to start gathering hundreds of names and emails of the people that want to keep their analog meters. We will keep you posted when the new website “NO SMART METERS EUGENE” is functional.
Please open the attachments for the SMART Meter Action letter and put that as the body of your email to your networks. Then send the “No Trespass SIGN” to post and the “Certified letter to EWEB” template. I borrowed them from another group in town and please excuse their formatting errors. Another reason to form another group that can be more effective.
Also start contacting your Ward City Counselor and your Lane County Commissioner to tell them about your objections to the EWEB practices re meters. If there is harm there has to be choice. There may be a chance to ask that your electric service be shifted to EPUD ( Emerald Public Utility District) that is not pressuring analog meter folks to get something else. We have to have large #s of dissatisfied EWEB customers who want a change which is done through the City/ County Commissioners. Asking these City / County officials to send a “Stay Order” to EWEB to stop the trucks would be helpful.
I have also attached the 5G/ EMF Symptom List to show you what symptoms you could expect from Smart meters and cell phones and too much WiFi in your home.
I did not want this fight but I am EMF Disabled now and I could not survive here with a Smart meter. I have 3/4 of the symptoms on that EMF Symptom list which is attached. Also put your address in the link below to find out how many 5G towers, Small Cells or antennae are within 3 miles of your house. Consider shutting off your cell phone or put it in a shielding bag, get a land line, get a wired modem for your computer and do NOT use WIFI devices in your home. Over time they will make you ill. These Smart Meters will also make you ill over time as well as the possibility of starting fires.
See the Antenna Search link & check your own home for the assault that is being beamed at you. There are apparently 2 satellites that are orbiting over the Eugene area. See the other link too.
We will send another email when we have all the links and donate buttons working with a new partnership website but this is urgent since the trucks may be coming to your neighborhood next. Please warn your networks and family so they can take steps from the Take Action list.
We will also try to make EWEB accountable and if your family was strong armed into getting a SMART / Digital meter or you went to work and found you had a new meter on your home when you got back. We will be attempting to make EWEB give you back another analog meter free of charge, since they have violated their contract with you to provide SAFE electrical service and EWEB is unable to show you that these meters are safe. There is too much research that proves otherwise. Please keep my name and my email off the emails you send to your networks and attachments because I fear that I may be targeted and find a new 5G small cell in front of my house to punish me for speaking out.Also I know of about 1,200 people that do not want these meters so far but I DO NOT want them all emailing me ! A dedicated website link will be more effective gathering names and emails, than sending me all sorts of personal requests for assistance. I would not like that. We may be a few days away to a new website “NO SMART METERS EUGENE” that will also have a link to a NON Profit button. Check out OregonForSaferTechnology to learn more about Smart Meters and 5G The attachment “Smart Meter Action” and the sign to post near your meter and fence/ property is really important so print them out. Do what you can now to protect your health and the health of your family and share this with your neighbors. The trucks are rolling and people are coming into your yard and removing the analog meters without your consent !
Tell Your Representative and Senators to Cosponsor the PRIME Act
The PRIME Act [House Resolution 2814 (H.R. 2814) and Senate Bill 907 (S.907)], badly needed legislation that would allow states to pass laws legalizing the sale of custom slaughtered and processed meat in intrastate commerce, has been before Congress the past eight years; there has never been a better chance to pass this bill than now.
Congress is currently in the process of writing up the 2023 Farm Bill; the PRIME Act has a better chance of passing into law as part of the Farm Bill rather than as stand-alone legislation. Giving the bill momentum was a congressional hearing last month that the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust held titled “Where Is the Beef? Regulatory Barriers to Entry and Competition in Meat Processing”; a focus was on the PRIME Act as a solution to the difficulties small farmers and ranchers have in meeting demand for local meat with the current laws in place that favor the big meatpackers. There had never been a congressional hearing on the PRIME Act since Rep. Thomas Massie first introduced the measure in 2015.
The more cosponsors HR 2814/S907 can get, the greater the chance of passing as part of the Farm Bill. Your participation and help can make that happen.
ACTION TO TAKE
1. Call your U.S. Representative and both your U.S. Senators and ask them to sign onto HR 2814 / S907.
You can look up who represents you at https://www.congress.gov or call the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121.
2. Meet your congressmen or a staffer for the congressmen. Tap the links below to see who has cosponsored the bills:
During August, the members of Congress leave DC to spend a month back in their home districts. They attend town halls and local events, which are a great time to ask them in person – and in front of others in your community – to support the PRIME Act! When you call their offices, you can try to arrange a meeting with the congressmen or a staffer; you can also ask them what events they will be hosting or attending in your area. And then make plans to go!
Some tips:
Be friendly, polite, and positive. If they respond in a way that you don’t like (such as saying they’re opposed because of food safety, or talking about how the big industry players “feed the world”), don’t get hostile or angry — use it as an opening to educate them.
Getting contact information for a staffer, and giving them your contact information, helps the education process. Bring business cards, a farm flyer, or some other piece you can leave with the staff so they can reach you later – and ask for their business card.
Think about what matters to the elected official. Are they talking about supporting small businesses? National security? Environmental concerns? Health? Helping small farmers have local, scale-appropriate options for processing their animals and selling meat to their local community helps ALL of these. Explain to them why the PRIME Act is right up their alley.
Bring friends. Having 2 or 3 people reinforcing the importance of this issue is great.
TALKING POINTS
1. Passage of the PRIME Act would better enable farmers to meet booming demand for locally produced meat. Right now in parts of the country, farmers have to book a slaughterhouse slot as much as 1-1/2 to 2 years out. Moreover, farmers often have to transport their animals several hours to a slaughterhouse, increasing their expenses and stressing out the animals which could affect the quality of the meat. Passage of the PRIME Act would significantly increase access to local slaughterhouses.
2. Passage of the PRIME Act would improve food safety. Anywhere from 95% to 99% of the meat produced in the U.S. is slaughtered in huge facilities that process 300–400 cattle an hour. It is difficult to have quality control in the plant under those conditions no matter how many inspectors are present. The records bear this out. According to CDC statistics from 2005–2020, there were thousands of foodborne illness from the consumption of beef and pork. The big plants process more animals in a day than a custom house would in a year. There is better quality control in a custom slaughterhouse, inspector or no inspector. A 2020 FOIA request to USDA, seeking the number of foodborne illnesses from 2012 to 2020 attributed to the consumption of meat slaughtered and processed at a custom facility received a response from USDA that it had no record of any such illnesses. Custom operators have every incentive to process clean meat. Where a lawsuit against a big plant is just a cost of doing business, one lawsuit can easily shut down a custom house.
3. Passage of the PRIME Act would improve food security. Supply chain breakdowns and labor shortages have made the food supply more vulnerable. Passage of the PRIME Act would improve food security by increasing the local supply of quality meat, food that for most of us is critical for a healthy diet.
4. Passage of the PRIME Act would not be competition to the conventional meat industry; the meatpacker and small farms have mostly different markets. One sells mainly into the export market and big supermarket chains; the other sells into local communities direct to consumers and small mom-and-pop stores.
5. Passage of the PRIME Act would keep more of the food dollar in the state and community. The big food corporations send much of the money they earn out of the state; more of the money that local farmers, ranchers and custom house operators earn would circulate within the state and community, strengthening the local economy.
MORE BACKGROUND
Current law provides that the sale of meat is legal only if the animal is slaughtered and processed at a facility under state or federal inspection; “inspection” in this context means that an inspector is present when slaughtering or processing take place. This requirement went into effect due to Congress passing the Wholesome Meat Act of 1967, disastrous legislation that has been largely responsible for the formation of oligopolies in the beef and pork industries. Custom slaughter and processing facilities do not require that an inspector be present, but only the owners of the animals are allowed to receive the meat slaughtered and processed at custom houses. The sale of custom meat is illegal. The PRIME Act would lift the federal ban on the sale of custom meat. Custom facilities would still be subject to federal and state regulations, including inspection; however, inspectors would no longer have to be on site at custom facilities during slaughtering and processing of animals for meat sales to be legal in intrastate commerce.
Further alerts will be sent out on the PRIME Act as events warrant .
On January 18th, 2023, USDA published a proposed rule (Docket No. APHIS-2021-0020), “Use of Electronic Identification Eartags as Official Identification in Cattle and Bison.” This would mandate electronic livestock identification to track cattle crossing state lines.
The USDA claims it will help with animal health, but it doesn’t. Mandatory electronic animal identification does not address food safety or animal disease concerns. Current, low-tech methods are working effectively. And it doesn’t do anything at all for food safety, since the tracking ends at the slaughterhouse. Instead, it unreasonably burdens farmers and ranchers, while giving corporate multinational meatpackers yet another market advantage.
Mandatory electronic animal identification is a step in the wrong direction, especially at a time when the negative impacts of corporate consolidation of our food supply are becoming ever clearer, with shortages and skyrocketing prices (while the corporations’ profits also skyrocket).
The real reason for mandatory electronic animal identification is to satisfy monopolistic meatpacker interests to increase their exports markets, their profits, and their control of the U.S. cattle industry.
For decades, multinational meatpacking corporations, high-tech companies, and the USDA have pushed mandatory electronic identification for livestock, particularly cattle. It aims to promote international trade, thus maximizing the meatpacking companies’ profits, while the high-tech companies will make millions selling tags, readers, and all the related infrastructure … all at the expense of farmers and ranchers.
The proposal for electronic ID was defeated in 2010 by massive opposition, from organic farmers, conventional ranchers, livestock sale barns, horse owners, homesteaders, and consumers who want to buy from American producers. But Agribusiness and its allies in the USDA are now trying to bring it back.
The deadline for submitting comments through the Federal Register is Monday, March 20th at 11:59pm Eastern. Tell USDA to withdraw the proposal.
Mandatory electronic animal ID will harm the economic viability of independent cattle producers and reduce security and resiliency of our food supply.
ACTION TO TAKE
Submit your comment to USDA asking them to WITHDRAW the proposed rule on mandatory electronic animal identification. Use the link here for the Federal Register by 11:59pm EDT Monday, March 20th.
Spread the word by sharing this Facebook link to a video posted by the Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance (FARFA). The shortlink to the comment portal is https://bit.ly/3XYn17l
TALKING POINTS
Mandatory electronic livestock identification creates no food safety benefit and will not prevent foodborne illnesses because the tracking ends at the time of slaughter. The vast majority of food safety issues stem from slaughter and processing, not the farm. This proposal takes the safety focus off of where the problems have occurred (the massive processing plants), a diversionary tactic from the real reforms that are needed for food safety, such as improved oversight of slaughterhouses and food processing facilities, and increased inspections of imported foods.
Programs such as mandatory electronic animal identification that burden independent livestock farmers and ranchers will hurt efforts to develop safer, decentralized food systems.
Mandatory electronic livestock identification unfairly burdens independent family farm livestock producers & taxpayers. It’s not only the costs of the electronic tags themselves, but all the related infrastructure, particularly the readers and software. The rapid changes in technology also mean that readers may need to be replaced frequently, creating endless future costs.
Mandatory electronic livestock identification is not a proven effective tool for disease prevention. USDA has been very successful in eradicating diseases through existing, time-proven, low-tech programs. USDA should not be allowed to supplant these successful programs with an unproven system that will consume massive resources in administration and bureaucracy, rather than focusing on the prevention of disease.
The proposal favors corporate-controlled operations in which the company owns the animals from birth to death, because they are allowed to use “Group/lot identification,” i.e. simply designating the group of thousands of animals with an ID number instead of electronically tagging each animal. Since independent livestock producers are required to tag each animal, the program creates a huge advantage for vertically integrated, corporate agri-business and meatpackers! This drives consolidation of our food system further, making it difficult, if not impossible, for small and mid-sized livestock producers to survive.
Mandatory electronic livestock identification creates privacy concerns and increases corporate control over the livestock industry. Mandatory electronic animal identification could create potential risks for farmers’ private financial information and fuel increased corporate control over the livestock industry by giving packers more information about how animals are produced. This information could potentially be used to discriminate against farmers based on the information available.
Have you had a chance to write testimony to support the Factory Farm Moratorium yet? If yes, THANK YOU! Your voice is so important! If not, legislators are hearing from farmers and farm lobbyists who feel that these Mega-CAFOs are the path forward for agriculture in our state and should benefit from regulatory exemptions, and if you disagree, now is the time to speak up! We have provided instructions, a template and key talking points so it will only take only a few minutes to join our collective voice. We want to move this bill forward and YOU (especially looking at you, Oregon farmers!) are essential in that process!
There was a second hearing on 3/13 at 8am so the written testimony deadline is on Wednesday, March 15th at 8am.
You should submit written testimony if:
You are a farmer
You are a rural Oregonian
You have experience living near a factory farm
You are a food system advocate living in an urban center
You are a healthcare professional concerned about these facilities and public health
You are concerned about the climate change impacts of factory farms in Oregon
We need to show strength in numbers! During the informational hearing on 2/28, Senator Golden said that his committee feels obligated to pay close attention to written testimony when they have to limit the length of spoken testimony. We need to send as many pieces of written testimony in as possible to show the broad support for this bill.
We must take action to halt the expansion of factory farming in our state until we have protections in place for the environment, animal welfare, family farms, and frontline communities.
Are You a Farmer in One of the Districts of a Ways and Means On Natural Resources Committee Member? WE NEED YOUR HELP!
The next step forward with the Factory Farm Moratorium is to let the committee members know you care about this issue. If you are a farmer in a district of one of the members of theJoint Committee On Ways and Means Subcommittee On Natural Resources, they need to hear from you! If you are not a farmer, please share with your farmer friends!
This is an important moment for SB 85-1! If you can take a minute to encourage your legislator to support SB 85-1, we can help move this bill forward. As a farmer and a member in their district, your voice will be the loudest and most influential. We have language ready to go for you and by just clicking a couple of buttons your legislator will be contacted, BUT we encourage you to personalize the email because it is important for legislators to know why YOUcare about a factory farm moratorium in Oregon. Please share why you personally want to stop the expansion of factory farms in Oregon, or how living near factory farms has impacted your life. Thank you for taking the time to be a part of a path towards a more local, diversified, and interconnected agricultural future.
***A special note to folks in Emerson Levy’s district (House District 53, which includes north Bend, south Redmond, Tumalo, Sisters, Eagle Crest and Black Butte) – we need extra support in this area so please help us spread the word!
The mRNA Covid-19 injections have proven to be far from “safe and effective”…
And Big Pharma, the CDC, and the FDA KNEW IT all along.
Yet they continue to market and mandate the dangerous, ineffective, and deadly shots.
The tides are turning, the truth is coming to the surface. Yet here in Oregon, we still have MUCH WORK TO DO!
To bring real focus to the dangers and risks posed by the injections, we are announcing our very own DECEMBER POSTCARD CAMPAIGN.
The front of the postcard features the original screenshot from the FDA’s VRBPAC meeting in October 2020 which exposed an absolutely shocking list of possible “adverse outcomes” associated with the novel products.
We are asking all our friends and supporters like you to purchase 10 packs of these postcards and mail them to your elected Representatives, House and Senate, to OHA, to School Board members and to our Governor and even our United States President.
Our goal is to FLOOD our government representatives at every level, OUR ELECTED EMPLOYEES, with these hard-hitting postcards, and we need YOU to help do that.
We cannot be silent and compliant while our loved ones suffer and even die from these despicable mRNA Covid-19 injections. #DiedSuddenly is not and cannot become the norm.
The cost for a ten pack of cards is only $1.00. Add the postage required to send out the cards, it’s still a tiny price to pay to remind our politicians of the deadly and dangerous consequences of the path they have chosen.
CHD Oregon Chapter will bring these powerful postcards to Legislative Days, December 7th, 8th, and 9th, and will have them for sale at our table at Isaac’s Room, inside The IceBox Cafe, 299 Cottage Street, N.E. Please come by and get your cards and take a tour of our Capital.
If you cannot be there in person, please reach out to either your CHD County Ambassador or to our office in Ashland, via phone (541) 482-2953 or email or.chd@childrenshealthdefense.org. We’ll get you your postcards ASAP.
Together, we can flip our beautiful State of Oregon back towards Freedom and Health!!
Thank you for your support; WE CANNOT DO IT WITHOUT YOU!!!
Sincerely,
CHD Oregon
258 A Street,
Suite 1, #479
Ashland Oregon 97520
US
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