ICCI Convention: Lewis Lapham, Local Food and Progressive Thinking

By Sam Garchik

Lewis Lapham spoke to a crowd of about 550 people last Friday night in Des Moines at the ICCI state convention. The speach and convention was covered by Gordon Mayer at his blog, NPCommunicator. Gordon works for the Communnity Media Center as their senior media trainer, and he was at the ICCI event to work with them on how to get media coverage. I will soon add a link to his organization on the main blog page.

Also, I was told at the event to check out this story about local food in Mother Jones. It mention's ICCI member and head of the National Family Farm Coalition George Naylor, who was interviewd in depth by Mother Jones. Both are very good reads, and emphasize the point ICCI was making when they produced menus for convention meals made from local food. As Hugh Espey, director of ICCI said, their focus is on family farms, and "it's important to practice what you preach."

I also had the chance to talk to Gary Klicker, who reminded me of the Meatrix movies. These are very funny, and kind of scary. It's nice to see folks like Gary avoiding some of the scary agricultural practices that are out there, and using internet resources to make that food available. ICCI has done a good job of making this page, which allows consumers to learn about meat producers around the state and purchase quality meat directly from them.

One more thing: Hugh gave me a list of questions ICCI is giving members so that the members can ask candidates how they stand on certain issues. I'll post the list as soon as I get it from ICCI.

Problems with Cattle Plant in Jefferson

By Spencer (multiquote@mqins.com)

This was posted originally in our open threads area, but I wanted to give it wider circulation...

Hi everyone, I wanted to post a comment about an issue going on here in Iowa right now that many people probably don't know about. Recently a plant that produces cattle feed was built in a residential area of Jefferson, Iowa enticed by the city of Jefferson to bring more industry to the town. However, shortly after the plant opened neighbors within a mile radius started getting sick, plant and wildlife started to die and disappear, paint began to peel on vehicles, windows and siding began to pit and corrode, and outdoor pets became sick and began to die such as small kittens and dogs.

The DNR has found several times that the plant was emitting way over the legal limit of hydrochloric acid into the atmosphere, but the plant has never faced any fines or repercussions and the city that brought the plant in to the town in the first place will do nothing to help the problem. A couple hundered of the local residents have began working on a lawsuit but it looks like they'll have a long road ahead of them, so in the mean time they are faced with a choice: Move and live, or stay and slowly die from the hydrochloric acid poisoning. Not to mention the fact that their property is now basically worthless since no one in their right mind would move into the area.

You can find several articles taken from the Des Moines register over the last year that goes into detail about this issue as well as phone numbers and addresses for the city, mayor, and all of the city councilmen at http://www.iowahealthinsurance.biz/articles/soychlor.htm

ICCI Convention Schedule

By ICCI

Their convention is scheduled for this weekend in Des Moines. They do a lot of good work, so if you can, check them out. Here's the schedule for the two day event.

Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement
2006 Statewide Convention
Historic Hotel Fort Des Moines

Reclaiming Democracy

  National Animal Tag Efforts

By JV

This is a very interesting story that came to me from JV, who linked back to Rural Heritage, a journal that covers the use of draft animals

I don't know how many are aware of this pending legislation, but it appears not many.

    The first three are letters to the editor. Please follow the links to the three articles under "read more". The articles aren't too long. Also check out the Table of Contents http://www.ruralheritage.com/stop_nais/index.htm#readers for what you can do. This pending legislation will affect the small time farmer's livelihood, everyone's privacy, and the religious beliefs of the Amish (they don't meddle in our affairs, why should we meddle in theirs?). This is not freedom, but oppression under the guise of 'protection'. 

    Thank you and please spread the word.

        JV

It's No Hoax

http://www.ruralheritage.com/stop_nais/hoax.htm 

by Steven Gregersen

06 April 2006

I just became aware of a set of regulations being foisted upon us by the United States Department of Agriculture. If they become law anyone who owns a livestock animal in the United States will be required to register (and receive a federal ID number) their place of residence with the USDA, then register any livestock they own with the same agency (each animal will also receive a federal ID number).

Each animal will receive an implant or ear tag (which the owner will pay for) with a radio frequency device that can be monitored from a distance. (No need for a search warrant?) Livestock animals include horses, cattle, sheep, hogs, rabbits, chickens, fish - any animal used for human consumption. Horses are included even though we don’t (usually!) eat them.

Any time one of the registered animals leaves your property it must be reported to the government within 48 hours (bold face added). That includes taking a trail ride on your horse (The Amish riding into town in their horse and buggy – comment added), showing animals at the county fair, butchering the animal (even if it’s for your own use), or if the animal escapes or is stolen. You will have 48 hours to report the birth or death of an animal, as well.

There are unspecified consequences for failure to comply. Presumably, these will entail fines and/or confiscation of the animal. The only exception for not registering your animals is if they never leave your property during their lifetime. (Although it is assumed that if they escape or are stolen you will be held responsible for non-compliance.)

At first, I thought this was a hoax, but I went to the USDA website and typed in a search for NAIS (National Animal Identification System) and there it was, glorified with praise about how much safer our food supply will be once it is fully implemented. The USDA is already offering cash incentives for states and tribes to put it into effect immediately (which Wisconsin is attempting to do right now).

I am deeply incensed by this and hope it has the same effect upon you. I urge you to check it out and put the word out as soon as possible, so we can get enough people mobilized to get it stopped. I hope there will be enough public outcry to end it once and for all.

Steven Gregersen lives in Fortine, Montana. His letter appeared in the Winter 2006 issue of Rural Heritage.

Concerns about Ramifications

http://www.ruralheritage.com/stop_nais/ramifications.htm

by Steven J. Kamin

06 April 2006

The USDA is planning to implement to National Animal Identification System by the fall of 2007. The Draft Strategic Plan will be written by July of 2006, with a short period for commentary to follow. This is a critical point for all homesteaders and small farming operations with livestock.

According to the requirements for registration and identification, every animal that could possibly be used for human consumption, from farmed fish to a pet horse, would have to be registered and accounted for through a government agency. Every time an animal leaves your property - for breeding, a show, slaughter, or just to ride your horse on a trail - you will be required by federal law to report it within 24 hours.

I am concerned about the ramification of such stringent guidelines for private ownership and use of livestock. As a small-scale beef rancher, I feel my livelihood is in serious jeopardy. Although there are real dangers of food source contamination, these exist primarily in feedlots, where thousands of animals are held in a confined area. The NAIS does not focus on these operations. Quite the contrary. Large-scale producers would be allowed to umbrella thousands of animals under one identification code, whereas small-scale owners will be required to register each individual animal, with large animals requiring an implant or tag containing a microchip. In addition, any property where an animal is raised must be registered by owner’s name, address, and phone number and keyed to GPS [global positioning system] coordinates for satellite-assisted location of houses and farms, to be mandatory (Italics not mine) by January 2008.

The USDA has admitted there will be a cost to the producers (Italics not mine). This means the small operator will bear the brunt of the expense, because each individual animal requires a registration code number. No justification can be strong enough to subject a family-run farm to these restrictions. The fees and bureaucratic red tape will make it impractical to continue raising livestock for personal use. Approval of the NAIS as written could signal the end of homesteading and the American family farm.

We need to organize and fight the obvious persecution of all small volume livestock owners by the large corporate producers, and the makers of high-tech animal ID equipment and their lobbyists, who endorse these unrealistic restrictions. If our way of life is to continue, we must revise the proposed guidelines being implemented in some states at this very moment. To hesitate now could mean the loss of the American family farm tradition forever. Let us unify to protect the most unquestionable human right, a tradition as old as civilization - raising animals to feed our families.

Steven J. Kamin lives in Wellsboro, Pennsylvania. His letter appeared in The Evener 2006 issue of Rural Heritage.

Step up the Pace

http://www.ruralheritage.com/stop_nais/pace.htm

by Dale Corkern

01 June 2006

The National Animal ID System seems to be gaining momentum now. I had read about it a few years ago, but gaffed it off as rumor.

I’m surprised, as I talk with more and more folks, to find out they just haven’t heard. Some folks started out supporting it, but have switched horses now that they are really finding out what it means.

My brother-in-law set me up an email account at the library, which I’m slowly learning to use. All the librarians have livestock, and none of them had heard about this until I started researching it at the library. So we all have to step up the pace and get people informed.

Please put out the word. Do not assume everyone with livestock has heard. They haven’t.

Dale Corkern lives in Yerington, Montana. His letter appeared in the Spring 2006 issue of Rural Heritage.

Read more (Table of Contents - http://www.ruralheritage.com/stop_nais/index.htm#readers):

Trading Constitutional Freedoms for False Security

http://www.ruralheritage.com/stop_nais/freedom.htm

by Victoria Tollman

Do you really think any program that leaves out the factory farms could possibly prevent contaminations in our public meat supply after it ships out from those farms? Sure, we can find out where it came from, but isn’t that a bit late?

Benjamin Franklin once said, “Those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.” 

Assault on Small Farmers - Who's Behind It?

http://www.ruralheritage.com/stop_nais/assault02.htm

by Justin Sanders 

The NAIS abolishes private property rights in farms and in animals. Run by a branch of the USDA, the NAIS considers your animals to be not yours, but part of “the national herd.” Plainly, they are right. If they can force you to register your farm and your animals, you do not own them. They own them, because they control them. You are only inventorying property and animals for their true owner, the federal government.

Assault on Small Farmers - Can We Defeat It?

http://www.ruralheritage.com/stop_nais/assault03.htm

by Justin Sanders

“The security of America’s food supply and the resilience of livestock in the face of diseases are best served by decentralising and dispersing food production and processing, and breeding and maintaining livestock. If more citizens could depend on food raised and processed within, say, 100 miles of their homes, the danger of large-scale disruptions would be minimised, the costs of transport would be less affected by volatile fuel prices, and any food-borne diseases… would be contained by the system’s natural geographic limits. Similarly, if animals, such as cattle, for example, are kept in small herds of, say, 10 to a 100 animals, infectious diseases will have much more difficulty in spreading beyond a discrete geographical area.” – New York attorney Mary Zanoni

Although USDA claims NAIS won't be mandatory until after 2009, this could change instantly, especially if Congress passes pending legislation such as HR 3170 or HR 1254 and HR 1256. Meanwhile, many states have rushed forward with their own programs. Texas, for one, (Alabama, Indiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Texas, Tennessee, Vermont and Wisconsin all have some stage of regulation in the works) has proposed mandatory premises registration. We must now fight on 51 fronts - each state and the federal level.

Rural Heritage

281 Dean Ridge Lane

Gainesboro, TN 38562-5039

Phone: 931-268-0655

Fax: 931-268-5884

Karin Bergener of Ravenna, Ohio, is an attorney and co-founder of the Liberty Ark Coaltion, a group working to stop the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) and equivalent state programs. For the latest information on pending federal and state legislation, visit their website at www.libertyark.net

  Iowa Blog Roundup

Lot's of news about presidential contenders. George Washington University in DC has the best list, including Repubs and Dems, and what they do when they visit our great state. Looks like Edwards travels here the most, but then, he doesn't have a job to worry about either.

Nicholas Johnson had two interesting articles published last week. I link both to Johnson's web site, where he has more extensive footnotes and references. One of the two was in the PC, and argues that recent atrocities in Iraq are the fault of the administration.The other was in the Register, and got a lot of play in the blogosphere. This article discusses voter owned elections, and generated enough buzz that Political Forecast has a rundown of the discussion. By the way, guys and girls, Blog for Iowa has covered ICCI and Voter Owned for several years.

And finally thanks go out to Christina Butts, who posted this article out about the EPA and hog confinements. According to the piece, as with everything else the current federal administration does, the government is siding against individuals when it comes to federal regulations of confinements.