The Politics of Food
Politics might be messy, but we can't avoid it if we want access to clean, healthy food
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Today’s post is about the politics of the food you eat—what you have access to and why.
This past week has been a whirlwind.
Congressman Massie and I were catching up early this week when he mentioned 4 amendments pending to the agriculture appropriations bill…
With the threat of a government shutdown constantly being beamed into our homes, phones and brains, it’s been hard to ignore politics as Congress worked towards an agreement to keep the government open–for now.
Looks like they will still need either a big spending bill or to continue working on separate spending bills for a longer term solution.
One of the things that happened this past week was Congress took up an agriculture appropriations bill to fund the USDA and FDA.
Of course, these things get really messy.
On Tuesday, Rep Thomas Massie–a farmer himself—introduced 2 amendments to the ag appropriations bill.
These two amendments would keep the USDA from:
Using grant funding to research transgenic edible vaccines.
Implementing a rule to further restrict families from using the custom slaughter meat exemption to share the meat from a cow or pig.
Rep Victoria Spartz and Rep Harriet Hageman, introduced two other amendments regarding transparency in our corrupt, corporate food systems:
The Hageman amendment was about defunding electronic ear tags for cattle and bison (essentially, microchips being required for ALL cattle and bison and any location where they live or pass through.) Huge privacy concerns on this one!
The Spartz amendment banned the USDA from using taxpayer funds on the agriculture check off programs–these are the funds that all commodity producers are now required to pay to help the industry “market” the commodities. Many farmers do not want to participate in this, but have no choice.
I thought I could help others interested in food politics understand what these amendments were about and how to take action on them.
Between Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, Congressman Massie and I were on 2 different shows explaining these amendments and what they do to give people an opportunity to weigh in on these amendments with their own Reps.
(If you missed all of this action, you are not alone. It was about 48 hours of intense action and reaction.)
Here is one of the interviews.
The results: Food Freedom had a spectacular win!
Rep Massie’s 2 amendments made it into the final ag appropriations bill.
The other two amendments failed, but got roll call votes meaning that the members who voted for or against are recorded and we now know definitively where they stand on those two issues.
We’ll see how this develops as the funding bill(s) progress, but getting these 4 issues in front of Congress and debated and voted on is HUGE.
There is no update on the Farm Bill right now.
But keep an eye on PRIME
The Farm Bill happens every 5 years. It also relates to funding, however is considered less urgent as it funds only specific items.
But, we’ve got to keep an eye on Prime.
We can make a huge difference when it comes to the future of our food security by acting together to pass this bill that gives us greater access to locally produced meats, and gives farmers the freedom to keep producing.
For all those who made calls this past week about the amendments, THANK YOU. You are needed. You are important.
Please encourage your lawmakers to support HR 2814 (PRIME Act). Full information here.
If you’re not able to make these calls, dive in by getting involved in your own food production. It’s worth it!
We are at a crossroads when it comes to our local food security. I strongly believe in our power to come together in community and produce our food.
We’ve got to work together to preserve what we have left and to gain back lost ground.
In the meantime, your support of local farms literally keeps them going. Without you, farms can’t make it on food production alone and turn to additional methods for income.
If you have questions on any of the political stuff happening, ASK. I’ve been in this world for over 15 years and can answer a lot of obscure questions.
About Raw Milk Mama: I believe in the freedom to feed our families how we see fit. I also see the direction that our country is going--no one wants to live in a world where food scarcity is a constant reality. It's time to take back our food systems so they serve us, not monopolistic corporations.
This is a fascinating and important read. I was involved for a period of time in a project in the UK with DEFRA called the Livestock Register which was to track movements of animals as a way of attempting to control outbreaks of Foot and Mouth disease. The issues you raise remind me of UK Government's approach to controlling how food is produced. Thank you for working so hard to help us return to a more natural and safer approach to growing and consuming food.
We are our food, every molecule, every nutrient, every toxin, every chemical, every plant, every animal; all of it becomes US! So, if people do not start putting importance on how we raise and treat our food, and who does that if we can't, we may, perhaps, cease to be human, healthy, balanced, sane, soverign beings of light and LOVE, and become something altogether different. Those who are manipulating our food quality, sources, quantum energy, spiritual preparation, at the atomic and subatomic levels, including the manipulation of genes, DNA and adding AI, are not doing that to improve our food but for their own agendas! Those who control our food control us!!
Thank you, for all your service to humanity, the elemental kingdom and Mother Earth Raw Milk Mama.