The Clock is Ticking: Save Washington Food from NAIS!

The clock is ticking in Washington and we have 48 hours left of farming freedom.  With 3 easy emails or phone calls (your choice) you can do your part to ensure that the National Animal Identification System, NAIS, remains voluntary in Washington State.  Why is Voluntary NAIS critical to Washington agriculture?

  • Mandatory NAIS transforms your real property into a government-controlled premises.  A government defined ‘Premises’ will not ensure that the food on your dinner plate is safe.  If you sign up for Premises Registration you are allowing someone to tell you what you can or can’t do on your own property, and you will get to pay for that privilege.
  • Mandatory NAIS electronic identification will not ensure the food you buy will be safe.  In fact, scientific-evidence, shows a direct link between electronic identification and cancer!  Ewwww, do you want cancer cells for dinner?
  • Mandatory NAIS surveillance, tracing, tracking will not ensure the food you eat is safe.  It is true government officials will know where outbreaks occur (psst…they already know through Google).  When agriculture officials conduct unaccountable surveillance and tracking the result is that your small local farmers, the ones growing healthy food, are driven out of business due to over regulation by a stack of alphabet agencies. Suspect animals are not tested, but are inhumanely slaughtered, whether they are sick or not!  This drives up the cost for your local food products.

One 4-ounce hamburger purchased at your local grocery store has come from as many as 1485 locations, most are out of the country.  Ask your Legislator how Mandatory NAIS will make this one 4-ounce hamburger safe?  COOL to the rescue?  How are they going to fit all those locations on the label?  And do you really have time to read  all the locations?  Please do your part today by supporting Voluntary NAIS and help to restore the USDA and WSDA stamp of approval to their historically renowned quality, really making your hamburger or food of choice safe.

One last thought before you spring into action to save our food!  Under public disclosure it was revealed that truckloads of diseased and undocumented cattle are flooding across the border headed straight for your dinner-plate.  Vegan?  Washingtonians have the same problem with your fruits and vegetables crop supply.

Why should you be forced to give up quality local food products while multi-national companies, in the food business solely for profit, make the big bucks while you and your family are subjected to an inferior and contaminated food supply?  True Homeland Security is access to fresh and local food products with farmers and ranchers who are free to do what they do best, bringing you quality local food.

Be a 10 Minute Citizen to Save our Food Supply:

Call or email:

1.  WA Senate Chairman Hatfield

Phone:  360-786-7636

Email: hatfield.brian@leg.wa.gov

2.  WA House Chairman Blake

Phone:  360-786-7870

Email:  blake.brian@leg.wa.gov

3.  Speaker of the House: Representative Chopp

Phone:  360-786-7920

Email:  chopp.frank@leg.wa.gov

What to say:

“Thank you for supporting HB 2086 and SB 5956.  I appreciate your concern to preserving local agriculture and quality & local food I count on for my family.

Please Exec these valuable bills out of committee today or tomorrow, and move them forward in the Legislative process.

Thank you for your interest and time protecting my local farmer and food.”

Public Request to Exec Out HB 2086 & SB 5956

Dear Agricultural Chairmen and Committee Members,

I want to thank you for your voluntary participation in the hearing of the proposed bills, Voluntary Participation in the National Animal Identification System (known as NAIS), and presented to you in the forms of HB 2086 and SB 5956 yesterday afternoon, 2/17/2009, at 1:30 PM PT in both the Senate and House Agricultural Committees. The issue of the National Animal Identification System is not new to you because it began implementation 6 years ago, costing Washingtonians thousands of dollars for a redundant system wanting to supplant programs that had already achieved success years ago.

For you who are members of the Agricultural Committees, two things were emphasized in yesterday’s hearings:

* Protecting the health of people and animals in Washington State

* Maintaining economic viability in a global economy

Unfortunately, it is my understanding that Dr. Eldridge and Mary Beth Lang provided these Agricultural Committees with some mis-information. Please allow me to clarify, and I apologize beforehand for a slightly technical document.

* Currently the WSDA and Dr. Eldridge already have all the power, funding, resources, and guidelines needed to deal with any agricultural related emergency. The following are the resources Dr. Eldridge has at his disposal: Continue reading

WA Voluntary NAIS Senate Hearing: Video Up Documents, in Process!

I will be scanning all of the documents that were part of our hearing on SB 5956.  I will forward those to you as soon as we have completed the scanning process.  Attached is a link to TVW where you can view or hear the actual hearing yesterday.  Let me know if this meets your needs.

http://www.tvw.org/search/siteSearch.cfm?EvntType=C&keywords=Senate%20Agriculture&date=2009&bhcp=1

Thank you Wanda!

WA Voluntary NAIS House Hearing: Video and Documents are Up!

Some of the documents are available online at http://apps.leg.wa.gov/cmd/default.aspx. Where it says, “Select a Committee,” select “Agriculture and Natural Resources.” Then scroll down to HB 2086 and click on the plus sign to open the documents.

A video of the hearing is available on TVW’s website (http://www.tvw.org/media/mediaplayer.cfm?evid=2009021193&TYPE=V&CFID=1733601&CFTOKEN=16311863&bhcp=1)

Thank you Sarah!

More Groups Join No Mandatory NAIS in Washington State

We are proud to announce that the following organizations have teamed up with us to ensure a Voluntary ONLY NAIS in Washington State.  For those who have not looked at the legislation the term voluntary is defined so that any Department of Agricultural be it WSDA or USDA cannot twist the term

Welcome to our humble abode!

  • Laird Norton Family Foundation
  • Medina Foundation

From the trenches.

SB 5956 Voluntary NAIS Hearing Scheduled Tuesday

Washingtonian’s please prepare your Memorandum of SUPPORT found on the left sidebar on the site.  If you are interested in testifying please leave a comment on this post and I will contact you to make preparations.  We need to be educated, professional and give the utmost respect to the Agricultural Committee members as they have been very gracious and extended an attentive ear to the mandatory NAIS situation bearing down on us.

SHR 3
J.A. Cherberg Building February 17, 2009
TUESDAY 1:30 p.m.

Work Session: Milk pricing.

Public Hearing: SB 5956 – Regarding voluntary participation in a state or national animal identification system. (Schoesler)

Possible executive session on bills heard in committee. Other business.

WA Voluntary NAIS Participation Bills are UP! We need your help

Washington State Voluntary NAIS has been introduced:

House and Senate

Six Steps to Farming Freedom

Status Report

Accompanying Documentation

“This is fantastic news,” said one Washington NoNAIS person upon hearing that House Bill (HB) 2086 was read this morning and assigned to the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, and also that Senate Bill (SB) 5956 was read this morning and introduced to the Senate Agricultural and Rural Economic Development Committee at 10:30 this morning.

A team of three hit the Capital last Monday representing three impacted sectors: a Realtor, a livestock auctioneer, and a public relations manager. This team of three also represented the following species: bovine, horses, goats and poultry. With great enthusiasm and support on Friday proposed legislation regarding, “Voluntary participation in the National Animal Identification System”, known as NAIS, went into play in the Senate and the House.

Representative Shelly Short sponsored HB 2086.

Senator Mark Schoesler sponsored SB 5956.

(Please take time to thank these Legislator’s)

Both bills are located on the www.nonaiswa.org website. The proposed legislation language is identical, and is commonly referred to as Companion Bill set.

February 20th is our cutoff date for both HB 2086 and SB 5956. The Agricultural Committee Chairs must decide to hold a public hearing and move HB 2086 and SB 5956 by February 20th or the bill(s) die in committee.

The chairman of the Senate Ag Committee is Senator Brian Hatfield:

Email: hatfield.brian@leg.wa.gov

Phone: (360) 786-7636

The chair of the House Ag Committee is Representative Brian Blake.

Email: blake.brian@leg.wa.gov

Phone: (360) 786-7870

We Need Your Help!

NOW is the time we need your help! The team of three spent the entire last week in Olympia ~ 5 days ~ meeting with our representatives, educating, asking for support, asking for sponsors of these bills.  NOW IT IS UP TO YOU…

Proposed Legislation, HB 2086 & SB 5956 Status

HB 2086 and SB 5956 are new fresh new bills with new prime sponsors and new supporters. It is important to note that HB 2086 is not HB 1151. Due to the tremendous emotion and lack of unity unfortunately HB 1151 became a bad memory for many and so it was necessary to bring a squeaky clean and fresh bill with a unified support base to our Representatives and Senators. Continue reading

NAIS Public Disclsoure Doc: Species Organizations PAID to Sign up Members for Premises Registration

wsda-pays-species-organizations-to-sign-up-members-for-premises-identification-component-of-nais-oct-6-2006