USDA withdraws animal welfare rule

[demmiblue]

Source: The Hill

The Trump administration has decided to withdraw an Obama-era rule that would have set new standards for the way animals should be treated if their meat is going to be sold as “certified organic.”

The Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced Monday that it is officially withdrawing the final rule it delayed for the third time in November. The agency said the rule, which was set to take effect in May, exceeded the department’s statutory authority and could have had a negative effect on voluntary participation in the National Organic Program.

“The existing robust organic livestock and poultry regulations are effective,” Greg Ibach, under secretary of Agriculture for marketing and regulatory programs, said in a statement.

“The organic industry’s continued growth domestically and globally shows that consumers trust the current approach that balances consumer expectations and the needs of organic producers and handlers.”

Read more: http://thehill.com/regulation/administration/377947-usda-withdraws-animal-welfare-rule

[Eliot Rosewater]

1. He wants to torture animals.

[jmowreader]

2. Torturing animals has nothing to do with this one

He just thinks it's unfair that people who run CAFOs can't also label their meat "certified organic" and make more money. So...now ALL meat will be labeled "certified organic" and priced accordingly, and only the rich will be allowed to eat it.

[underpants]

3. The big food producers can slap "organic" on the label and drown the real ones with marketing

and they won't have to spend a dime reconfiguring their facilities

[RandomAccess]

4. Key info -

The rule stipulated, for example, that poultry must be housed in spaces that are big enough for the birds to move freely, stretch their wings, stand normally and engage in natural behaviors. Livestock, meanwhile, must be provided access to an outdoor space year round.

You know, the humane stuff.

Bastards.

[demmiblue]

6. Unfortunately, the humane stuff doesn't matter to a whole lot of people.

Bastards, indeed.

[Achilleaze]

5. Organic Inc. has pissed all over the basic idea of organics

and cheapened it like they cheapen & downgrade the whole corporate crapola chain of processed food. Witness the epidemics of dietary related disease.

[Achilleaze]

7. You are what you eat, Inc.

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

11. That is what I visualize every time I am at the chicken section...

... of a grocery store cooler/freezer. I grew up chasing chickens and collecting eggs at my grandparent's farm in South Dakota. Butchering the full grown chicks I went with grandma to pick up at the hatchery that same spring. It never bothered me, the butchering part. They were raised free range and knew when to head to the brooder house each night.

The thought of the purposely bred to be anemic chickens in corporate chicken houses like this turn my stomach. My dad was a USDA Inspector In Charge, and he makes sure everything is well done, especially his eggs, for the past 15+ years. My kid brother holds the same position with the USDA now.

Thought I would share a little, "insider", knowledge.

PS: The only thing to make my dad flinch is mention of salmonella.

[davekriss]

8. Im glad Im vegan

[benld74]

9. Organic farming has seen a 7% growth rate

The pilot organic farm structure was set to go national during this summer.
Looks like the little bit they were getting was too much for corporate to bear.
Lobbyists killed organic.
I hope it continues, grows and makes them all look like the $$$ sucking cretins they are

[dflprincess]

10. I'm beginning to wish Obama had signed a whole bunch of really awful EOs on his last day

so Trumpsky would have spent his time reversing those.