Fed Bill Aims to Force-Feed States with Factory Farm Products
As Iowa state lawmakers seek to shut down scrutiny of the state’s abundant factory farms, one of their US senators is trying to make sure no other state can enact farmed animal welfare reforms either. In April, Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) reintroduced a controversial federal bill that would override state laws that protect farmed animals from some of the cruelest confinement practices, including use of battery cages, gestation crates, and veal crates.
Within the past 20 years, 11 states have established laws or regulations that prohibit certain confinement practices on farms. Two of those states—California and Massachusetts—have taken the additional step of prohibiting not only confinement practices, but also the sale of products within their borders that come from animals subjected to these practices, no matter where the animal is raised.
Ernst’s bill—previously dubbed the Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression (EATS) Act and now rebranded as the Food Security and Farm Protection Act—would reverse these reforms and prevent states from enacting similar measures that restrict the sale of products based on production practices. Last Congress, the EATS Act faced bipartisan opposition from lawmakers and significant pushback from thousands of entities, including individual farms, prominent food companies, veterinarians, food and farmer advocacy groups, and organizations representing consumers, workers, and the environment.
Program Terms: Farmed Animals
AWI Quarterly Terms: Feature Article, Government/Legal
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