From: Alternet
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| Photo Credit: Shutterstock.com/ Andrey Burmakin |
May 9, 2013
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Every year for the last six or eight, family farmers and small-town
residents in Missouri have had to fight off legislations designed to
take away our local control and put all the lawmaking privileges in the
hands of state lawmakers. Taken to the extreme, this would mean that
county, city and township ordinances and laws would be void. No more
city zoning, no health ordinances guaranteeing special treatment such as
special regulations against noise, air pollution, water pollution and
so forth, for county residents that demande
The beneficiaries of these laws would be corporate do-badders who
want to export costs like cleanups or health care for employees. Without
regulations, they could get taxpayers to pay for pollution and social
justice atrocities. It would be business as usual for them, only better!
This year, we have been dealing with bills introduced simultaneously
in the Missouri House of Representatives and Senate to ensure “modern
farming practices” forever. The resolutions on the House side said, “No
state law shall be enacted which abridges the right of farmers and
ranchers to employ agricultural technology and modern livestock
production and ranching practices, unless enacted by the General
Assembly.”
Never mind that “agricultural technology,” “modern livestock
production,” “ranching practices” are not defined. And never mind that
they would seem to suggest methods of production like Confined Animal
Feeding Operations and genetically altered crops. If these resolutions
passed, citizens would be asked to vote this dangerous language into our
state constitution. Where it would reside forever.
As I write this, just a few days after tax day, it looks like we’ve
beaten back this particular monster. It is possible, of course, that all
we’ve done is cut off one head to reveal two or three more, but the
citizens have been calling lawmakers, pointing out the errors of the
bills, and gaining support as the session moves forward.
But here’s the larger question: Where the heck did this idea of
changing the constitution come from? We know who it benefits — the
industrial agriculture system — and we know who it hurts — ordinary
citizens. But who wrote this bill, now called “right to farm,” and who
financed the possibility that it would get traction?
Thanks to the magic of Google, I quickly found three states with
efforts for constitutional amendments similar to Missouri’s proposals.
Another few keystrokes and I found the source of the language. It came
from ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council. And on the ALEC
website, a few more clicks took me to the list of legislative members
from Missouri.
In November 2012, North Dakota, a state besieged with fracking (and,
yes, ALEC has policies and sample legislation favoring that subject
also) passed a “right to farm” amendment into the constitution. Its
language is eerily like the proposal in Missouri: The right of farmers
and ranchers to engage in modern farming and ranching practices shall be
forever guaranteed in this state. No law shall be enacted which
abridges the right of farmers and ranchers to employ agricultural
technology, modern livestock production and ranching practices.
While you might think this guarantees farmers against the frackers,
please note the seriously vague and troubling words “modern,”
“technology,” and the confusing phrase “no law shall be enacted …” So,
in North Dakota, no county, township, parish, city or any governmental
body will be able to pass a law or ordinance to protect themselves from
chemicals, GMOs, CAFOs or any other kind of industrial farming scheme.
Not only will farmers be affected. This amendment can have serious
repercussions for consumers: North Dakota, one of our chief
wheat-raising states, will not be able to refuse to plant untested (and
untrusted) GMO wheat under this Constitutional clause.
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