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State officials suddenly want a constitutional change for agribusiness
Published on Wednesday, Jun 24, 2009
The livestock issue is anything but simple. Proponents, among them Gov. Ted Strickland and legislative leaders of both parties, suddenly have elevated the creation of an Ohio Livestock Standards Board to a top priority, citing food safety concerns. In the Senate, Bob Gibbs, a Lakeville Republican, noted last week's recall of tainted cookie dough. The connection appeared strained.
More telling is a July 1 deadline for putting constitutional amendments before the voters in November, which the legislature can accomplish with a three-fifths majority in each house. Opponents, such as Dean Vickers of the state Humane Society, say the amendment would pre-empt an initiated statute his group would like to place on the ballot next year.
The Humane Society wants to phase out methods that immobilize animals such as hens, sows and calves in what it considers cruel conditions. He rightly fears the composition of the 13-member livestock board, with one practicing veterinarian and one member of a county humane society, would tilt in the direction large-scale farming operations. Vickers is threatening a competing ballot issue this fall.
Whatever problems exist in the food chain, Ohio is not having a food safety crisis. Thus, there is no compelling need to use the state constitution to enshrine quickly the composition and scope of a new state board, no matter how promising. The interests of the Humane Society must be balanced carefully against the economic impact on Ohio's farmers and limited to issues directly related to food safety.
That's a discussion that should take place in the legislature, with plenty of hearings and expert testimony. Any new layer of oversight should be passed as a statute, subject to later adjustment if needed.
Get the full article here.
Comments
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U, OH
Posted 10:06 AM, 06/24/2009
If you love animals, pay attention to this ''livestock committee.'' Ohio doesn't need an agricultural advisory board b/c they won't care about the needs of factory farmed animals living in cramped conditions. Contact your legislators & say NO to ''Big Agribusiness'' & this bad livestock advisory board.
