By Cindy Greer
Food fight!
Or fight for your life?
For individuals involved in agriculture in Colorado and beyond, proclamations like the recent one by Governor Jared Polis of a ‘Meat Out Day’, and initiatives to expand animal cruelty legislation to include meat animals in the ‘Protect Animals from Unnecessary Suffering and Exploitation Act’ have resulted in both.
What these measures don’t take into account is the care producers have for the livestock, and the already back-breaking and near-thankless the job of feeding a world of nearly 8 billion mouths really is.
As America’s oldest agriculture advocacy organization, and the proud Patrons of Husbandry, Grange members across the state and nation are heartbroken to see themselves, their friends and neighbors, and people they’ve never met in the industry, vilified.
And like most else these days, our nearly 150,000 members are discouraged by the broad unscientific claims of abuse in animal agriculture, not to mention the discredited rhetoric that a meat-heavy diet — especially one based around red meat — is bad for you.
Most of these laws stem from the lack of knowledge and experience on the farm. These are not farmers making legislation but people who haven’t worked within these farms. Bills and proclamations such as these have the potential to kill the meat agriculture industry in Colorado. Such a move not only deprives consumers of dietary choice, but also threatens the livelihood of hundreds of thousands of families and the food on their own tables.
American producers pride themselves on doing well-more than an honest day’s work for well-less, in many cases, than an honest day’s pay. As thanks, they have been targeted by groups who fail to see shades of gray.
Living in their black and white world where any animal consumed means an animal killed means a malicious act, is at best naïve and at worst, malicious itself – to our producers.
America’s farmers and ranchers commit suicide at alarmingly high rates at 17 deaths per 100,000 in rural areas compared to 11 deaths per 100,000 in urban areas.
The constant scrutiny and vilification adds undue stress and anguish to those who already fight each day to provide the best care possible to the animals for which they practice husbandry. These producers, often on razor-thin margins – work tireless to ensure their livestock are healthy and well-cared for. Many know their animals by name or enjoy a bond perhaps no one outside another producer could understand.
Many farmers do what we ask of them: provide a healthy, hearty animal for us to consume.
For those who choose not to eat meat, or whose biology determines their diet should not include meat, we encourage you to do what is best for you. However, in the process, we ask that you respect those farmers and ranchers who still work from sun-up to sun-down to ensure we have animal proteins available for consumption.
Cindy Greer is the President of the Colorado State Grange and a third generation farmer.
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