---...---
This page was last updated on 01-17-08.
---...---
farmscene.org > Autumn 2007 archives > technology news
---...---
New farm laws in Michigan meeting resistance from Amish communities
September
24, 2007 - A number of Amish farmers have spoken up recently to media
representatives at the Mennonite Weekly,
expressing their disgust with new laws in Michigan
that criminalize the ownership of farm animals that have not been implanted
with a digital
tracking chip. Some Amish, in fact, have stated their intention to quit farming
over the matter.
In
the world of Amish farming, technology like this is hardly an easy sell. The
Bible
offers many a word of advice to land stewards regarding the dangers of bureaucratic
entanglements, and the Book of Revelation clearly frames digital animal tracking
technology as an example of grotesque and unacceptable helplessness on the part
of food consumers.
Bible
enthusiasts aren’t the only ones unhappy with farm animal tracking technology,
though.
A wider circle of resistance to digital farm animal tracking has been growing
in recent years,
and it isn’t just made up of folks who think that this farm management
scheme has been
cribbed straight from the Book of Revelation.
Around
the United States, people from many religions and walks of life are speaking
up
in opposition to NAIS - the National Animal Identification System.
Although some present it as a program which will boost, rather than hinder,
the safety
of the United States food supply, many folks believe that this layer of governmental
control,
whether voluntary or not, represents a big step backwards with regards to true
food security.
The
NAIS controversy is far from settled, leading some citizens to wonder how they
can protect
their own interests and rights as food consumers over the long term. One way
consumers might
accomplish this would be to learn more about the National Animal Identification
System and to
use this insight to ensure that no food production professional, Amish or otherwise,
will give up
their job entirely just to avoid dealing with the conflicts of interest they
find in the NAIS program.
---...---
story source: farmscene.org
document author: Suzy Nees
---...---