According
to a recent Monterey Herald article, “a California voter-approved law requiring
that hens have cages large enough to let them spread their wings has stirred a
national backlash from other livestock producers that threatens not only the
state's humane treatment of hens, but also its new ban on foie gras,” a liver
delicacy made by force-feeding ducks and geese.
This
issue arose with the House Agriculture Committee vote “on an amendment to deny
states the ability to regulate any farm product, potentially overturning not
just California's farm laws but animal welfare, food safety and environmental
laws related to any farm product in all 50 states.”
Wayne Pacelle,
president of the Humane Society of the United States, was quoted as saying, “what
the King amendment says is that we can have no state standards — no labor
standards, no animal welfare standards, no food safety standards, no food
standards for any purpose. The federal government would completely rule the
states on agriculture."
Rep. Steve
King, however, said his amendment would preserve interstate commerce. "If
California wants to regulate eggs that come into the state, fine," King
said. "But don't be telling the states that are producing a product that's
already approved by the USDA or the FDA how to produce that product."
To read the full
report, click here.
This article
posted July 17, 2012.
