| Most food would be organic and non-GMO, and much | | | | appeared in Countryside & Small Stock Journal, a |
| more food would be locally grown, rather than | | | | homesteading magazine. NAIS is a system in the |
| imported and trucked thousands of miles | | | | planning stages by the National Institute for Animal |
| – those things tend to be important to | | | | Agriculture (NIAA), made up of the big corporate |
| vegetarians. Processed food would be reduced, | | | | players in U.S. meat production (the National Pork |
| because optimum vegetarian nutrition comes from | | | | Producers, Monsanto, Cargill, etc), and the makers |
| whole foods in their natural state, and most | | | | and marketers of high-tech animal ID equipment. |
| vegetarians are interested in a healthy diet. So, much | | | | Any person owning even one agricultural animal, like a |
| of the energy that goes into producing, packaging, | | | | horse, cow, chicken or duck would have to register in |
| warehousing and transporting processed food would | | | | a federal database, and report any time the animal |
| be saved. | | | | left the owner's property. The expense of |
| Vegetables and grains need much less land and water | | | | registering, reporting etc, as well as the GPS tracking, |
| than animals, so it wouldn't be necessary to destroy | | | | would be born by the animal owners. NAIS would be |
| rain forests or irrigate arid land, or create deserts | | | | enforced through seizure and fines. |
| with over pasturing. Perhaps just enough animals | | | | This system would make it difficult and expensive for |
| could be raised to satisfy the ovo-lacto vegetarians, | | | | people who raise their own animals for food, or for |
| and those few people who haven't quite made the | | | | small local producers to continue, and strike a heavy |
| vegetarian transition, but even they would consume | | | | blow not only at sustainable agriculture and local |
| far less meat, for the sake of their health. | | | | organic production, but at individual freedom as well. |
| This idea isn't necessarily obvious to sustainable ag | | | | As the article points out, it will also be completely |
| experts, mainly because they aren't vegetarian, and | | | | ineffective in controlling disease and infection in the |
| can't picture agriculture without lots of animals. They | | | | food supply. |
| are reluctant to be associated with what they regard | | | | There's a movement afoot, spearheaded by the |
| as a fringe group of cranks, eccentrics and wierdos. | | | | National Cattlemen's Beef Association, to 'privatize' |
| In other words, they can't think outside their | | | | the database, which means they would have |
| meat-eating box. | | | | complete access to all the information, and control |
| Some Interesting Examples | | | | over enforcement. Since this system is too big and |
| 1. CAFO's: | | | | widespread to be effectively enforced, they would |
| A couple of months ago, I attended a community | | | | most likely just practice selective enforcement, |
| meeting, held to organize opposition to CAFO's | | | | through fines and seizure, against anyone they |
| (contained animal feeding operations, or hog lots) in | | | | wanted to drive out of business. |
| SE Iowa – a serious environmental threat). | | | | This scheme goes right along with Monsanto's |
| One of the speakers stated that while he was | | | | practice of suing farmers for patent violation when |
| against having a CAFO anywhere near his country | | | | their GMO seed propagates uninvited on the farmer's |
| property, of course he himself didn't intend to stop | | | | land. NAIS is quite disturbing to anyone who values |
| eating pork. The audience was polite – | | | | individual freedom. For me, as an ovo-lacto |
| they didn't boo him off the stage! | | | | vegetarian, after this system goes into effect, I'll no |
| 2. The Ties That Blind | | | | longer be able to buy free-range organic eggs from |
| John Ikerd, Professor Emeritus, U MO, highly | | | | my neighbor, whose chickens are family pets. And |
| respected and passionate sustainability expert, wrote | | | | our local organic dairy, with its blissful pampered |
| Meeting the Challenge of Peak Oil with Sustainable | | | | jersey cows, could be driven out of business. The |
| Agriculture. In his article, Prof Ikerd states: 'Shifting to | | | | Amish, who have a separate social and economic |
| a vegetarian diet would be one obvious means of | | | | system, would also be seriously affected. |
| reducing energy use in agriculture, since most food | | | | What will NAIS do to vegetarian sustainable |
| crops are net energy producers – possibly | | | | agriculture? Not a lot, except that there won't be as |
| cutting the food energy input/output ratio in half. | | | | much organic manure available. And animal manure |
| However, (and here's where he lost me) processing | | | | isn't strictly necessary to organic growing |
| and distribution would still leave about a five-to-one | | | | – all you really need are lots of green |
| net fossil energy deficit for total food production. In | | | | manure and worms. Since growing vegetables and |
| addition, the 20% fossil fuel equivalent produced by | | | | grains doesn't require animals, it could be quite |
| pasture and forage plants – large net | | | | tempting for small meat producers to focus instead |
| energy producers – would be lost.' | | | | on raising grains and vegetables, and herbs. There are |
| I can see that processing and distribution would still | | | | quite a few high demand organic crops with which |
| be a problem, unless there was no processing, and | | | | small farmers do well. And the scarcity of organic |
| the food was distributed locally. And I don't see what | | | | free range and pastured animal foods will mean that |
| the 20% fossil fuel equivalent produced by pasture | | | | more health conscious and environmentally aware |
| and forage plants has to do with being vegetarian. If | | | | people will turn to vegetarianism. And that local |
| you didn't have the animals to pasture and forage in | | | | organic production will continue to grow and thrive, as |
| the first place, there would be 100% fossil fuel | | | | demand for vegetarian foods increases exponentially. |
| equivalent, not 20%. Apart from that lapse in logic, | | | | Ms. Zanoni doesn't mention those possibilities, as the |
| attributable to the meat-eating bias, I recommend | | | | silver lining in this black ugly cloud, and the way that |
| this article and all of John Ikerd's other writing, | | | | NAIS will backfire on these nefarious schemers. But |
| available on his website | | | | never mind – the less they know about it |
| 3. NAIS: | | | | the better! Of course, if we're forced to go back to |
| Another article, by Mary Zanoni, Ph.D., Cornell | | | | horse powered farm machinery, that could be a |
| University, 'The "National Animal Indentification | | | | problem. |
| System (NAIS)": A new threat to rural freedom?' | | | | |