I’ve served as president and co-owner of Pennsylvania’s Giving Nature Foods. For over four decades, our company has sold our eggs to major retail outlets across the Mid-Atlantic region. My experience in this role has shown me the critical importance of local, humane farming standards, not just for my business, but to support our state’s and our country’s family farmers and independent producers.
As such, I’m profoundly grateful for the bipartisan opposition to the EATS Act or similar provisions in the upcoming Farm Bill.
The proposed legislation threatens to nullify state-level elections that have established animal husbandry laws. These laws have greatly benefited Pennsylvania’s agricultural sectors, especially the egg and pork industries.
For businesses who have invested heavily to comply with these voter-endorsed standards, this legislative move could be disastrous. Overturning these standards with a legislative sledgehammer would disrupt the operations of many farms across the state, undermining the stability of Pennsylvania’s egg and pork industries.
Our state leads the nation in humane production standards, especially notable in the pork industry. Companies such as Clemens Food Group and Hershey Ag are testament to this leadership, having been vocal opponents of the EATS Act due to its potential to jeopardize their businesses. Yet, despite clear opposition from within his own state, Rep. G.T. Thompson, R-Pennsylvania, continues to push for inclusion of this damaging language in the Farm Bill. His stance seemingly disregards the concerted efforts and voices of Pennsylvania’s agricultural community.
The greatest beneficiary of the EATS Act would not be America’s farmers but instead a Chinese-owned pork producer and processor, which has been a vocal supporter of EATS (as has Chinese state media) because of their interest to have a rules-free agricultural landscape as they continue to infiltrate America’s protein sector.
Fortunately, resistance to this move spans both sides of the aisle. Every Democratic member of Congress from Pennsylvania, along with Sens. Bob Casey and John Fetterman, oppose the EATS Act. Furthermore, no Republican Congress members from Pennsylvania (other than Thompson) support it, with Republican Brian Fitzpatrick leading a bipartisan charge against it.
This opposition extends beyond elected officials to a diverse coalition, including organizations like Freedom Works, Moms for America, Farm Action, American Grassfed Association, Family Farm Defenders, National Family Farm Coalition, and the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition. It’s also opposed by state’s rights organizations like National Conference of State and Local Legislatures, National Association of Counties, and National League of Cities.
Adding to our concerns, the recent outbreaks of avian flu affecting both chickens and now cows highlight the critical need for states to maintain authority over their agricultural practices and trade. Preventing Pennsylvania from setting rules to control these zoonotic diseases poses an existential threat to our livestock and public health, which is exactly what the EATS Act would do.
Despite some indications that Rep. Thompson may no longer seek to repeal the egg production laws, their continued efforts to eliminate the pork production rules (again, standards backed by Pennsylvania’s pork industry) and block states from enacting agricultural laws remain unacceptable.
As a long time participant in the Pennsylvania egg industry, I cannot endorse a compromise that sacrifices one sector of our agricultural community for another.
The unified stance of Pennsylvania’s Democratic and Republican leaders against the EATS Act should be a signal that no Farm Bill will pass with any iteration of the EATS Act in it.
Our gratitude towards those fighting for us is immense, and rest assured, Pennsylvania’s farmers will not forget the support you’ve shown.
