Farm System Reform Act introduced by Sen. Booker and Rep. Khanna would force major changes on ag industry.

Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., introduced a wide sweeping bill – the Farm System Reform Act – to place a moratorium on large concentrated animal feeding operations, strengthen the Packers and Stockyards Act and require mandatory country of origin labeling on beef, pork and dairy products.

“If Congress doesn’t act soon, we risk losing an entire generation of family farms to multinational farming corporations,” says Khanna. “The Farm System Reform Act is the clear way to ensure the American food system maintains fair competition, high animal welfare standards and a dependable food chain. We must fix this broken system.”

A release from the Family Farm Action says, “By helping producers shift to more sustainable practices and phasing out concentrated animal operations that benefit from unfair business practices, the Act creates opportunities for thousands of current and prospective independent producers and protects workers from unsafe working environments.”

The Farm System Reform Act attempts to revitalize independent animal agriculture and uplift farmers and rural communities by:

  • Placing an immediate moratorium on the construction and expansion of large CAFOs
  • Phasing out the operation of large CAFOs by 2040
  • Investing $10 billion annually in voluntary buyout and transition funding for farmers who want to get out of the CAFO model
  • Holding corporate integrators responsible for pollution and other harms caused by CAFOs
  • Strengthening the Packers and Stockyards Act to ensure fair contracts and treatment of farmers
  • Restoring mandatory Country of Origin Labeling and extends it to dairy products and prohibiting imported meat products from being labeled as “Product of USA.”

 

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