Organized by RAFI-USA, National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition and others, 135 organizations signed on to the comment to the US Department of Food and Agriculture on the Farm Bill related rules affecting meat packing and processing.

You may not immediately get why an organization like NAMA that works on fisheries issues might want to weigh in on USDA rules about meat packing and processing, but since fish are caught to end up in our food system we believe any opportunity to reign in corportate control of our food system is important. So I hope all of you – espcially all you folks working on food system and fisheries issues, will consider signing onto these comments as well. The kind of corporate control entities like the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), National Pork Producers Council (NPPC), and the American Meat Institute (AMI) are asserting only erodes our ability to have a say over who brings us our food, what happens to the animals that end up on our plates, and ultimately, the safety, security, and sovereignty of our food system whether it comes from the land or the sea.

Along with the sign on letter, RAFI is also looking for large volumes of personalized comments from organizations and food producers.

Below are action alerts from different organizations that you can use for writing your own comment, if needed. The alerts are from Center for Rural Affairs (hogs), Food and Water Watch (consumers), National Farmers Union (concentration, support for the rule overall), National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (cattle, hogs and poultry), RAFI-USA (poultry), and WORC (cattle).