Urge your legislators to support the Farm System Reform Act!
John,
As the coronavirus outbreak continues, we’re working to change the fundamental structure of our food system — including banning factory farms — to decrease the likelihood of the next pandemic, and keep our food supply safe and sustainable.
Last year, Senator Cory Booker introduced the Farm System Reform Act (S. 3221) to transition our food system to a healthy, sustainable, equitable model. And this past May, Representative Ro Khanna introduced a House version of the bill (HR 6718).
This critical legislation would ban the construction of new factory farms (also known as concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs) and the expansion of existing factory farms. It would also phaseout existing factory farms by 2040.
Factory farms put our health and food supply at risk. They pollute the environment and our drinking water, and they wreck rural communities — all while tightening the corporate stranglehold on our food. The pandemic has shown that this approach to our food just doesn’t work.
The Farm System Reform Act will overhaul the fundamental structure of our food system by:
Stopping new factory farms from being built and existing factory farms from expanding;
Enforcing environmental laws on existing factory farms, including holding vertically integrated companies responsible for the pollution created by the animals they own;
Supporting the transition of existing factory farm operations and their network of contract growers to diversified operations that can serve regional markets.
The Farm System Reform Act also includes other vital reforms to restore fairness to livestock markets so that independent family farmers can make a fair living raising animals the right way.
The coronavirus crisis has shown just how broken our food system truly is. And we know the way we raise animals in the U.S. also places us at risk for future pandemics.
Food & Water Action and its affiliated organization, Food & Water Watch, are advocacy groups with a common mission to protect our food, water and climate. This email was sent to [email protected] - and we're glad you got it, because it's one of the most important ways you can reclaim political power, hold elected officials accountable and resist corporate control.
