NADA Condemns Government Registry Plan

The president of one of the nation’s largest natural beef associations today condemned the USDA’s plan to expand its animal identification system as a “subterfuge” to undermine the growing natural meat industry.

Gearld Fry, president of the North American Devon Association (NADA), blasted the government’s latest attempt to force cattlemen into the system by ruling that breed associations must include federal identification numbers in registering purebred cattle. Fry vowed that NADA will resist the federal identification program because it is “an expensive sham”.

Fry said, “Under the guise of protecting consumers from meat contamination, this plan is a subterfuge to hide the government’s actual goal: to continue to support the discredited industrial production of the meat most Americans eat.”

“The basic truth is,” declared Fry, “that this National Identification scheme won’t prevent Mad Cow or any other food contamination but only papers-over the sad fact that our food supply is threatened.

“This is a diversion and in no way protects the consumer from a system that has resulted in the recall of thousands of tons of meat in recent years. It is all too typical of our national leadership that their response to any problem is diversionary rather than corrective.”

Fry insisted there is not a single documented case of any contaminated meat originated on a farm practicing natural beef production. “Requiring breed associations to use their registries places a burden on farmers and in no way eases the health risks of contaminated meat.”

Fry said he thought the USDA, having failed in gaining voluntary compliance with the National Animal Identification System, was intent on “bludgeoning” pure bred farmers, the smallest segment of the industry, into participating.

“This government program provides the huge, agribusiness operators with a piece of paper as a cover to export their often-contaminated products overseas while placing a burden on smaller farmers and their associations and the natural food segment in particular.”