After years of delays, USDA has nearly finalized a new regulation, the Organic Livestock and Poultry Standard Rule, to strengthen animal welfare standards in organic agriculture. This regulation is broadly supported by consumers and farmers because it would eliminate loopholes that allow some operations to deny organic chickens access to the outdoors.
Unfortunately, Senator Marshall (R-KS) has introduced an amendment to block the rule from moving forward!
Previous iterations of the animal welfare update were withdrawn after pressure from industrial-organic influences. Representative Keith Self of (R-TX) has already tried to deny funding for OLPS once.
Corporate interference with the will of the organic movement cannot stand. The stakes are high for ethical producers and organic consumers.
Reach out to both of your senators TODAY and tell them that you strongly oppose the Marshall Amendment.
This action alert, created by our allies at the National Organic Coalition, is time sensitive. It will offer you a template to send to your senators, and you are welcomed to include the talking points at the bottom of this page.
Let us know that you are taking action:
SUGGESTED TALKING POINTS
- This regulation is vital to my continued trust in the organic label.
- Without animal welfare updates, production practices will continue to vary widely and perpetuate consumer confusion.
- The majority of egg and livestock producers are already meeting the requirements laid out by the proposed rule. Failing to enact livestock updates extends the harm done to these producers and gives unfair advantage to industrialized production.
