October 22, 2024,
Zoom Meeting Notes
Defeat EATS Coalition meeting was held October 22, 2024. There is still no movement on HR 8467 [the House version of the Farm Bill]. Coalition members and non-factory farmers continue to write letters and emails to their US representatives and senators as well as letters to the editors of newspapers and other media throughout the nation; examples include (Defeat EATS in the News):
Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette | Brent Hershey: Help Farmers Farm Humanely
The Washington Times | Will States’ Rights Lose Out to the Meat Industry?
KTVO | Some Pork Producers Say Prop 12 Benefits Them Despite Criticism From Iowa Politicians
Bleeding Heartland | Senator Grassley Is Wrong About the EATS Act
Defeat EATS Coalition members, which are lobbying Congress, include Joe Maxwell, Farm Action Fund
president, who joined the Zoom call; his understanding from talking with Senate Ag Committee staffers is there are not any negotiations, so still not movement on the bill and nothing will happen because of the upcoming national election. Coalition members, however, will remain vigilant to try to know if the farm bill, and specifically the EATS Act portion of it, will be “snuck” in prior to 2025. The feeling is if the Democrats win the Senate majority, Sen. Klobuchar of Minnesota will be Chair and Sen. Boozman of
Arkansas will be Co-Chair; both are in favor of the EATS Act.
The Farm Bureau did its normal process of candidate surveys.
Chelsea Blink/ASPCA reported the ag industry not letting up on promoting the EATS Act, flooding politicians with ads. During early December 2024, the ASPCA will try to lobby to keep the EATS Act out of the farm bill, so it encourages everyone to reach out to Congress during that time – Hill “blasts,” LTEs,
“try to make them sick of us.”
Some links to Defeat EATS Coalition website:
Coalition – DefeatEats
News – DefeatEats
Pork Industry Price Gouging Scheme Revealed | Farm Action
Defeat EATS Toolkit (2024 Farm Bill) – Google Docs
(2024 Farm Bill) – Google Docs