NAIS and Its Affect on Small Farms and Homesteads


This morning I wanted to share a piece written by my Mother-in-Law, Nadine Hild.  She is really more like a mom to me and in the past 20+ years her and I have developed a wonderful close relationship.  She has been and continues to be an inspiration to me.  Nadine and her husband Richard (who is our much loved “Granddaddy”) have been a huge support to us over the years.  


 


One thing that Nadine and I have in common today is that we both homestead and we both are concerned about the quality of our food and our freedom. 


 


Nadine is 70 years old, but you would not know it to look at her.  She is an active homestead lady.  She has Dexter cows, Icelandic sheep, Nubian goats, and lots of chickens.  She gardens, grinds her own wheat, bakes and cooks from scratch and actively, daily, helps Richard run and manage their homestead up north in Washington State.


 


She has been frustrated with the NAIS issues and the potential loss of freedom in this country to raise our animals, provide for our family and live a quiet and peaceful life without this unnecessary government control.  She will be giving a presentation to her local farm bureau on how this will affect the small farmer and the small homesteader. 


 


With her permission I would like to share her writings with you today:


 


A Problem Recognized


A number of years ago I began noticing articles in the newspaper regarding the use of pesticides and herbicides in the growing of our food.  I began growing a garden.  I read of the hormones given to chickens, for milk production, and beef growth.  The meat was being irradiated for possible pathogens.  I saw feed lots growing beef across the Midwest and stayed near a factory hog farm a farmer was managing where they gave antibiotics regularly to keep the pigs alive, a percentage dying anyway.  So we began raising our own meat animals.  Now we have GMO seeds  that have a questionable reputation. One article said that  50% of women will have cancer in their life and 1/3 of all men will. Another article mentioned that 60% of baby boomers already have chronic health problems.  I began reading farming and agronomy books, one of which was “Soil, Grass and Cancer” that suggests that the petroleum based soil additives may be the reason for the prevalence of cancer.  All of the above uses and systems were sanctioned by the USDA, taught and researched at our land grant universities that are financially supported by agri-business.   I came to believe that if the USDA sponsored or approved of something, it must be bad for me.  Also, the FDA has sanctioned many drugs that were later recalled or were known to cause more problems than they cured.  During this time I had a bad case of acid reflux, my feet wouldn’t work after sitting for a period of time, my knees were giving me a problem and my shoulder was injured and  I was developing carpel tunnel in my right hand.  My husband had bad knees, bad shoulder, and indigestion.


 


A Problem Solved


We began to move away from industrial food and began eating more natural food.  I milk goats to have raw milk, I grind grain and bake bread, we eat mostly meat from our own animals, I ferment yogurt, we’ve backed off on any baked goods from the stores because they give me instant heart burn from the additives and hydrogenated oils, and we are eliminating anything with MSG because it is a chemical excitotoxin., The result of these changes is wonderful!  Most of all the above problems have disappeared and we now have increased energy and a more positive outlook. Farming is a healthy lifestyle with  good food, good exercise and fresh air.


 


Here Comes the Government with NAIS


With the pretext of Homeland Security, avian flu, mad cow disease, etc., a consortium put together by the USDA consisting of  Land Grant Universities, Agri-business, veterinarians, Wal-Mart, McDonalds, Micro-chip/RFID manufacturers and the Tribes have been funded to institute the National Animal Identification System, the cost of which will ultimately fall on the small farmers, ranchers and homesteaders who will be required to register their farms with satellite coordinates for surveillance purposes, register and micro-chip all livestock animals and poultry and report all movement off  and new animals onto our premises within 24 hours and we can pay for this privilege. The large cattle companies do not have to individually microchip their livestock but use one number for the whole herd.   All our information will be data banked by others in the industry and available to the USDA.  Can we believe the government regarding the security of data files?  How will this affect the financial, record keeping and privacy of our farms?  How big a bureaucracy will this grow?  How much will they tax or increase our costs year by year.  When will they come and inspect if we are raising our animals as they dictate?  What if for some reason they decide to slaughter our livestock? How often will we have to take classes for re-education? Or, is this another example of the USDA putting small farmers out of business which they have a history of doing in order to eliminate competition for agri-business.


 


This is the most invasive loss of our freedom with regard to land, liberty and quiet enjoyment and all for the purpose of supporting agri-business, factory farms, and building bureaucracies. Avian flu is not even an epidemic.  About 200 people have been sick throughout the world and about 100 have died.   The cause has been a result of manure from factory farms being spread on fields for fertilizer, fed to fish and wild birds were contaminated by it.  We know that mad cow disease is not contagious but is caused by contaminated feed.  Hoof and mouth is curable.  Ahhh, but the beef exporters need trace back in order to export to Japan!  It is an export driven agenda. Because of world trade,  we  U.S. citizens can eat contaminated feed produced under the control and inspection of the USDA and be deprived of our freedom.  Soon we all shall be required to eat factory food.  What is wrong with this picture?


 


 


“If people let the government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as the souls who live under tyranny”. - Thomas Jefferson


 


 


Nadine Hild


Seventy years old and learning to farm to preserve my health and well-being and that of my husband so we aren’t a burden on others in our old age and so we can enjoy our sunset years.


 




Comments

  1. What a treasure you have in your mother in law. And WOW, powerful words she wrote.

    ~carol

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  2. I sure enjoyed this article!!! Thank you so much for sharing. I too have the same concerns!! God Bless you and your family Crystal!! ~Sandy

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  3. Crystal,


    I was wondering what you would suggest using to replace the white sugar in all my jelly & jam recipes. I'm trying to do away with all white sugar in out house. I've done a little research and have found that Stevia powder doesn't work in Jelly. What a about honey? I've thought about using Sucanat, but didn't know if I'd use the same amount of it compaired to white sugar. Any help you can give on this would be great! You can reach me from off my blog (email link is at the top of my blog) http://www.susangodfrey.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  4. Good writing on the subject. I enjoyed reading it.

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