NOBULL: RE: Should We Sit Down with HSUS in Common Cause — Food and Farming is Not a Fight to be Won or Lost.
Food and Farming is Not a Fight to be Won or Lost
If we refuse to discuss, negotiate, compromise and reconcile our differences about food and farming, we must then pay lawyers, lobbyists or, at worst, soldiers to win. The cost of victory is too big.
It is simple. Good people disagree about whether certain animal agriculture practices are ethical. Some people don’t want to eat meat from an animal that is raised under certain conditions. It would be good if farmers and ranchers discussed this matter with their friends, neighbors and consumers. Instead, people have shut their eyes and ears and have ignored the legitimate concerns of their friends, neighbors, farmers and consumers. As a result we have a festering conflict about food and farming. Such a conflict is a dispute that should be resolved, not a fight to be won.
We have a choice. We can be reasonable members of a community, resolve our differences and develop common value regarding food and farming. If we choose this approach and develop common values about food and farming, we will have economically viable farmers, high quality and safe food, and a reliable food supply.
On the other hand, we can behave as enemies, divide our community and pay lawyers, lobbyists and others to fight and impose certain views on our friends, neighbors, farmers and consumers. If we choose to fight until someone wins, we will get our food from the winner. Whether the winner is Tyson, HSUS, or the US government, it will control the supply, the safety and the quality of the food. The winner will make decisions based on what is best for the winner, without regard to what is good for farmers, ranchers or consumers.
Everyone loves a winner, but not if the winner’s prize is control of the food supply. A fight over control of food should never be fought. The consequence of a “winner” is devastating. Food and farming is a not a fight to be won or lost. It is a responsibility of every person, family, and community to make sure there is enough to eat. If this responsibility is to be fulfilled, it must be fulfilled by each of us, and it must be fulfilled together.
Harlan Hentges
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Harlan Hentges, PLLC
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Edmond Ok, 73034