The Trans-Pacific Partnership which President Obama is asking Congress to Fast Track is rife with destructive measures. There is very little protection for farm animals, the environment, workers and consumers. With the elimination of import tariffs, humane animal agriculture abroad will be destroyed. In the United States we raise our beef, chickens and pigs under horrendous conditions, so much so, that we must give them antibiotics to stop the spread of disease. We also pump other drugs into them to grow these animals as large and fast as we can so they can be quickly slaughtered. Agribusiness corporations will ruin family-farmed animal products. Their lower priced factory farmed animals will flood the market place, so that domestic family-farmers abroad who raise these animals humanely will be forced to compete by shifting toward factory farming.
The Office of the US Trade, an executive branch agency, does not care how this impacts consumers, animals, farmers, etc. All the producers of our factory farmed animals see this as beneficial- more profit to their pocketbooks. Instead, of weaning people away from eating so much meat (methane released from cows will increase our global warming), the only victory will be for ranchers and agribusiness. It is up to us to defend against the Fast Track of the TPP. When there are no more animals raised in outdoor environments where they are free to roam and grow naturally, what do you think will happen to our health and well-being? For those who care about factory farming and our food system, call your elected Senators and House Representative to ask them to vote against Fast Track authority for the TPP.
—Elaine Peters
