Join JFAN and Farm Action Fund President Joe Maxwell as we talk about Big Meat’s latest tactic to defeat Proposition 12 – the federal Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression (EATS) Act (H.R.8467).

Big Meat waged a five-year legal battle against California’s Proposition 12 that they lost in 2023 at  the US Supreme Court. Not willing to sit back and adapt to raising hogs without gestation crates, the livestock industry heavily lobbied Congress to negate Prop 12 through the EATS Act, a Farm Bill marker bill.

If passed, EATS Act would mandate that the weakest laws in the nation governing meat, dairy and egg products, as well as toxic pesticide usage, would become the national standard. States would be stripped of their right to enact anything more stringent and protective.

In a podcast format, JFAN Executive Director Diane Rosenberg will interview Joe Maxwell, President of Farm Action Fund, and cover the numerous ways the EATS Act would harmfully impact rural communities, farmers, and consumers.

They’ll also dive into the backstory including:

• A brief history of Prop 12 and the similar Massachusetts Question 3 and Big Meat’s efforts to end states’ rights

• Agribusiness that back the bill and federal legislators supporting it, including Iowa’s Congressional delegation

• Big Meat’s tactics to influence public opinion

• Legislators and organizations opposing the EATS Act

• Its current status in the House and Senate Farm Bills

• Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack’s position and influence

• International corporations in China and Brazil that are pushing hard for its passage

• Its threat to national food sovereignty and safety.  

Most importantly, we’ll address widespread efforts that are being taken to stop passage of the EATS Act and what you can do to help defeat this terrible legislation – even here in Iowa.

There will be plenty of opportunity for audience questions and answers.

One in five children in Nevada resides in a food-insecure household. Students across Nevada are weeks away from summer break. While many students look forward to a break from classroom time and studying, many parents face another worry: how to keep food on the table without the federally funded school breakfast and lunch program.