Opposition arises to the EATS Act

In the last week, a group of food companies wrote an open letter to members of the US House and Senate committees on Agriculture urging them not to include the Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression (EATS) Act in the upcoming farm bill.

Retailers and meat processors included in the letter were ButcherBox, duBreton, Niman Ranch, Perdue Foods, Pederson’s Natural Farms and Whole Foods Market.

“If passed, the EATS Act would eliminate virtually all state and local legislative powers to impose standards or conditions on the “pre-harvest” production of agricultural products entering their own borders,” the letter stated. “This includes regulations related to food safety, disease and pest control, and government procurement. In doing so, the EATS Act would overturn California’s Proposition 12 and Massachusetts Question 3, two state laws that require farm animals to be raised without cruelty and ban the sale of pork that doesn’t comply with certain animal welfare laws.”