As I posted last week (see my timeline…it’s pretty open), I am a farmer. It says so on our tax return, even tho I just grow produce and flowers. I am educated on, and well aware of, what pesticides I should and should not use and how I must or must not use them for the most benefit to my customers AND my bottom line. I’m perfectly capable of deciding which ones and using them correctly without further outside regulation and I fill out plenty of paperwork about my use and application to comply with current regulations. Please notice: my CUSTOMERS come first! That’s because if I harm my customers with a dangerous or unhealthy growing method…I lose them…and with them my income. And you really should believe someone when they tell you that loss of income is a great motivator to do right and make good, healthful things without further help from Big Brother and other litigious groups and organizations. Just because a farmer wants to make a living from his chosen vocation doesn’t mean he is out to poison you, abuse animals or sell his soul (land) to China for the sake of his bottom line. I am very tired of regulations, elections, and voting being driven by extreme emotion, doomsday predictions and dire threat. And that, my friends, aggie and non, is why I am voting YES on Amendment #1. The “Right to Farm” needs to be set into the Missouri Constitution so that lots of money and heart-tugging advertising will NOT be allowed to convince the populations of just 4 Missouri counties that they know more about how to do something than the people who love what they do and do it for a living. If we have to protect every occupation from accountant to zoo keeper with a constitutional amendment to keep their livelihood from being unduly regulated out of existence…then I say let’s just get on with it! Amendment 1 is about keeping people who have trouble keeping a goldfish alive (or won’t keep a goldfish for ethical reasons) from deciding how farmers should grow food by voting for or against an issue based on some dramatic TV ads they saw the weekend before the vote. As weak as current law now stands against this type of threat, we’d be as well off to regulate farming with FaceBook contests to see how many “Likes” each side received based on who had the best meme. Is this how youd like to see laws and regulations set for doctors and the practice of medicine?!? What you are seeing on TV and Face Book against “Right to Farm” is pure propaganda, biased and misleading, from a couple of east coast based organizations who don’t really care whether your food is healthful or ethically raised, much less how much that food may cost you to feed your family. They care only about their political power, their agenda and how to serve both. Please vote YES on Amendment 1 tomorrow. And PLEASE VOTE!!! There are a lot of people in those 4 counties trying to tell the rest of us how it should be. Later, Beth P.S. My apologies and sympathies to those who have had to bury a childs beloved goldfish.
Posted on: Mon, 04 Aug 2014 17:26:22 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015