February 9, 2010
USDA Scraps NAIS
The National Animal Identification System, NAIS, has been scrapped, at least for the moment. The unwieldy, costly (to small farmers) programs never got up and running and fears of USDA having an electronic chip in every chicken can be laid to rest for the moment. On the other hand, our source verification of each carcass in our Hardwick Beef program is one of the keys to assuring the consumer that they know where it came from. In an informal survey of Ag grad students grappling with food and all of today’s options; they said the most important label claim for them is “they want to know where it came from.” Therefore Hardwick Beef’s system allows them to identify and then to call or visit the individual farm and be comfortable with how the animal was raised in a safe, humane way.
Read the article in the New York Times: U.S.D.A. Plans to Drop Program to Trace Livestock
Filed by admin at 5:28 pm under National Animal ID System
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