Extremists are taking advantage of this crisis and moving in on their target — you.

Amanda Radke

June 2, 2020

4 Min Read
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Food security is national security.

Let me repeat that.

Food security is national security.

Alarmingly, there are individuals who are serving as as direct threat to our nation’s food security.

During this pandemic, as the animal agricultural industry sought to adapt to a bottleneck in processing, with limited operations at both our major packers and small butchers, the animal rights extremists are celebrating with glee and using our dismay to gain a greater foothold in society.

Ranchers and feeders work daily to take care of cattle, raise the best beef possible and do it all for little to no compensation. And workers in packing plants have literally risked contracting COVID-19 to keep the processors humming and keep grocery store shelves lined with products.

We do this because we know this for certain — there is nothing more nutrient-dense and advantageous for our health than animal fats and proteins in the diet. More than that, livestock work in concert with nature to up-cycle feedstuffs into protein-rich foods and life-enriching by-products. There’s not a plant on Earth that can replicate what a pig or cow can do, and that’s a fact.

Now, along the way of doing our jobs, producers, especially pork and poultry, have faced unimaginable decisions. Yet, even in the face of great hardships and struggles, they have still managed to do good in their communities — donating meat to food banks, buying beef sandwiches to give to nurses on their lunch breaks at the hospital, supporting 4-H and FFA youth whose fairs have been cancelled.

Related:Promoting ag literacy as the antidote to PETA’s curriculum

Meanwhile, activist groups have also kept busy, using our hurt, our struggles and this pandemic to further their agendas.

I’ve blogged about this several times already in the last couple of months, and I am committed to updating you on the latest actions of these groups. That’s because their aim is to strip the American producer off the land, to take away our ability to own animals and to eliminate meat, dairy and eggs from the dinner table.

It’s not a conspiracy theory — the proof is in the actions. Once you start connecting the dots, you’ll notice that whatever the virtue signaling might be (from environmental sustainability to animal welfare), they are all tied to one thing — destroying the traditional meat production system and disrupting the meat case in favor of something trendy and new — plant-based and lab-created faux patties.

Let me give you a few recent examples.

At a Canadian Cargill plant, protestors stood outside the facility, calling it unsafe and exploitive to the workers. Protesters said they were there to “pay respects to the livestock animals who are in the last hours of their lives.

Related:Activists at it again — blaming coronavirus on meat eaters

“This is absolutely unacceptable in that slaughterhouses are not essential,” said Trev Miller, a spokesperson for Calgary Vegan Activists, in an interview with the Global News.

While a peaceful protest can be overlooked, we also have seen in the news where criminals have hijacked these passionate marches for justice and have used them instead as an opportunity to attack businesses, people and even stock trailers with livestock inside. One incident left horses inside a trailer burned and terrorized.

These extremists aren’t afraid to go to jail for their efforts, and they are joined by actual activist groups. One in particular, which I’ll leave nameless, loves to stir up trouble in new and innovative ways that are damaging, destructive and downright scary.

Read what I’m referencing by clicking here.

Ultimately, this group’s mission is to capture drone footage to catch animal agriculturalists in “gotcha” moments of animal abuse. They’ve been known to break into facilities and even steal livestock.

This is an invasion of privacy, theft of personal property and just a criminal violation in so many ways. This group is famous for their drone activity, and it all comes together in their most recent project, which provides a satellite map of 27,500 farms and animal facility locations, with exact addresses and aerial footage.

Look at the map here and check out your state. If you’re not on there, your neighbors might be!

If this doesn’t chill you to your bones, it should. I don’t share this to scare you but to inform you of the direct threat to your business, your home, your property and your animals.

Know your rights in your state. How are drone laws written? What can you do as a private landowner? How can you protect yourself at home against these extremists? Give your elected officials a call and alert them to this serious infringement of our rights.

The opinions of Amanda Radke are not necessarily those of beefmagazine.com or Farm Progress.

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