Noticias
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*** OCA in Coalition Calling on USDA to Revise Bird Flu Plan
***
Plan Protects Big Business, Leaves out Poultry Farmers,
Workers, Contract Growers and the Public
Washington, DC – A broad coalition of stakeholder
groups, including the Organic Consumers Association issued a statement today criticizing the U.S. Department of AgricultureÂ’s
plan for responding to a U.S. outbreak of bird flu and called for revisions to
adequately protect the public and poultry farmers. The coalition charged that the USDA does
not acknowledge the risk posed by common poultry industry practices in the
emergence and spread of highly-pathogenic avian influenza.
"The USDA is incorrectly focusing its attention on
small and free-range poultry farmers," said Wenonah Hauter, executive director
of Food & Water Watch.
The USDA does not address industry practices that
increase the risk of spreading avian influenza. "Not only are big poultry
producers housing hundreds of thousands of birds, they're moving birds, feed,
and supplies and even poultry waste to be used as fertilizer or to be fed to
other animals," explained Hauter.
"Poultry
workers and growers would be among the first exposed to an outbreak but USDA
does not ensure appropriate protective equipment, specialized sanitation,
training, human flu vaccinations and whistleblower protections for workers who
detect and report sick birds " said Mark Lauritsen of the United Food &
Commercial Workers.
The plan does not address the potentially huge economic
impacts for small processors and the vulnerability of the many workers at large
plants if quarantines or depopulation eliminate the supply of poultry. "The
current USDA plan provides for compensation of the large poultry companies that
own birds. Meanwhile, workers and farmers who contract with the companies are
left completely vulnerable and stand to lose their entire livelihood,” said
Andrea Whiteis, National Poultry Justice Alliance Director.
The coalition representing consumers, organic, minority
and family farmers, ranchers, animal welfare advocates, contract poultry
growers, poultry workers, unions, environmentalists, religious groups, social
justice organizations and concerned citizens called on USDAÂ’s Animal Plant
Health Inspection Service to take the following steps:
· Protect
the health and livelihoods of all poultry workers and growers;
· Follow
the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) euthanasia guidelines when
destroying flocks;
· Improve
procedures for venting, dust control, and transportation and disposal of bird
carcasses and waste; and
· Extend
testing, enforce immediate quarantines, and notify the facilities' neighbors if
disease is detected.
The complete statement is available online at http://www.fwwatch.org/food/avian-flu/usda-should-revise-avian-flu-plan-coalition-statement
or as a pdf file including the list of signatory contact information at http://www.fwwatch.org/food/avian-flu/Avian%20Flu%20Coalition%20Statement.pdf
For more information, contact: Jennifer Mueller, Food & Water Watch –
(202) 797-6553, jmueller@fwwatch.org
or Andrea Whiteis, National Poultry Justice Alliance (NPJA) – (512) 236-9503, andrea@npja.org
