Your Farmer's Voice on Capital Hill

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September 14, 2024

This past week I traveled to Washington DC with a group of fellow farmers and small meat companies to lobby our state's congressmen and state senators about the detrimental effects the EATS Act will have on animal welfare, family farms, and our customer's food supply long term.

I was really honored to attend with a huge thank you to American’s for Family Farmers that help fund my trip and our farm team keeping up with all the farm duties in my absence.

I also had the opportunity to be with other like minded small farmers and some up and coming meat companies like Butcher Box, Niman Ranch, and True Story Foods that I think are looking to reshape the food production standards in the US.

The trip was my first time to D.C. and there were a few observations this country boy made that might make you laugh.

#1. Pictures and movies don’t do the Capital building justice. It is beautiful, magnificent, and HUGEEE!!!

#2. SO MANY all black and tinted window SUV’s! Lol

#3. While, I thought I dressed up well in my nicest jeans and a button down collared shirt tucked in…I definitely felt a little underdressed at times as everyone wore slacks, suit jackets and a tie. I’ve never been somewhere where everyone dressed this way on a regular daily basis.

#4. The U.S. policy's are pretty much run by 20-30 year old staffers.

For whatever reason, I was expecting to see a majority of older people here in D.C. However this really wasn’t the case.

The staffers actually have so much power as they are responsible for communicating with their boss (i.e. congressman or senator) our meetings and key issues that the people are presenting to them. Everything goes through a staffer before the congressman or senator hears about it.

Now I give these young staffers a lot of credit in our meetings with them they were smart, well articulate in their conversation, and informed individuals. Definitely not individuals to take lightly in their ability to influence.

Why Go to D.C. to oppose the EATS Act?

The “Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression Act" (S.2019; H.R.4417) as it stands is a bit of a misleading title. Which on the face of it sounds good. However this is really Big Ag’s attempt to take more power over the agricultural industry as it would take away individual state rights and harm the niche markets that are developing to comply with animal welfare laws previous instated.

They’ve been attempting something like this for years and after California’s proposition 12 and Massachusetts Question 3 were put into law recently January 1st. They feel all the more need to get this passed in the upcoming farm bill.

Prop 12 and Question 3 are state laws that require mother pigs, veal, and egg laying hens have enough space to turn around and that some of these products sold in that state meet those requirements as well.

Voters in these states agreed by an overwhelming majority to put these laws into effect knowing it would increase their cost on these food products, but they felt giving these animals a better living condition was essential.

I learned that mother pigs in a commercial factory farm are actually put into a gestation crate to live for 4 months where they can’t turn around or walk. Here they are bred and kept while in pregnancy (gestation).

Then just before farrowing (having the baby) they are moved to the farrowing crate where it's a very similar living condition, but slightly wider so the babies access the mothers milk.

Prop 12 law only required the gestation crates be removed and didn’t affect the farrowing crates. So in my opinion, it's an improvement, but still I think we have more progress to make in the way factory farms operate!

While there, several hog farmers that provide pork to meat companies like Butcher box, Niman Ranch, and True Story Foods presented their story transitioning their hog farms to be compliant with Prop 12 and Q3. Investing millions of dollars to improve their facilities for the hog’s welfare by removing the gestation crates. Many since they switched not only found they could get a premium for their pork now that this law opened up a niche market, but it now was going to result in them being profitable vs risking to lose their farm.

One farmer also shared the unintentional significant improvement in hog performance by removing these gestation crates!

What a surprise…right?

Duh folks....Pigs get stressed in this type of environment!

I kept telling folks, “We are here in DC to honor the pig.”

When young teenagers see pictures of these factory farms, it's no wonder, they stopped eating meat!

This bible verse kept coming to my mind when I saw these pictures of pigs in the gestation crates.

“The righteous care for the needs of their animals, but the kindest acts of the wicked are cruel” Proverbs 12:10

At the end of the day, we have a responsibility as a farmer to honor these animals and provide a good living condition for them.

Educating Congress

All this said, we really tried to combat some of the lies that Big Ag are stating about this prop 12.

Unfortunately they are stating so many misleading myths as facts. Some are just direct lies.

One example of a misleading lie that set me off was they stated "Prop 12 will financially wreck family farms."

This couldn't be further from the truth. Since Prop 12 the pork industries quarterly earnings report are positive. If anything their fight to insert the EATS Act in the farm bill has created more uncertainty for the niche family farmers as I described above as they could potentially lose their new markets!

The reality is these “family farms” as Big Ag describes are under the thumb of big meat as they contract all their pork to 3 big meat companies.

I invite you to watch this video that a fellow pork producer, Ron Mardesen, I had the honor to be with this week. He has an amazing farm with really high level animal welfare that I align so closely with.

I think this video lays out how the hog industry has changed over the last 35 years and how it’s really not in the best interest of the family farms and rural communities, but rather the opposite.

Rescinding State Rights

The EATS Act will not only reverse the progress and investments farmers are taking towards animal welfare, but it's also going to threaten the future balance of power in the US government.

This would erode the state’s rights to pass laws and regulations related to food safety, disease and pest control and other public health/welfare matters.

In fact in 2023 the Supreme Court upheld California’s Prop 12 in court as constitutional. The EATS Act is really an attempt to take away state rights as taking it to court didn’t work for them.

For me personally, this is probably the biggest reason I want to fight this. Prop 12 or not, EATS Act or not, in some ways, it doesn’t affect us as a farm all that much because we sell direct to consumers and folks buy from us because they do care about animal welfare and don’t trust what the grocery store has to offer. They know we are raising our livestock with care and to the highest standards!

However, if the states lose their power and the Federal government has complete control of this, I think it could be a slippery slope of potentially more bad policy that individual states will have no say on the matter.

If you have time to watch this video, here's another video explaining the EATS Act and it's history in detail.

Take Action!

If you can, I encourage you to send an email or phone call to your local congressman in your district and let them know you oppose the EATS Act.

Here's the direct link to search for your congressman in your district. Currently this is bill is still in the house. So let's try to stop it now before it heads to the senate.

We need to make this known that the overwhelming majority of Americans do not want this Act or something similar in the upcoming farm bill.

Thanks so much for reading and together we can shape a better food system for America!

God bless,

Joe

"Air-chilled" chicken: another marketing gimmick?

Air-Chilled vs. Water-Chilled: The Truth About Chicken Processing, PAA, and What Really Matters As consumers become more educated about food quality, one topic has begun circulating online in the health space: air-chilled chicken. New marketing language like “air-chilled” is showing up on grocery store packaging everywhere. While the intention behind asking these questions is often good, the conversation has become oversimplified from our point of view. At Wanda Farms, we believe transparency matters more than trends. Our chicken is water-chilled using a USDA-inspected cold water system with a peracetic acid (PAA) antimicrobial rinse. (We aren’t trying to hide anything.) However, when you keep reading, you'll learn why the air-chilled label has taken off, what actually impacts food safety and quality, and how we’re thinking about processing decisions with research instead of just chasing the latest marketing claim. Why Air-Chilled Debate Exploded The last several years, there’s been a growing push toward “air-chilled” poultry showing up at higher-end grocery stores and specialty butchers. Shoppers see the word on a package next to a premium price tag, and it’s easy to assume it means cleaner, safer, or healthier chicken. Consumers, as they should be, are mainly concerned about how their food is processed. “Air-chilled” feels like a shortcut to less-processed, more natural chicken, especially compared to a method that involves a “chemical rinse.” But removing water immersion from the process does not automatically create a safer or healthier bird. PAA: The First Line in Food Safety One of the most common concerns surrounding water-chilled chicken is the antimicrobial rinse itself. That concern is understandable. Nobody wants to feel like their food was doused in chemicals. That said, here’s what’s actually true: PAA (peracetic acid) is effectively a combination of vinegar and peroxide, breaking down into acetic acid, oxygen, and water residue. It’s USDA-approved and used at tightly controlled, low concentrations. It’s USDA Certified Organic-compliant, which is why it can be used at our Certified Organic processing facility. It’s one of the most common tools in U.S. poultry processing for reducing Salmonella and Campylobacter loads. This distinction matters far more than simply choosing air over water. Understanding what PAA actually is, and why it’s there, eliminates a lot of the chemical and environmental concern consumers associate with the word “rinse,” while still allowing our processor to meet strict food safety standards. (FYI: we only use USDA-inspected processors, always.) The Real Issue: Air-Chilled ≠ Automatically Safer Much of the air-chilled preference stems from a legitimate texture and quality discussion, not necessarily a food safety one. What Air Chilling Actually Changes Air-chilled birds are cooled with circulating cold air instead of being submerged in a communal chill tank. This typically means: Less retained water, so less purge in the packageBetter browning and skin crisping when cookedLess cross-bird contact during chilling All legitimate, real differences. Air-Chilled Is Not the Enemy: The Framing Is. There’s a growing misconception online that air-chilled is inherently “cleaner” or “safer,” and that water-chilled means “contaminated.” That’s not supported by the facts. Air-chilled birds still receive an antimicrobial intervention, typically a cold mist spray that includes an antimicrobial, and many air-chill plants also use PAA earlier in the process, before the chill step. Federal regulation doesn’t explicitly require an antimicrobial rinse, but it does require Salmonella testing, and to our processor’s knowledge, an antimicrobial step is effectively the only way to reliably pass that testing. In a report on poultry processing*, Encyclopedia Britannica also notes an important nuance about water immersion chilling: while it can create cross-contact opportunities between birds, the combination of the wash effect plus the antimicrobial treatment can actually reduce total bacterial load across the batch. The real question isn’t “air vs. water.” It’s whether the processor’s food safety program is doing its job. And both methods, done correctly, can be effective. *Link to report by Encyclopedia Britannica Why We Haven’t Switched to Air-Chilled We understand why customers are asking these deeper questions. We’ve been asking them too. Here’s where we’ve landed, and why: We aren’t the processor. Wanda Farms doesn’t control chilling method—our USDA-inspected processing partner does. To this day, I don’t know of any poultry processors in the Midwest that offer air chilling. If one did, we’d absolutely consider switching, but it’s not currently on the table.Water alone, without an antimicrobial, would concern me more. Chilling in plain water without PAA would hold bacteria rather than reduce it. The antimicrobial rinse is required by our USDA facility specifically to reduce the Salmonella load present on the bird.Air-chilled isn’t automatically “chemical-free” either. As noted above, most air-chill operations still apply an antimicrobial at some point in the process. It’s just applied differently.Sourcing and scale. Air-chilling requires more space, more energy, and reduces processor yield due to moisture loss, which is part of why it’s harder to find at the scale a small Midwest farm like ours needs. Where We Focus Instead Rather than chasing a chilling-method label, we put our energy into the things we believe actually move the needle on quality and integrity: Raising chickens on pastureRotational grazing practicesNon-GMO feedNo antibiotics or added hormonesHumane, low-stress handlingNutrient-dense food raised with integrity Our processor uses the PAA water-chill method because, alongside meeting food safety standards, they’ve found it helps maintain the flavor, juiciness, and texture our customers consistently tell us they love. Your Farmer’s Final Thoughts I think this air-chilled vs. water-chilled conversation is a lot like the no-corn, no-soy conversation we wrote about. A real concern, with some real substance to it, that’s gotten oversimplified into a single word on a package standing in for “better.” Salmonella occurs naturally in chickens and doesn’t affect them the way it affects us. It’s a human food-safety concern, not an animal-welfare one, and it’s why processors, air-chilled or water-chilled, treat for it. Properly cooked, handled without cross-contamination in your kitchen, it’s a non-issue either way. I don’t want to chase a marketing label just to capture market share. I’d rather be straight with you about how our chicken is actually processed, why, and keep our focus on the parts of the process we do control: how the birds are raised. Pasture access, rotational grazing, non-GMO feed, humane handling, and nutrient-dense food raised with integrity. That’s the standard we hold ourselves to at Wanda Farms. We’re always happy to be transparent about our process and answer any other questions you may have. Hope this helps.

SPECIAL CHICKEN DEALS END AUG 31st. Stock up on Chicken today!

Your Farmer's Voice on Capital Hill

Why Go to D.C. to oppose the EATS Act?

Educating Congress

Rescinding State Rights

Take Action!

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"Air-chilled" chicken: another marketing gimmick?

A Father's Belief

No Corn, No Soy: What's the buzz?

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