Take Action Today To Pass AB-2764: A prohibition on the construction and expansion of factory farms and slaughter houses
Today, coalition partners launched a statewide call-in campaign to urge the California Assembly Agriculture Committee to vote yes on AB 2764. This historic bill would prohibit the construction and expansion of any factory farms or large slaughterhouses in the state. It’s a powerful step in the right direction - toward a humane, sustainable, plant-based food system.
Unfortunately, the Vice Chair of the ag committee, Asm. Devon Mathis, has said he plans to kill the bill in the ag committee vote. This vote is expected to happen in just a couple weeks, on April 6th.
To give AB 2764 a chance, we need you to call the ag committee members listed below and voice your support for a factory farm moratorium. Every call a legislator gets represents to them that many more people care about the issue. If enough of us call, maybe we can convince these legislators to side with the millions of Californians who want to protect our environment, workers, animals, and future.
Please call the legislators below and urge them to vote YES on AB 2764! Call their Capitol office phone number first, and if they don’t pick up, try their district office. You will most likely speak to a staff person at their office who will take a message from you. You can follow the simple script below or you can use your own words. Please keep it respectful!
“My name is [your name] and I’m a California resident calling to urge Assemblymember [their name] to vote yes on AB 2764 introduced by Assemblymember Nazarian, for a moratorium on the construction and expansion of factory farms and large slaughterhouses. The expansion of industrial animal agriculture in California is inconsistent with our position as a world leader on animal welfare and environmental issues. With AB 2764, we have the opportunity to mitigate the environmental harm and public health risks posed by industrial animal agriculture, and to create a more humane food system in California. Let’s lead the way.”
Asm. Robert Rivas: Capitol office - (916) 319-2030, District office - (831) 759-8676
Asm. Carlos Villapudua: Capitol office - (916) 319-2013, District office - (209) 948-7479
Asm. Reginald Jones-Sawyer: Capitol office - (916) 319-2059, District office - (213) 744-2111
Asm. Cecilia Aguiar-Curry: Capitol office - (916) 319-2004, District office - (530) 757-1034
Asm. Jacqui Irwin: Capitol office - (916) 319-2044, District office - (805) 482-1904
Asm. Marc Levine: Capitol office - (916) 319-2010, District office - (415) 479-4920
Asm. Jim Wood: Capitol office - (916) 319-2002, District office - (707) 463-5770
Asm. Adam Gray: Capitol office - (916) 319-2021, District office - (209) 726-5465
Or, you can copy and paste the letter below:
[Insert your logo here]
March __, 2022
The Honorable Robert Rivas
Assembly Agriculture Committee
1020 N Street, Room 362
Sacramento, California 95814
Re: Statement in Support of AB 2764 (Nazarian) Animals: commercial animal feeding operations and slaughterhouses: prohibition on new operations
Dear Assemblymember Rivas and members of the Assembly Agriculture Committee,
We are writing to express our support for AB 2764. AB 2764 would prohibit the construction of new commercial Animal Feeding Operations (AFOs) and slaughterhouses in the state, as well as the expansion of existing AFOs and slaughterhouses. If passed, AB 2764 would make California the first state in the nation with a moratorium on AFOs and slaughterhouses.
Simply put, the expansion of industrial animal agriculture in California is inconsistent with its position as a world leader on animal welfare and environmental issues, as well as its role in fostering innovative technological advancements.
Regarding animal welfare, it is well-established that animal cruelty is routine in confined animal feeding operations and slaughterhouses. Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) in the factory farming industry include castrating piglets and clipping their teeth down to their gum line without anesthetic. Pigs can live up to 20 years but are killed for meat around 6 months of age. SOPs in the dairy industry include forcibly impregnating cows through recto-vaginal insemination and removing newborn calves from their mothers shortly after birth. Cows can live up to 20 years but only live 4-6 on dairy farms, and even less when raised for meat. In the egg industry chickens are sorted by sex upon hatching. Male chicks are seen as a waste product since they don’t lay eggs and are killed immediately upon birth, often by being placed in an industrial sized blender called a macerator. Investigations at multiple slaughterhouses in California have exposed violations of the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act.
California voters have repeatedly shown deep concern about the well-being of animals, and the state has some of the strictest laws and regulations concerning animal welfare. In 1998, California voters banned, by ballot initiative, the use of steel-jawed leghold traps, body-gripping traps and conibear traps for fur production. In 2008, Californians overwhelmingly supported welfare reforms for farmed animals with Proposition 2, the Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act, and in 2018, California voters added further requirements to the Act through Proposition 12. By passing AB 2764 California will continue to lead the charge against animal cruelty and shift towards a more sustainable and humane food system.
AFOs and slaughterhouses also pose serious environmental threats. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), AFOs produce more than 500 million tons of waste per year. Likewise, a 2018 report from the Environmental Integrity Project found that on average, slaughterhouses discharged over 330 lbs of nitrogen a day in 2017. A 2021 study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) found that air pollution due to animal agriculture is responsible for 12,720 US deaths per year. An analysis of satellite data conducted by NASA found a large methane “hot spot” over the Central Valley in California, likely to be the second largest “hot spot” over the entire United States. According to the UN, two of the largest threats facing human civilization are climate change and new and emerging infectious diseases. AFOs and slaughterhouses exacerbate both of these threats.
Finally, animal slaughtering and processing jobs have some of the highest rates of occupational injury and illness in the United States. This industry’s disregard for worker safety was exposed during the COVID-19 pandemic when infections skyrocketed among workers and the communities they live in. According to the US Congress’ Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus, the top 5 largest meat packing conglomerates accounted for 269,000 COVID cases and 270 deaths within the first year of the pandemic. UFCW Local 770 called for the immediate closure of the Smithfield-owned Farmer John meatpacking plant in Vernon, CA, saying there was no evidence that measures taken to control the coronavirus were working.
By passing AB 2764, and prohibiting the construction and expansion of AFOs and slaughterhouses in California, we have the opportunity to increase community awareness of animal welfare, mitigate the environmental harm caused by animal agriculture, bolster the demand for sustainable and innovative alternatives, and, in turn, foster a more humane environment in California.
California has passed moratoriums on evictions, debt repayments, offshore drilling, and even on the death penalty. Now is the right time for a moratorium on factory farms.
For the foregoing reasons, we support the passage of AB 2764.
Sincerely,
[Digital signature, or Handwritten Signature]
[Printed name]
[Title]
[City, State]
