{"id":795,"date":"2008-10-08T09:10:27","date_gmt":"2008-10-08T09:10:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/farmforward1.wpengine.com\/?p=795"},"modified":"2022-10-06T19:27:01","modified_gmt":"2022-10-06T19:27:01","slug":"yes-on-prop-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/news\/yes-on-prop-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Yes! on Prop 2"},"content":{"rendered":"\t
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There was a lot more at stake in the 2008 elections than you might think. On November 4, 2008, Californians voted on what was perhaps the most important piece of legislation ever drafted to help farmed animals in this country. The Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act\u2014Proposition 2<\/a>\u2014sought to give veal calves, layer hens, and breeding pigs enough space to turn around and stretch their limbs. Prop 2 set the standard for progressive laws limiting the abuses of animals on factory farms in the largest agricultural state in the country.<\/p>\n

We may disagree about the details of what laws should protect animals in industrial agriculture, but we can all agree, at minimum, that a fundamental requirement of good animal welfare is the elemental ability to move one\u2019s body\u2014simply to turn around or stretch a wing.\u201d\u00a0<\/em>\u2013<\/em>Statement of Support for the California Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act, signed by Michael Chabon, J.M. Coetzee, Jonathan Safran Foer, Jonathan Franzen, Nicole Krauss, Michael Pollan, Alice Sebold, and Alice Walker<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The changes outlined in the bill were consistent with the policy suggestions of an authoritative Pew Commission\u00a0report<\/a>\u00a0on animal agriculture, which concluded that factory farming methods present \u201can unacceptable level of risk to public health and damage to the environment, as well as unnecessary harm to the animals we raise for food.\u201d If we are to reverse the devastating effects of factory farming, we must take the first step of vocally supporting initiatives like Proposition 2.<\/p>\n

The bill, which outlined only a bare minimum of improvements essential to making the lives of farmed animals more bearable faced strong opposition from a coalition of pro-factory-farming interests. But the tide of opinion about the way our culture treats animals is changing rapidly\u2014a wide array of voices from progressive ranchers like Bill Niman to nonprofit organizations and conservative religious leaders have come out in support of Proposition 2.<\/p>\n

In a further testament to this progressive cultural shift, eight of the world\u2019s most respected and recognized writers joined with Farm Forward to endorse Proposition 2. \u201cWhen writers of this stature speak out to curb factory farming\u2014speak out against cruelty to animals\u2014it has a special meaning,\u201d said Farm Forward\u2019s Chief Executive Officer, Aaron Gross, \u201cJ.M. Coetzee\u2019s works have helped millions internationally confront South African apartheid just as Alice Walker\u2019s books have helped millions confront the legacy of American slavery. These writers have been our conscience and stretched our moral imaginations. When voices like these come together and call for changes in farming, it\u2019s time for change.\u201d<\/p>\n

For information on how you can join these writers and help ensure that important bills like this are made into law, visit\u00a0Citizens For Farm Animal Protection<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Michael Chabon<\/strong>\u00a0is the author of the highly acclaimed bestsellers\u00a0Wonder Boys<\/em>,\u00a0The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay<\/em>, and most recently,\u00a0The Yiddish Policemen\u2019s Union<\/em>. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 2001.<\/p>\n

Nobel Prize winner\u00a0J.M Coetzee<\/strong>\u00a0has often spoken out against the excesses of factory farming, notably in his 2004 novel\u00a0Elizabeth Costello<\/em>, which explores human responsibility to animals, its philosophical implications, and its meaning in our daily lives. Coetzee is also a celebrated literary critic and translator.<\/p>\n

Time<\/em>\u00a0magazine ranks\u00a0Jonathan Safran Foer<\/strong>\u00a0among the writers who have become a \u201cvoice of this generation.\u201d He is the author of bestsellers\u00a0Everything Is Illuminated<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close<\/em>, and a Farm Forward board member.<\/p>\n

Jonathan Franzen\u2019s<\/strong>\u00a02001 novel\u00a0The Corrections\u00a0<\/em>was included on\u00a0Time<\/em>\u00a0magazine\u2019s list of the 100 best English-language novels. His nonfiction, including the collection of essays,\u00a0How to Be Alone,\u00a0<\/em>and his memoirs,\u00a0The Discomfort Zone,\u00a0<\/em>have cemented his role as one of the most important writers of the 21st century.<\/p>\n

Nicole Krauss\u2019<\/strong>\u00a0breakthrough novel,\u00a0The History of Love<\/em>, was an immediate sensation in 2005, becoming a\u00a0New York Times<\/em>\u00a0best-seller and book list staple. Alfonso Cuar\u00f3n, director of\u00a0Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Y tu Mam\u00e1 Tambi\u00e9n<\/em>, is making the book into a film.\u00a0Publishers Weekly<\/em>\u00a0wrote that Krauss\u2019 \u201cimagination encompasses many worlds.\u201d<\/p>\n

Michael Pollan\u2019s<\/strong>\u00a02006 critique of the food industry,\u00a0The Omnivore\u2019s Dilemma<\/em>, was named one of the 10 best books of the year by\u00a0<\/em>the\u00a0New York Times<\/em>\u00a0and the\u00a0Washington Post<\/em>, and his latest work,\u00a0In Defense of Food<\/em>, continues his groundbreaking contributions to our understanding of the ethics of eating.<\/p>\n

Alice Sebold\u2019s<\/strong>\u00a0debut novel,\u00a0The Lovely Bones<\/em>, has been translated into more than 40 languages and is currently being made into a film by\u00a0The Lord of the Rings\u00a0<\/em>director Peter Jackson. She is also the author of critically acclaimed bestsellers\u00a0Lucky and The Almost Moon<\/em>.<\/p>\n

In addition to being recognized as one of America\u2019s most important writers,\u00a0Alice Walker<\/strong>\u00a0is a highly respected advocate for environmental and social justice issues. She was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for\u00a0The Color Purple<\/em>\u00a0in 1982.<\/p>\n

Sign up<\/a>\u00a0for the Farm Forward newsletter<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>to receive updates and important information about how you can get involved.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On November 4, 2008, Californians voted on what was perhaps the most important piece of legislation ever drafted to help farmed animals in this country. Learn more about the Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act\u2014Proposition 2 here.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":803,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,20,24,22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-795","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-legislation","category-animal-welfare","category-food-policy","category-food-system-solutions"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/795","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=795"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/795\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/803"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=795"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=795"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=795"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}