17 November 2015 — Protect The Harvest 501(c4) warned Oklahoma voters that today begins yet another campaign with the same tired script written by the same high-priced professional food police who want to dictate how farmers produce and what consumers eat and how much more they should pay. “The new news is no news,” explained Brian Klippenstein, Executive Director of Protect The Harvest. “Untethered from reality, it is campaign business as usual, divide, distort, and disparage.” “The voters in farming states of North Dakota and Missouri rejected these discriminatory attacks on our farmers and we believe common-sense Oklahoma voters will stand by their neighbors when they study the facts and learn the true agenda of the Washington-based mega-millions agitator industry.” “These days, there is a lot of money to be made by those trying to malign farmers. The statements made by the Oklahoma Stewardship Council are not designed to inform the debate, but to stir, raise money, and divide the historical bond between farmers and consumers,” Klippenstein continued. “SQ 777 does nothing more than preserve the rights of individual Oklahomans, not corporations, to raise and grow food. SQ 777 ensures that Oklahoma alone will control the future of agriculture within its borders.”
Supporters of SQ 777 argue that the Right to Farm Amendment will defend Oklahoma’s family farmers from the actions of groups like Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) that spend tens of millions of dollars each year to influence and pass laws that restrict the rights of farmers, ranchers, hunters, and consumers. “HSUS is a wealthy, international animal rights lobby that wants to control your grocery cart and your plate. Everything they do limits the ability of families to access quality, nutritious, and affordable food,” explained Klippenstein. “The Oklahoma Stewardship Council is clearly HSUS’s attempt to derail SQ 777 so they can continue to control modern agriculture to suit their extreme agenda.”
The Oklahoma Stewardship Council is led by Drew Edmondson, an attorney who has represented HSUS in its lawsuit against state Attorney General Scott Pruitt. Attorney General Pruitt had launched a public interest inquiry into potentially questionable fundraising activities by HSUS in Oklahoma. “If Mr. Edmondson and the Oklahoma Stewardship Council care about Oklahomans, they will cut all ties with the anti-hunting, anti-farmer, and anti-freedom activists at HSUS,” Klippenstein concluded. “Oklahoma’s leading agriculture voices and family farmers support the Right to Farm Amendment, because they are tired of being targeted by out-of-state radicals like HSUS.”
According to OklahomaRightToFarm.com, SQ 777 is endorsed by Oklahoma Farm Bureau, Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association, American Farmers & Ranchers, Oklahoma Pork Council, and several other Oklahoma agriculture groups and farmers. Protect The Harvest is a national coalition fighting to defend the rights and freedoms of American hunters, anglers, farmers, ranchers, and consumers. To learn more, visit ProtectTheHarvest.com.
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