Save Our Bacon Act is a threat to agricultural freedom
By Andrea Hazzard | Special to the Rockford Register Star
At Hazzard Free Farm, I don't grow just one commodity—I steward diversity. I grow heirloom corn, wheat, oats, rye, barley, clover, and biodiversity. I treat my animals with care, integrate them into the landscape, and work to build a food system that reflects what our community needs. I capture nutrients, build soil, catch water, and create habitat. I create life in abundance.
This relationship with land only works when states and local communities can set the standards that reflect their values. The Save Our Bacon Act threatens that entire model. It's federal overreach disguised as agricultural freedom. In reality, it strips states of their power to set agricultural standards and hands that power to the federal government—which has been captured by global industrial operations.
Illinois voters and communities will decide what agricultural reality we want in our state. That's not a radical idea; it's called democracy. The power of each state to create its own reality is the most powerful tool we have. U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin is a key voice in Senate negotiations on the Farm Bill. I urge Senator Durbin to make a public commitment right now: keep the Save Our Bacon Act out of the final Farm Bill. Illinois farmers like me—and communities across the country—are watching to see if he'll defend our right to set our own standards.
Andrea Hazzard, Pecatonica
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