By RACHEL COOPER, Columnist
State Question 777, officially named “Right to Farm”, if passed would constitutionally guarantee the following rights to the farming and ranching industries: 1) the right to make use of agricultural technology; 2) the right to make use of livestock procedures and 3) the right to make use of ranching practices. The irony is that farmers and ranchers already have these rights, or the “Right to Farm.” What they do not currently have is the right to harm. Our local elected officials and municipalities legally make sure of this. The true nature of this very dangerous and misleading state question is granting legal protection to corporate agriculture giving them the right to harm.
The student organization, CORE-Conserving Our Ranger Environment, position is a firm “Vote NO on SQ777. Our reasoning is as follows; yet, we encourage all voting citizens of Northwest Oklahoma to carefully study the issue. CORE will host a multi-perspective panel composed of farmers, ranchers, and other citizens on Thursday, October 27 at 7 pm. See more details at the end of this article.
There are many reasons to question 777. First, if passed, 777 would amend Oklahoma’s state constitution. The purpose of a constitution is to organize the basic functions of government and to grant civil liberties to the citizens. If passed 777 gives the agriculture industry “free reign” in their practices, unless a “compelling state interest” is found. A “compelling state interest” makes it difficult, if not impossible, to pass laws that challenge the amendment. In fact, a “compelling state interest” is giving the agriculture industry the same status as our basic rights, such as freedom of speech and religion. Should we give up our rights by not allowing our local elected officials to regulate farming and ranching? SQ 777 is big government which takes our right away as local citizens.
Secondly, water is life. The use of agricultural technology left unchecked could potentially contaminate water sources, making them unsafe to drink. For instance, examine the history between the large chicken producers in eastern Oklahoma and the drastic water pollution problems that were there just a few years ago. There is a recent history of big agriculture taking advantage of the citizens of Oklahoma and its natural resources. If SQ 777 passes, we would experience more examples like this one and it would cost the tax payers a lot of money.
Thirdly, the potential for environmental degradation is a cause for concern. Afterall, northwest Oklahoma is arguably the home to the largest man-made natural disaster in the world, The Dust Bowl. Since then we’ve learned sound farming and ranching practices. Why would we want to put these practices and our livelihood at risk? If 777 is passed, big agriculture might not understand the hard lessons we’ve learned. Afterall, China owns over 325,000 acres of Oklahoma farmland.
CORE urges you to think of the future as you vote this November. Evaluate who you are and what you stand for. Even though CORE does not support SQ 777, we are committed to democracy and respectful public discourse. So please join us, Thursday, October 27th at 7 pm. for a multi-perspective panel on all our campuses: Enid Rm. 225, Alva Rm. IE 131, Woodward Rm. 147 and Ponca City Rm. 123. Don’t only vote, know before you vote!