Big BIG Egg

This week the US House of Representatives considers the 2013 Farm Bill — the agriculture policy tool for the federal government. Of all of the amendments that will be debated, there is one in particular that has conservatives fuming. If passed, the “Egg Bill” amendment will result in an unfunded government mandate on thousands of American family farmers. The amendment calls for federal requirements on the size and structure of egg producing facilities. This mandate could have significant consequences for farmers — especially the smaller, familyrun businesses. It would likely force farmers to shut down their operations or significantly increase their production costs, which will inevitably be passed on to consumers at the grocery stores and at restaurants. This complete overhaul of our nation’s egg producing facilities is expected to increase the price of eggs and any food containing eggs, such as baked goods.

The rest of the short news article is here.

Context: The Egg Products Inspection Act Amendments of 2012 was introduced into the US Senate and House of Representatives last year.  Mr. Big Food and I used this piece of proposed legislation (the two versions were almost identical) as an example to illustrate the power of skeptical-- conspiratorial, even-- thinking with regard to the collusion of Big Corporations-- in this case, Big Egg-- and Big Government. What follows is a portion of the paper we wrote and presented at a conference. This portion of our paper examines the legislation, how it came to be introduced (there was a "secret meeting"!), and analyses the so-called benefits of the legislation. It is this legislation that has been amended to the current Farm Bill. 

 

In our paper, titled, "Don’t Throw Out the Tin-­‐Foil Hats Just Yet: Libertarian Criticisms of Keeley’s 'Of Conspiracy Theories'," we are replying specifically to Brian Keeley's academic paper (a pdf of which is available at the link). Keeley's paper is fascinating-- and has received a lot of attention. I hasten to note that it's not a wacko paper. It is a serious treatment of the epistemology of a class of conspiracy theories called "unwarranted conspiracy theories" or UTCs in what's below. 

I've here only included that portion of our paper that deals with Big Egg and the proposed amendment to the current Farm Bill. I want to focus narrowly on that issue and provide some background on the amendment for those who are interested having affordable eggs. Providing this information within the context of our longer paper was the most efficient way to get the information out there. 

Note, especially with the first paragraph I include, that we wrote this before the alphabet soup of scandals hit the fan. 

I do apologize for the formatting, some of which was mysteriously lost between copying and pasting. I would have fixed it, but you know, I have chores to do. I've included all of the references.

After having become acquainted with the Big Egg amendment, I encourage you to scream from the top of your roof that this amendment needs to go down in flames. 

Here you go... .