The open West has a long tradition of respecting the choices of others. It is a “live and let live” lifestyle that says my neighbors can live their lives according to their own beliefs while I make my own choices – as long as we don’t trample on the rights of others.
This Colorado lifestyle is under attack in a particularly odious initiative on Denver’s November ballot. An outside organization that doesn’t like people eating meat has arrived in Denver. Its members don’t eat meat and believe you shouldn’t. The stated goal of the organization sponsoring this ban is to “reverse the cultural norm of eating animals.”
Of course, they couldn’t put that on the ballot in Denver. Such a proposal would be soundly rejected. Instead, the proposal contains a simple and seemingly innocuous demand: ban slaughterhouses in Denver. Many voters may look at this and think, “Are there even slaughterhouses in Denver?”
We know: it is a 70-year-old employee-owned company, the only one affected by this ban.
Superior Farms, located in north Denver, produces about 20 percent of the country’s lamb products. It is a leading facility in the country’s food chain, a source of local food for restaurants, food trucks and grocery stores here in Colorado, and a major industry in a long, proud history of meat production in Denver. It has been employee-owned for about 40 years and produces 100% Halal-certified meat for the Islamic market. Many people may not know that Denver is home to this facility, but the 160 employee-owners who work there take great pride in their company, their work and their product.
When I first heard about the slaughterhouse ban, I thought, this is absurd. Can we actually vote to take away someone’s livelihood? But don’t worry, the initiative states that the city should offer these newly unemployed workers training in another profession. In a recent interview, one of the organizers of the ban stated that the workers, many of whom have worked there for decades, “could work in construction or other jobs.” This utter arrogance is unbelievable.
Singling out a facility and forcing its employees to shut down their own business is wrong. It doesn’t deserve to be run out of town by a group that isn’t even from Denver. Many people may not know how a slaughterhouse works in detail, but it’s important to know that USDA inspectors are present at all times. Without inspectors on site, no production can take place. And the facility, like all livestock production facilities in the U.S., is subject to strict federal regulations. In addition, halal certification requires humane treatment of the animal throughout its life cycle. Many voters may not know this, but they should know before deciding whether or not to shut everything down.
I would add that the 160 predominantly Latino workers own the company. With their safety at stake, you can count on them to take great care in both the way their plant is run and the way they are compensated for their work. These are skilled jobs with good benefits and ownership stakes. This ban will strip them of their hard-earned equity and leave them with only the paternalistic promise that we will give you “priority” in training for another job.
The slaughterhouse ban is opposed by a coalition of ranchers, restaurant owners and unions who say it doesn’t hurt animal welfare, it doesn’t hurt workers, and it doesn’t hurt consumers who face higher prices for lamb products imported from further afield. The second largest lamb producer is in New Zealand, by the way. Pushing local food production out of Denver doesn’t mean Denverites will stop eating meat, it just means we’ll use more fuel to get meat here. Wrong approach.
I don’t know about you, but I’m sick and tired of people getting upset that I don’t make the same choices as them. It’s wrong to change the law to impose these personal preferences on others, but it’s outrageous to put 160 hard-working people out of work in the process. Let’s defeat the slaughterhouse ban this November.
Kevin Flynn represents District 2 on the Denver City Council.
Kevin Flynn represents District 2 on the Denver City Council.
