Missouri Farmers Union chief says proposed amendment would give more power to corporations

A proposed amendment to the Missouri constitution is being promoted as protecting the rights of farmers, but is likely to give corporations more power of voters approve it in August, Richard Oswald, a fifth-generation Missouri farmer and president of the Missouri Farmers Union, writes for the Daily Yonder.

"While many real, live people in the U.S. are beginning to see downsides to 14th Amendment protection for cold-blooded corporations, the U.S. Constitution says states still have the right to breathe life into them through their own constitutions," Oswald writes. "That’s why Missouri’s question on the August ballot is so important to big companies here. Approval of the amendment would help cement corporations into citizen-farmer roles before corporate powers can be revoked and voters in Missouri wake up to the real implications." (Yonder graphic: Ad supporting the amendment during the legislative session)

"In recent sessions the Missouri General Assembly has increased the amount of land foreign corporations can own," Oswald writes. "They have made it harder for people to protect themselves from corporate pollution and infringement on personal rights, like access to clean water and air.  Now most large producer groups and Missouri Farm Bureau have endorsed Amendment One because it protects the rights of farmers and ranchers." Oswald says the measure would do "nothing but guarantee that a few large companies will continue to dominate ever more of Missouri’s most productive rural landscape and exercise more control in the way we grow our food." (Read more)