Opinion: Denver ballot measure to ban slaughterhouses is wrong for working families, animals and consumers
Colorado Sun
As advocates for family farmers and ranchers, Rocky Mountain Farmers Union (RMFU) strongly opposes the proposed slaughterhouse ban that will be on the ballot in Denver this fall. Initiated Ordinance 309 would be tremendously detrimental to family farms and ranches across Colorado and harm consumers, our local economy and the broader agricultural industry.
This measure targets just one single employee-owned facility in Denver — Superior Farms. The closure would result in the loss of ownership stake and financial stability for the employee-owners. With a more than 80% Latino/Latina workforce at the targeted facility, the negative impacts of this ban would largely fall on the hard-working shoulders of Denver’s minority communities.
Many of these workers have been at the facility for decades, and others have generational ties to their company. The ban targets these workers — and only these workers — stripping them of their ownership stake and undermining the investments they have made in their skilled labor and financial security. The loss of these skilled, good-paying jobs from the Denver workforce would be virtually impossible to refill.
We also oppose the ban because it would threaten the local food system, cause increased food costs and reduce market opportunities for local agricultural producers.
The group behind the ban has a goal of ending animal agriculture in the United States and is asking voters to force a single Denver business to close in service of that goal. It’s a misguided attempt to impose a belief system on consumers via ballot measure.
If the Denver ban passes, people would still eat meat, but 160 employees would be out of work. Meanwhile, a recent Colorado State University study shows that the ban could threaten an additional 2,700 jobs and upward of $861 million in economic activity. These are jobs, opportunities and economic losses that the City and County of Denver and its citizens should not vote away. These include the independent and family ranchers and farmers we represent, truckers, distributors, retailers, butchers and restaurant owners.
The lamb processed in the Denver plant comes largely from the surrounding regions, and the meat is sold to many local restaurants and markets. While this plant’s closure will not change consumer behavior or demand for the product, it will shift the food supply from local producers to foreign suppliers.
In 2023, about 240 million pounds of lamb was imported into the U.S., largely from Australia and New Zealand, while about 114 million pounds of lamb was processed in federally inspected plants in the United States. There being limited excess capacity in the United States, rather than having access to locally sourced food and supporting local farmers and ranchers, Denver voters will be voting to pay higher prices for meat produced and processed in other parts of the world, frozen, put on ships, and delivered halfway around the globe. All this will mean burning more fuel and expending more resources to get it here. This is wrong for the environment and wrong for Denver.
For these reasons, we stand behind our family farmers and ranchers, and other local food producers who rely on Superior Farms, in opposing this ban.
We stand behind the 160 employee-owners who work hard and take pride in their company.
We stand behind our local food system.
We stand behind consumers and their choice to support local communities through local food sources.
Passing the slaughterhouse ban is wrong for working families, wrong for animal welfare, wrong for the environment, and wrong for the economy. We urge Denverites to vote “no” on it this November.
Chad Franke of Lander, Wyoming, is the president of Rocky Mountain Farmers Union, a grassroots family farm and ranch organization serving Colorado, Wyoming and New Mexico.
Editor’s note: A guest column in favor of Ordinance 309 was previously published on Oct. 18, 2024.
The Colorado Sun is a nonpartisan news organization, and the opinions of columnists and editorial writers do not reflect the opinions of the newsroom. Read our ethics policy for more on The Sun’s opinion policy. Learn how to submit a column. Reach the opinion editor at opinion@coloradosun.com.
Follow Colorado Sun Opinion on Facebook.