Protect the Harvest Sues to Stop Massachusetts Ballot Initiative

Massachusetts farmer James Dunn joined with local anti-poverty activist Diane Sullivan in a lawsuit asking the courts to toss a proposed 2016 animal rights ballot measure. The proposed initiative petition (no. 15-11) would create strict new regulations on farmers and place new restrictions on interstate commerce. Experts warn that the proposed rules will actually harm animals while driving up the cost of food for Massachusetts families. Diane Sullivan, the policy director for a Boston-based advocacy organization, and herself one of more than 450,000 Massachusetts households who participates in the federally-funded Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps), warns of the unintended consequences hidden in the ballot measure.