Below is one of a series of articles examining Initiative Petition 28, a potential citizen ballot measure proposed by radical anti-hunting and animal rights extremists that would make it a crime in Oregon to hunt, fish, raise livestock and poultry for food and/or dairy products, and even carry out pest control. It would also severely affect and change private property rights, recreational activity on public lands, restaurants and small business owners, coastal communities, working animal industries, agricultural-related youth organizations and programs, and the state’s economy on multiple fronts. Also, it would lessen the ability of Oregonians to acquire food. This piece focuses on IP 28’s impact on food security.
Animal rights extremists want what they want, no matter the consequences. If they get what they want in the form of an approved radical ballot measure, they will increase food insecurity for many in Oregon.
Initiative Petition 28 (IP 28) seeks to remove animal cruelty exemptions from state statute, including hunting, fishing or raising animals for food or other byproducts. In other words, animals may not be hunted, fished or slaughtered to eat. No livestock operations. No poultry farms. No dairies. No meat produced in the state of Oregon.
“If this were to pass, it prohibits the state from authorizing or giving out licenses for slaughterhouses. It would prohibit the state from giving out hunting licenses. It would prohibit at a state level, at a systemic level, this cruelty to happen,” said David Michelson, IP 28 chief petitioner.
Michelson and his cohorts believe eating meat is wrong. The overwhelming majority of Americans feel otherwise. Data from the Pew Research Center shows“ nearly all (96 percent) of U.S. adults say that eating meat is either morally acceptable or not a moral issue.”
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, food insecurity in Oregon increased from 9.2 percent in 2021-23 to 12 percent in 2024. More than 400,000 did not know where they would get their next meal from. The Oregon Food Bank estimates that 1 in 8 people, including 1 in six kids, face food insecurity in 2025.
Hunt 2 Conserve strongly opposes IP 28 and urges Oregonians to reject it.
About Hunt 2 Conserve
Hunt 2 Conserve is a 501(c)4 nonprofit organization affiliated with the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. Its mission is to advance a legacy of hunting and conservation by educating, activating and developing stewards and defenders of these fundamentally American ideals. For more information, go to hunt2conserve.org.
