Farmer's Markets and produce stands in jeopardy!!

[alittletouched]

I just found this accidentally while creeping through a news site and I'm very alarmed by this concept. A bills has been proposed that will require all produce vendors to be registered with a new division (Food Safety Administration) that subjects them to inspections and food record-keeping. While this doesn't sound so bad, the frequency of the inspection will be determined at the whim of the FSA, safety records on your produce will be constantly catalogued, and registration is mandatory with no statement of how much it will cost to register and maintain registration. Farmer's markets will be forced to make sure all of their vendors are registered because the fine if found out to be unregistered is a fine up to 1 million. The site I discovered this one is here: http://cryptogon.com/?p=7362

And the website that tracks the bill's progression from the Committee to being signed off by the PResident is here: http://cryptogon.com/?p=7362

I really hope that a bill like this will not pass, as it will force those who make necessary income from these small set-ups to abandon or outstretch their resources. I don't see any good coming from this at all, but I am convincible if someone else has a better perspective on it. Times are hard, though, I don't understand why they would do this.

[Blossome]

An it has now hit the fan. This issue of the GOV controlling our food has been talked about for years and now they are really trying to get it done. We better hold on to our seeds and keep planting, soon they will be telling us we have to register the seeds we use to grow or we can't grow our own food anymore. Thanks for the info.

[gardengirl72]

A friend just sent me this link
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/11/dining/11lady.html?_r=5

The First Lady is mentioning eating fresh food and community gardens.

If any one knows the link to contact our Congressional representatives please post it. The only way to stop this is to write to our district reps and tell them what a bad idea it is and specifically that we won't vote for them in the next election if they vote for this disgusting bill.

[gardengirl72]

Here is a link to 2 facebook groups where there's lots of info on the bill. Please join and invite others.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=776966508&ref=profile#/group.php?gid=59474562131

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=776966508&ref=profile#/group.php?gid=55998304292&ref=mf

[Kevin]

A friend just sent me this link
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/11/dining/11lady.html?_r=5

The First Lady is mentioning eating fresh food and community gardens.

If any one knows the link to contact our Congressional representatives please post it. The only way to stop this is to write to our district reps and tell them what a bad idea it is and specifically that we won't vote for them in the next election if they vote for this disgusting bill.

Patti, This link should help. www.govtrack.us/congress Good luck , Kevin

[Growing Boy]

Just to add a bit of balance here's another link
http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/03/12/will-proposed-national-legislation-kill-the-farmers-market/
By all means contact your legislators.
I have and have voiced MY concerns.

[Growing Boy]

Sorry this is so long but it is worth reading.
Food & Water Watch? s Statement on H.R. 875 and the Food Safety Bills

The dilemma of how to regulate food safety in a way that prevents problems caused by industrialized agriculture but doesn?t wipe out small diversified farms is not new and is not easily solved. And as almost constant food safety problems reveal the dirty truth about the way much of our food is produced, processed and distributed, it?s a dilemma we need to have serious discussion about.

Most consumers never thought they had to worry about peanut butter and this latest food safety scandal has captured public attention for good reason ? a CEO who knowingly shipped contaminated food, a plant with holes in the roof and serious pest problems, and years of state and federal regulators failing to intervene.

It?s no surprise that Congress is under pressure to act and multiple food safety bills have been introduced.

Two of the bills are about traceability for food (S.425 and H.R. 814). These present real issues for small producers who could be forced to bear the cost of expensive tracking technology and recordkeeping.

The other bills address what FDA can do to regulate food.

A lot of attention has been focused on a bill introduced by Rep. Rosa DeLauro (H.R. 875), the Food Safety Modernization Act. And a lot of what is being said about the bill is misleading.

Here are a few things that H.R. 875 DOES do:

-It addresses the most critical flaw in the structure of FDA by splitting it into 2 new agencies ?one devoted to food safety and the other devoted to drugs and medical devices.

-It increases inspection of food processing plants, basing the frequency of inspection on the risk of the product being produced ? but it does NOT make plants pay any registration fees or user fees.

-It does extend food safety agency authority to food production on farms, requiring farms to write a food safety plan and consider the critical points on that farm where food safety problems are likely to occur.

-It requires imported food to meet the same standards as food produced in the U.S.

And just as importantly, here are a few things that H.R. 875 does NOT do:

-It does not cover foods regulated by the USDA (beef, pork, poultry, lamb, catfish.)

-It does not establish a mandatory animal identification system.

-It does not regulate backyard gardens.

-It does not regulate seed.

-It does not call for new regulations for farmers markets or direct marketing arrangements.

-It does not apply to food that does not enter interstate commerce (food that is sold across state lines).

-It does not mandate any specific type of traceability for FDA-regulated foods (the bill does instruct a new food safety agency to improve traceability of foods, but specifically says that recordkeeping can be done electronically or on paper.)

Several of the things not found in the DeLauro can be found in other bills ? like H.R. 814, the Tracing and Recalling Agricultural Contamination Everywhere Act, which calls for a mandatory animal identification system, or H.R. 759, the Food And Drug Administration Globalization Act, which overhauls the entire structure of FDA. H.R. 759 is more likely to move through Congress than H.R. 875. And H.R. 759 contains several provisions that could cause problems for small farms and food processors:

-It extends traceability recordkeeping requirements that currently apply only to food processors to farms and restaurants ? and requires that recordkeeping be done electronically.

-It calls for standard lot numbers to be used in food production.

-It requires food processing plants to pay a registration fee to FDA to fund the agency?s inspection efforts.

-It instructs FDA to establish production standards for fruits and vegetables and to establish Good Agricultural Practices for produce.

There is plenty of evidence that one-size-fits-all regulation only tends to work for one size of agriculture ? the largest industrialized operations. That?s why it is important to let members of Congress know how food safety proposals will impact the conservation, organic, and sustainable practices that make diversified, organic, and direct market producers different from agribusiness. And the work doesn?t stop there ? if Congress passes any of these bills, the FDA will have to develop rules and regulations to implement the law, a process that we can?t afford to ignore.

But simply shooting down any attempt to fix our broken food safety system is not an approach that works for consumers, who are faced with a food supply that is putting them at risk and regulators who lack the authority to do much about it.

You can read the full text of any of these bills at http://thomas.loc.gov

___________________________
Sarah Alexander
Senior Food Organizer
Food & Water Watch

1616 P St. NW Suite 300
Washington, DC 20036
www.foodandwaterwatch.org>salexander@fwwatch.org
www.foodandwaterwatch.org

[Growing Boy]

Sorry this is so long but it is worth reading.
Food & Water Watch? s Statement on H.R. 875 and the Food Safety Bills

The dilemma of how to regulate food safety in a way that prevents problems caused by industrialized agriculture but doesn?t wipe out small diversified farms is not new and is not easily solved. And as almost constant food safety problems reveal the dirty truth about the way much of our food is produced, processed and distributed, it?s a dilemma we need to have serious discussion about.

Most consumers never thought they had to worry about peanut butter and this latest food safety scandal has captured public attention for good reason ? a CEO who knowingly shipped contaminated food, a plant with holes in the roof and serious pest problems, and years of state and federal regulators failing to intervene.

It?s no surprise that Congress is under pressure to act and multiple food safety bills have been introduced.

Two of the bills are about traceability for food (S.425 and H.R. 814). These present real issues for small producers who could be forced to bear the cost of expensive tracking technology and recordkeeping.

The other bills address what FDA can do to regulate food.

A lot of attention has been focused on a bill introduced by Rep. Rosa DeLauro (H.R. 875), the Food Safety Modernization Act. And a lot of what is being said about the bill is misleading.

Here are a few things that H.R. 875 DOES do:

-It addresses the most critical flaw in the structure of FDA by splitting it into 2 new agencies ?one devoted to food safety and the other devoted to drugs and medical devices.

-It increases inspection of food processing plants, basing the frequency of inspection on the risk of the product being produced ? but it does NOT make plants pay any registration fees or user fees.

-It does extend food safety agency authority to food production on farms, requiring farms to write a food safety plan and consider the critical points on that farm where food safety problems are likely to occur.

-It requires imported food to meet the same standards as food produced in the U.S.

And just as importantly, here are a few things that H.R. 875 does NOT do:

-It does not cover foods regulated by the USDA (beef, pork, poultry, lamb, catfish.)

-It does not establish a mandatory animal identification system.

-It does not regulate backyard gardens.

-It does not regulate seed.

-It does not call for new regulations for farmers markets or direct marketing arrangements.

-It does not apply to food that does not enter interstate commerce (food that is sold across state lines).

-It does not mandate any specific type of traceability for FDA-regulated foods (the bill does instruct a new food safety agency to improve traceability of foods, but specifically says that recordkeeping can be done electronically or on paper.)

Several of the things not found in the DeLauro can be found in other bills ? like H.R. 814, the Tracing and Recalling Agricultural Contamination Everywhere Act, which calls for a mandatory animal identification system, or H.R. 759, the Food And Drug Administration Globalization Act, which overhauls the entire structure of FDA. H.R. 759 is more likely to move through Congress than H.R. 875. And H.R. 759 contains several provisions that could cause problems for small farms and food processors:

-It extends traceability recordkeeping requirements that currently apply only to food processors to farms and restaurants ? and requires that recordkeeping be done electronically.

-It calls for standard lot numbers to be used in food production.

-It requires food processing plants to pay a registration fee to FDA to fund the agency?s inspection efforts.

-It instructs FDA to establish production standards for fruits and vegetables and to establish Good Agricultural Practices for produce.

There is plenty of evidence that one-size-fits-all regulation only tends to work for one size of agriculture ? the largest industrialized operations. That?s why it is important to let members of Congress know how food safety proposals will impact the conservation, organic, and sustainable practices that make diversified, organic, and direct market producers different from agribusiness. And the work doesn?t stop there ? if Congress passes any of these bills, the FDA will have to develop rules and regulations to implement the law, a process that we can?t afford to ignore.

But simply shooting down any attempt to fix our broken food safety system is not an approach that works for consumers, who are faced with a food supply that is putting them at risk and regulators who lack the authority to do much about it.

You can read the full text of any of these bills at http://thomas.loc.gov

___________________________
Sarah Alexander
Senior Food Organizer
Food & Water Watch

1616 P St. NW Suite 300
Washington, DC 20036
www.foodandwaterwatch.org>salexander@fwwatch.org
www.foodandwaterwatch.org

[Uke_Mochi]

GrowingBoy -

Thank you for posting that letter... I tried several times earlier, to no avail. It was posted this morning to my local LocaVore group.

[Kevin]

But simply shooting down any attempt to fix our broken food safety system is not an approach that works for consumers, who are faced with a food supply that is putting them at risk and regulators who lack the authority to do much about it.

You can read the full text of any of these bills at http://thomas.loc.gov

___________________________
Sarah Alexander
Senior Food Organizer
Food & Water Watch

1616 P St. NW Suite 300
Washington, DC 20036
www.foodandwaterwatch.org>salexander@fwwatch.org
www.foodandwaterwatch.org[/QUOTE]

Bruce , I agree with this part, Show me a bill that deregulates the smaller businesses and leaves the individual out of it, and at the same time actually makes these larger corps accountable, Yes I'll get behind that. Yes Bruce, congress does have the power to deregulate. However you won't ever see that in a bill like this, proposed by corporate lobbyists. Congress really could fix this if they wanted to. But they would have to cross big AG to do it.

[Growing Boy]

Sec. of Ag Vilascek(?) is getting high marks from many farm and Organic Farming groups (The Farmland Trust and the Rodale Institute to name 2) for actually snubbing the big coporate Ag guys. Many are very hopeful that a tide may be turning here. We can only wait and watch very carefully.

[Kevin]

Sec. of Ag Vilascek(?) is getting high marks from many farm and Organic Farming groups (The Farmland Trust and the Rodale Institute to name 2) for actually snubbing the big coporate Ag guys. Many are very hopeful that a tide may be turning here. We can only wait and watch very carefully.

Secretary Vilascek did not propose this legislation , Congresswoman Rosa De Lauro did . And what a coincedence her husband works for monsanto.

[Growing Boy]

So I've heard.
"DeLauro is married to Stanley Greenberg, President of Greenberg-Quinlan Research, Inc., a public issues research and polling firm."
That is taken off her official website.http://delauro.house.gov/index.cfm
He might have changed jobs.:confused:

[Kevin]

So I've heard.
"DeLauro is married to Stanley Greenberg, President of Greenberg-Quinlan Research, Inc., a public issues research and polling firm."
That is taken off her official website.http://delauro.house.gov/index.cfm
He might have changed jobs.:confused:

Hey Bruce , Didn't see that one coming did ya? Don't Feel bad I Didn't either until a about a week ago. And by the way Don't be so quick to give this Vilscek guy your unconditional support either. Make him earn his keep first. When he was an Iowa state senator in 1995 He sided with the CAFOs and basically slipped the long high hard one to several thousand small scale hog farmers.(The majority are now out of business) Good luck and it's been a pleasure discussing this with you; Kevin

[Sinfonian]

That's how Monsanto works. It's a revolving door there (same with the FDA). You keep coming back. Well, unless you're Clarence Thomas, who left for a lifelong position with The Supreme Court. This whole thing just irks me to no end.

[Growing Boy]

Hey Bruce , Didn't see that one coming did ya? Don't Feel bad I Didn't either until a about a week ago. And by the way Don't be so quick to give this Vilscek guy your unconditional support either. Make him earn his keep first. When he was an Iowa state senator in 1995 He sided with the CAFOs and basically slipped the long high hard one to several thousand small scale hog farmers.(The majority are now out of business) Good luck and it's been a pleasure discussing this with you; Kevin

Sorry Kevin of course I saw that coming. I've read the press release by a supposed staffer for Ron Paul that started this whole Brou-ha-ha, and I did my research along with a few dozen of my friends who make their entire living growing things. I've been in the business of purveying plants and seeds for 30 years now. Monsanto is the poster child but there are at least a hundred companies that have been on the radar for at least that long. This has been a long fight and it goes on. An advantage of age is that you have history. With time issues become clearer. So do solutions. My attitude comes from a life of growing things.
You can't hurry the harvest and don't trust the weatherman when he/she says it will rain.

[Kevin]

Sorry Kevin of course I saw that coming. I've read the press release by a supposed staffer for Ron Paul that started this whole Brou-ha-ha, and I did my research along with a few dozen of my friends who make their entire living growing things. I've been in the business of purveying plants and seeds for 30 years now. Monsanto is the poster child but there are at least a hundred companies that have been on the radar for at least that long. This has been a long fight and it goes on. An advantage of age is that you have history. With time issues become clearer. So do solutions. My attitude comes from a life of growing things.
You can't hurry the harvest and don't trust the weatherman when he/she says it will rain.

Bruce , It's just killing me That I can't laugh and call you an old geezer. But I really can't. My wife and business partner is standing right here as I type this. She's a year older than you are.

[Growing Boy]

I'll bet she's beautiful.;)

[Growing Boy]

Now, my final post on this subject. I got this as an e-mail from a market farming forum I belong to.

Here is yet more reason not to worry about this bill

I pulled this from the OEFFA list serv:


Hey everyone-
There have been a lot of questions about this, so I thought I would respond to the whole forum. H.R. 875 deals with the FDA. FDA only regulates items that are involved in Interstate Commerce. This is the authority that FDA is given in the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Anything that is grown, processed or sold within a state is subject to regulation by the state, not the FDA. The FDA only regulates fruits, vegetables and other processed foods. It does not cover foods regulated by the USDA (beef, pork, poultry, lamb, catfish, eggs.)

I'm glad that there has been a lot of interest in these bills. We're on the same side on this issue. I used to work on a small farm in Ohio, and Food & Water Watch is a member of OEFFA. Our mission is to fight the corporate control of the food system, which includes constantly battling the big guys like Monsanto, Cargill, Tyson, ADM, JBS, etc. etc., that have a stranglehold on the food system, and are able to push through regulations that benefit their bottom lines and hurt the small to mid-sized farmers. This bill will only affect farmers that are selling across State lines. This bill will have far more impact on reigning in large corporations that have gone unchecked and uninspected under the current FDA than on most small and organic farms.

Hope this helps.
Thanks,
Sarah Alexander

[new500]

This is very sad. this is just one more thing. next they will tell us what to grow and how much. Sad. :(
Please write you congress person.

[alittletouched]

I'm sorry everyone that I double-linked to the same deal. The real bill status page is here: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-875

I can't imagine this will get past Obama, considering their position on growing your own food and community gardens, etc. This bill would encroach of the safety of that freedom.