Organic, small farmers fret over FDA regulation

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Carolyn Lochhead, Chronicle Washington Bureau

Tuesday, April 27, 2010


Craig Lee / The Chronicle


(04-27) 04:00 PDT Washington -- Small farmers in California who have led a national movement away from industrial agriculture face a looming crackdown on food safety that they say is geared to big corporate farms and will make it harder for them to survive.

The small growers, many of whom grow dozens of different kinds of vegetables and fruits, say the inherent benefits of their size, and their sensitivity to extra costs, are being ignored.

They are fighting to carve out a sanctuary in legislation that would bring farmers under the strict purview of the Food and Drug Administration, an agency more familiar with pharmaceuticals than food and local farms.

A bill before the Senate is riding a bipartisan groundswell created by recent outbreaks of E. coli, salmonella and other contamination in everything from fresh spinach to cookie dough.

And the small farmers face opponents in consumer groups, victims of food contamination, large growers and the Obama administration, who say no farm and no food should get a pass on safety.



Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/04/27/MNKM1D3C5H.DTL&tsp=1

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1. Senator Jon Tester added 2 amendments to help small farmers.

http://tester.senate.gov/Newsroom/pr_041410_foodsafety.cfm

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – Citing unique issues that face family food producers, Senator Jon Tester will introduce amendments to the upcoming Food Safety Modernization Act to exempt small-scale businesses from expensive federal regulations and red tape.

The Senate is expected to debate the Food Safety Modernization Act next week. The bill aims to prevent food-borne illnesses by cracking down on food processing plants, requiring better inspection, recordkeeping, and testing.

As written, however, the bill would add a new layer of regulation to even the smallest food producers. The same rules that would apply to large, corporate food companies would also apply to family food producers across Montana and rural America, which are already regulated at the state and local level.

“When you buy some vegetables or a jar of jam from your local farmers’ market, you’re buying the cleanest, freshest, healthiest food available, directly from the producer,” Tester said. “Family farms and ranches have enough hurdles to jump over just trying to make a living. They don’t need expensive, redundant regulation that could put them out of business.”

Tester today announced two amendments he plans to introduce to the Food Safety Modernization Act, to make sure the following food producers will only be subject to state and local regulation—not new expensive federal regulations designed for industrial food factories:


•Producers that add value to food through processing and whose adjusted gross income is less than $500,000 per year;
•Producers who sell their food directly to market (such as farmers’ markets).

Tester today praised the goals of the overall bill, but warned against over-regulation of small, local producers.

“Let’s face it, dangerous food-borne outbreaks don’t start with family agriculture,” Tester said. “Food produced on that scale shouldn’t be subject to the same expensive federal regulations as some big factory that mass produces food for the entire country.”

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3. Thank you for spot lighting Senator Tester. n/t

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2. Thank you for posting. Another example of the

Corporate Controlling Puppet Masters truly in charge of 1600 Pennsylvannia Avenue.

So much for the change-y hope-y thing-ee.

[Maat]

4. This ticks me off so much.

Hey, Monsanto, Cargill, and Friends - I'm going to eat as little of your pesticide-laden, genetically-modified crap as possible, no matter what I have to do. You will not force me to eat your crud!!