Just like nearly EVERY THING Government does.
Hey folks,
Food Safety? Sounds good. We all want safe food. Right? So what could POSSIBLY be wrong with NEW Food Safety Legislation? It will cut out the little guys, allowing the Big Government Paying Mega Food Corps to prosper.
This is an interesting Article. Great Magazine as well. It's from Natural Awakenings, by Aimee Witteman who is the Executive Director of the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition. Find out more about them HERE sustainableagriculture.net
Legislation Watch
Aimee Witteman
NEW FOOD SAFETY LEGISLATION
COULD HELP OR HARM LOCAL AND ORGANIC SUPPLIERS
Congress has at last begun considering reforming the nation’s food safety laws. But family farm and local food advocates oppose parts of the current proposed legislation, especially its one-size-fits-all approach.
They argue that the Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009 (H.R. 2749), passed by the House of Representatives in July, could impact Americans’ access to natural and organic foods.
In some area's, Natural and Organic Foods are already priced WAY higher than the standard. But in most cases, it is WELL WORTH the extra price.
The House bill, critics say, puts unreasonable burdens on small family farms, jeopardizes local food system initiatives and fails to focus on the riskiest sectors of the food system.
The Senate will be discussing its own version of the food safety bill this fall, the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009 (S. 510). There will be an opportunity to make further changes when these bills move on to a conference committee this fall.
Pros and Cons
E. coli in bagged, ready-to-eat spinach in 2006 and Salmonella linked to chili peppers in 2008 are among the recent, highly publicized outbreaks of illness that have prompted Congress to take a more thorough look at the safety of fresh produce. Until now, fresh produce Safety regulations have focused on afterharvest processing and handling steps, because of their comparative risk. The new proposals would impose mandatory standards that extend all the way back to the farm.
Provisions would also increase the authority of the Food and Drug Administration to regulate the production, processing and importation of fresh produce.
Adding extra fees of course.
While family farm and local food advocates agree that many of the steps are necessary and overdue, they also say the devil rests in the details.
It ALWAYS does. Especially with THIS Administration.
“We welcome stronger food safety regulations and were glad to see the final House bill provide the FDA mandatory recall authority when particular foods and food products are identified as causing health problems,” says Russell Libby, executive director for the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association. “But there are some nuances that the bill gets wrong.
For instance, it imposes a flat $500 annual fee for all farms that process their product and sell to wholesale and retail markets.” Thus, small-farm operations would pay the same fee per facility as large multinational corporations.
Told ya.
Many small producers also perform value-added processing to Increase farm income and to meet consumer demand—such as turning fruit into jam or maple sap into syrup, Libby explains. “We are concerned that a flat, rather than graduated, fee will create a disincentive for farmers to pursue value-added processing.” Small-farm advocates object to this registration fee for facilities, which is not in the Senate bill.
Another concern is that neither the House nor Senate bill instructs the FDA to coordinate with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s current National Organic Program, which already requires food safety measures for certified organic producers. Others point out that there is not enough distinction drawn between the food chain activities that are most risky.
You see folks, I like Organic and Natural Foods. I love free range Chickens and Beef. I have never understood WHY some feel that we can not put into our bodies, what God and Nature have put here for us to use, yet it's OK to pump Man-Made Chemicals into our bodies without thought of the Long Term Consequences.
Natural, Organic, Kosher, and the like DO have to meet higher Standards than those of the big Mega Food Service Industries. All these "Health Scares" came from Big Food. Not from local family type Farmers. Their standards need to be weighed in with all this.
Keeping Food Safety in Perspective
Some argue that, in the midst of the debate over details, we should not forget critical threats to the health and safety of our food system that is at the heart of the problem—the industrialized, global food system. “I’m concerned that the food safety debate is being limited by the parameters of the proposed legislation,” remarks Jim Goodman, a dairy farmer and a food and society policy fellow with the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy.
For example, says Goodman, “The number one source of E. coli is grain-fed cattle. If we want to prevent spinach from being contaminated by E. coli, we need to increase regulations to stop the factory-like conditions in which livestock are raised. We need to increase incentives for farmers to move their livestock onto grass, not simply put the onus on produce growers to keep manure from neighbors’ farms out of their fields.”
Which is also true. Free Range is FAR better and more humane than some of the conditions I have seen over the years. The animals are happier and FAR more healthy. So they produce far better product.
The point to this whole article is that there are some Farmers and Producers that are already doing the right thing. But these new "standards," and of course, COSTS will be evenly spread throughout the entire industry, including those already doing FAR more to produce a better, healthier, and safer Product. However, the shear size of some of these smaller Farmers will NOT allow them to continue without the local food system initiatives. It will not only take away money, it will THEN charge them MORE money to do what they are already doing, instead of going after those that TRULY need the regulations. That's like saying to the straight A student, you must stay after school because some in the class got a F. What sense does THAT make? But then again, we ARE talking about Government.
Peter
Sources:
Blue Toad - NEW FOOD SAFETY LEGISLATION
Natural Awakenings Magazine - Online
Hey folks,
Food Safety? Sounds good. We all want safe food. Right? So what could POSSIBLY be wrong with NEW Food Safety Legislation? It will cut out the little guys, allowing the Big Government Paying Mega Food Corps to prosper.This is an interesting Article. Great Magazine as well. It's from Natural Awakenings, by Aimee Witteman who is the Executive Director of the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition. Find out more about them HERE sustainableagriculture.net
Legislation Watch
Aimee Witteman
NEW FOOD SAFETY LEGISLATION
COULD HELP OR HARM LOCAL AND ORGANIC SUPPLIERS
Congress has at last begun considering reforming the nation’s food safety laws. But family farm and local food advocates oppose parts of the current proposed legislation, especially its one-size-fits-all approach.
They argue that the Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009 (H.R. 2749), passed by the House of Representatives in July, could impact Americans’ access to natural and organic foods.
In some area's, Natural and Organic Foods are already priced WAY higher than the standard. But in most cases, it is WELL WORTH the extra price.
The House bill, critics say, puts unreasonable burdens on small family farms, jeopardizes local food system initiatives and fails to focus on the riskiest sectors of the food system.
The Senate will be discussing its own version of the food safety bill this fall, the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009 (S. 510). There will be an opportunity to make further changes when these bills move on to a conference committee this fall.
Pros and Cons
E. coli in bagged, ready-to-eat spinach in 2006 and Salmonella linked to chili peppers in 2008 are among the recent, highly publicized outbreaks of illness that have prompted Congress to take a more thorough look at the safety of fresh produce. Until now, fresh produce Safety regulations have focused on afterharvest processing and handling steps, because of their comparative risk. The new proposals would impose mandatory standards that extend all the way back to the farm.
Provisions would also increase the authority of the Food and Drug Administration to regulate the production, processing and importation of fresh produce.
Adding extra fees of course.
While family farm and local food advocates agree that many of the steps are necessary and overdue, they also say the devil rests in the details.
It ALWAYS does. Especially with THIS Administration.
“We welcome stronger food safety regulations and were glad to see the final House bill provide the FDA mandatory recall authority when particular foods and food products are identified as causing health problems,” says Russell Libby, executive director for the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association. “But there are some nuances that the bill gets wrong.
For instance, it imposes a flat $500 annual fee for all farms that process their product and sell to wholesale and retail markets.” Thus, small-farm operations would pay the same fee per facility as large multinational corporations.
Told ya.
Many small producers also perform value-added processing to Increase farm income and to meet consumer demand—such as turning fruit into jam or maple sap into syrup, Libby explains. “We are concerned that a flat, rather than graduated, fee will create a disincentive for farmers to pursue value-added processing.” Small-farm advocates object to this registration fee for facilities, which is not in the Senate bill.
Another concern is that neither the House nor Senate bill instructs the FDA to coordinate with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s current National Organic Program, which already requires food safety measures for certified organic producers. Others point out that there is not enough distinction drawn between the food chain activities that are most risky.
You see folks, I like Organic and Natural Foods. I love free range Chickens and Beef. I have never understood WHY some feel that we can not put into our bodies, what God and Nature have put here for us to use, yet it's OK to pump Man-Made Chemicals into our bodies without thought of the Long Term Consequences.
Natural, Organic, Kosher, and the like DO have to meet higher Standards than those of the big Mega Food Service Industries. All these "Health Scares" came from Big Food. Not from local family type Farmers. Their standards need to be weighed in with all this.
Keeping Food Safety in Perspective
Some argue that, in the midst of the debate over details, we should not forget critical threats to the health and safety of our food system that is at the heart of the problem—the industrialized, global food system. “I’m concerned that the food safety debate is being limited by the parameters of the proposed legislation,” remarks Jim Goodman, a dairy farmer and a food and society policy fellow with the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy.
For example, says Goodman, “The number one source of E. coli is grain-fed cattle. If we want to prevent spinach from being contaminated by E. coli, we need to increase regulations to stop the factory-like conditions in which livestock are raised. We need to increase incentives for farmers to move their livestock onto grass, not simply put the onus on produce growers to keep manure from neighbors’ farms out of their fields.”
Which is also true. Free Range is FAR better and more humane than some of the conditions I have seen over the years. The animals are happier and FAR more healthy. So they produce far better product.
The point to this whole article is that there are some Farmers and Producers that are already doing the right thing. But these new "standards," and of course, COSTS will be evenly spread throughout the entire industry, including those already doing FAR more to produce a better, healthier, and safer Product. However, the shear size of some of these smaller Farmers will NOT allow them to continue without the local food system initiatives. It will not only take away money, it will THEN charge them MORE money to do what they are already doing, instead of going after those that TRULY need the regulations. That's like saying to the straight A student, you must stay after school because some in the class got a F. What sense does THAT make? But then again, we ARE talking about Government.
Peter
Sources:
Blue Toad - NEW FOOD SAFETY LEGISLATION
Natural Awakenings Magazine - Online
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