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 House/Senate to vote & criminalize ALL organic gardening and farming.. . March 17, 2009 8:57 AM

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Alert: House/Senate to vote; Criminalize ALL organic gardening and farming.. .
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House and Senate will vote on bill to end organic gardening.. . and make it criminal to grow organic foods.

Senate Bill 875 and Senate Bill 425.

We need to get the provisions out that affect organic farming, or get a protection for or...  more


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Current Food Safety Bills Being Discussed in Congress March 23, 2009 4:44 PM

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-759
http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h759/show

H.R. 759 (FDA overhaul), 111th Congress Food and Drug Administration Globalization Act of 2009* HR 759 overhauls the entire structure of the FDA. * It's more likely to move through congress than HR 875. * It contains provisions that could cause problems for small farms and food processors.

H.R. 814 ("NAIS on steroids"), 111th Congress Tracing and Recalling Agricultural Contamination Everywhere Act of 2009

* a mandatory animal identification system

 H.R. 875 111th Congress Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009 -To establish the Food Safety Administration within the Department of Health and Human Services.
Food & Water Watch's Statement on H.R. 875 and other food safety bills (like H.R. 759) 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 record keeping.

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

-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.

-It does not mandate any specific type of traceability for FDA-regulated foods (specifically says that record keeping 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.
 
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oppose HR 875 and S 425 March 29, 2009 1:43 PM

Things you can do

  1. Contact your members at 202-224-3121 and ask them to oppose HR 875 and S 425.   While you are at it ask them if they personally have read the legislation and what their position is? If they have not read the legislation ask them to read it and politely let them know that just because other representatives are not reading the legislation and voting on it does not mean they can do the same.
  2. Get in touch with local farmers and food producers by attending a local farmers market and asking them how business is.
  3. Attend a local WAPF meeting, this is a good start to learning about what is going on in farming and local & state initiatives .  The website is http://www.westonaprice.org/localchapters/index.html
  4. Check out the Farmers Legal Defense Fund at http://www.ftcldf.org/index.html
  5. Find out who sits on your states agriculture and farming committee and contact them with your concerns.
  6. Continue to contact your elected officials and let them know your position on legislation and why.
  7. Get active at the local and state levels, this is the quickest way to initiate change.

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Stop HR 875, The Food Fascism Act - STOP MONSANTO NOW! April 17, 2009 4:13 AM

From:


Alba N.

Date: Thursday, April 16, 2009, 7:11 AM Subject: re: Stop HR 875, The Food Fascism Act - STOP MONSANTO NOW!

And I forgot to mention all the hype we've been getting about Michelle Obama's organic garden ! Isn't that sweet ??

 

Look how they're trying to distract us from this 'real deal' total destruction flying under the radar!

Original Message:
-----------------

Please: Read, Watch, Note, Sign & Forward

Spread the word - This is urgent and essential!

HR 875 Is Not About Food safety, It's About the calculated  Genocide of Agricultural Biodiversity

 
Stop HR 875, The Food Fascism Act - STOP MONSANTO NOW!

 


Rebecca

One of the most potentially dangerous bills we've ever heard of is trying to sneak its way through Congress right now, in the sheep's clothing of so-called "modernization" of food safety. HR 875 is a grab by Monsanto to monopolize our food supply. STOP IT

http://www.care2.com/news/member/682651244/1109713

 
This is Linn Cohen-Cole speaking out against HR 875 (audio clip is 11:26 long ) GET INFORMED:  http://www.gnhealth.com/calltoaction.html - A solemn walk through HR 875 By Sue Diederich and Linn Cohen-Cole

 

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 April 17, 2009 4:13 AM

From PeaceTeam ACTION PAGE (which Rebecca posted) :

 

One of the most potentially dangerous bills we've ever heard of is trying to sneak its way through Congress right now, in the sheep's clothing of so-called "modernization" of food safety. HR 875 (text of bill) is a bill put up by Monsanto and other monolithic corporations trying to seize totalitarian control over all agriculture. It was introduced by Rosa DeLauro, and is ultimately about one thing, defining ONLY their own GMO (Genetically Mutated Organism) products as "safe".

What makes the bill so dangerous is that it is heavy on penalties including prison time, while at the same time being incredibly vague about what would actually trigger those sanctions. HR 875 is nothing but a Trojan horse, with an invading army to be designated later, in the form of a bureaucratic administrator (most likely a corporate lobbyist shill) with the LAW MAKING POWER to make up their own definitions so that all competitors are either driven into bankruptcy or locked up. There are problems with food safety we can talk about, but HR 875 is not going to make us safer, any more than invading Iraq made us safer. It MUST be stopped.

For more information, watch this YouTube video by Shelly Roche on HR 875

The one click form will send your personal message to all your government representatives selected below, with the subject "Stop HR 875, The Food Fascism Act." At the same time you can send your personal comments only as a letter to the editor of your nearest local daily newspaper if you like.


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Don't worry- too much April 18, 2009 2:48 AM

Let's not get to worried here.  I do agree that we should be passing this info out to as many people as we can.  On the other hand it won't pass partly because of agribusiness.  The enemy becomes the friend!  California is a huge organic agribusiness state and I'm sure they are not going to let their businesses just fall by the wayside.  They have some powerful lobbyists of their own.

  Of course we all know the solution is to ban any type of gardening other than organic!  Duh!

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 May 27, 2009 4:19 PM

It is crazy that these are the things we need to worry about in this country.  It just blows my mind.  Other countries don't seem to have to worry about eating their food.  My Mom went on a trip to Greece a couple years ago and she could eat their food without feeling like crap.  It wasn't labeled organic- it just was.  They actually care about what they are putting in their mouths and their pets mouths.  How did our country get so far out of wack?  I simply can't blame other countries for not liking us and thinking that we are stupid.  We sure haven't proved otherwise!

  Keep up the good work Vibe on bringing these issues to us.  You are the best. Aimee

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