"family-scale farmers" and Food Safety Modernization Act (S. 510)

[kmar]

http://www.grist.org/article/fod-2010-11-18-Tester-amendment-protects-local-food

Great Information on S 510 Food Modernization Act
Tester amendment protecting local food production now attached to food-safety bill
Updated 11:10 am

It's nail-biting time for locavores and small farmers -- or "family-scale farmers," as the new terms seems to be. The Senate is in recess before voting on the Food Safety Modernization Act (S. 510) in just a few hours, and it is still up in the air whether the Tester-Hagan amendment, which would adjust how the FDA treats certain small farms and processors, will be included in the Manager's amendment package or will face a vote on its own. This just in: The amendment will be included in the Manager's amendment, the package of amendments agreed to by both sides in advance. This is great news.

Last night, consumer groups crossed the aisle to join forces with the sustainable agriculture camp, agreeing to some compromises in the language of the Tester amendment (PDF of the revisions here).

• The FDA gains the authority to withdraw its exemption from a farm or facility that has been associated with a food-borne illness outbreak
• The radius a facility or farm can sell direct within and still be eligible to be a "qualified end-user" has been reduced from 400 miles to 275 miles
• Language has been added clarifying that farmers market sales are "direct-to-consumer" for FDA's purposes

The 30 industry groups such as the United Fresh Produce Association and the American Meat Institute that wrote a letter opposing the amendment were not part of the compromise, so it's by no means a slam-dunk. Even if S. 510 passes today with the amendment intact, it will still have to be reconciled with the House version. And with the Republicans now controlling the House, the industry opposition may carry more weight.
“We are encouraging Senators to ignore Big Ag’s bluster and to get on with the important business at hand -- passing the amendment and the bill to improve food safety,” said Ferd Hoefner, policy director of the Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, in a statement.
In Grist's Food Fight discussion of S. 510, Jean Halloran, director of food policy initiatives at Consumer Union (publisher of Consumer Reports), had singled out the 400-mile radius as being of great concern:

With a 400-mile exemption, facilities in Mexico claiming to be doing under $500,000 a year in business (and who will check up on that?) and who have a certificate saying they are in compliance with applicable Mexican law (will this be hard to get?), could ship to the entire Los Angeles area.

At the same time, facilities from Maine to Ohio to North Carolina could ship and sell to New York City. USDA may believe that 400 miles is local, but no East Coast consumer I know would agree. A smaller mileage number could, however, actually allow the kind of personal relationship at a farmers market, grocery store or restaurant, that might be some insurance against getting food from a farm or processor who is willing to cut corners or might be careless.

The 400-mile distance comes from the 2008 Farm Bill, which defines local-food enterprises as selling within that radius.
The National Sustainable Agrioculture Coalition "would have preferred consistency between USDA and FDA definitions, but was willing to compromise for the sake of helping to move the bill forward," said Hoefner.
The compromise language comes as a disappointment to some Western and Midwestern farming groups. "In the low-population states of the Midwest and Great Plains, it's not unreasonable to think direct marketed food could move more than 275 miles. It's 400 miles just across Nebraska.," Brian Depew, Assistant Director of the Nebraska-based Center for Rural Affairs. "The online farmer-to-consumer food coops in the Midwest, like Nebraska Food could easily move food more than 275 miles, though it is all within the state and is a promising direct marketing model for producers not located near urban areas."

Both the amendment's sponsors, Sens. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Kay Hagan (D-N.C.), gave short but strong speeches this morning before the Senate in support of the amendment.

Tester focused on the importance of protecting the growing local-foods movement. "We deal with consolidation in our energy sector ... in our banking sector, and we have consolidation in our food industry, too. The fact is that we need to not encourage that consolidation," Tester said.

"If we can get more locally grown food, and get producers to connect up with consumers eyeball to eyeball, that's a positive thing. And I don't want to diminish their ability to do this.

My amendment really protects the ability for farmers markets to flourish and provide food for people locally, without shipping it halfway around the world and back again."

Here's his Senate speech:

[kmar]

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Hagan focused on the precarious economic position of most small farms and processors, and noted that it was important that the FDA not unduly burden them with the same paperwork as a large manufacturer that would "takes them out of the field."

Hagan was responsible for including a provision in the bill requiring the government to evaluate how to compensate farmers when a recall is determined to be erroneous.

"One false recall could put a family farm out of business," she said this morning.


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[Bustercat]

Let's assume that all goes well in Washington, and that we dont have a problem with citizens rights. Even from that standpoint this bill is not benign!It takes the arm of the gov. more in to the family home, papers them to death, and like the IRS can change anything. Their foot planted firmly in the door of home gardening, its just a hop, skip, and a jump to total control of your propertys dirt.

What does this have to do with morgellons, plenty! We need homeapathic medcines, and I am sure the Big Boys want to control that too, right? We cant afford meds now, and many are taking to producing what ever works, thats the American way. Our country has been hearty, because we are inovative. I am for, less gov. and individual enginerring has to be this century's practice. Go gardens Go.

[kmar]

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Below is most important part of Bill ------
Was worried:
"Tester ammendent"
---MAY not pass AT ALL -- but at least it does allow "some" protection for Local Farmers and all Farmer Markets so we can continue to buy Locally Grown Food as I do.

I do buy from my LOCAL farmers nearby my place of residence.

Find a local farm near you and get on-board in a
CSA
(Community Supported Agriculture):

http://www.localharvest.org/

-------------------------------

Tester focused on the importance of protecting the growing local-foods movement. "We deal with consolidation in our energy sector ... in our banking sector, and we have consolidation in our food industry, too. The fact is that we need to not encourage that consolidation," Tester said.

"If we can get more locally grown food, and get producers to connect up with consumers eyeball to eyeball, that's a positive thing. And I don't want to diminish their ability to do this.

My amendment really protects the ability for farmers markets to flourish and provide food for people locally, without shipping it halfway around the world and back again."

[kmar]

http://www.grist.org/article/2010-11-11-food-fight-food-safety-modernization-act-better-protect-us

Many more comments/opinions about "FOOD Modernization Act"........only posting one for now:

(( I tend to listen to Farmer's opinions moreso compared to anyone else!

Makes sense to me because Local Farmer's ARE going to be affected most from "vague language" in "this Food Modernization Act" ))

• jpeaceokc
• 15 NOV 2010 2:50PM

I read the bill this morning to see for myself what was going on. It is clear to me that this bill is not about food safety, it is about shutting down small local sustainable producers. This is why the grocers and other industry associations are in favor of this bill. Grocers don't like the competition of farmers markets, and conventional vegetable production doesn't like local/natural/organic small producers either. They know they can't compete on taste, so the easiest way to get rid of us it to regulate us out of existence, and if this is passed, that is exactly what will happen. The FDA has always been hostile to small producers and there's no sign of any institutional/cultural change in that organization.
I am not impressed with the so-called protections of small producers allegedly in the bill, and I am not impressed by the so-called food safety provisions. Any federal legislation about food safety that does not address the filthy and deplorable conditions in the CAFO production systems isn't a serious attempt at doing something about food safety.

Further evidence that this bill isn't serious may be found in the fact that foreign growers can ask for, and receive, a complete exemption from anything the FDA requires for vegetable growers, based on their own statements about their "local conditions".
....... how nice of our politicians to show such concerns for foreign farmers, while they are throwing American farmers to the regulatory wolves.

Bob Waldrop, founder, Oklahoma Food Cooperative, Oklahoma Food Cooperative - Local Food, Local Farmers - Farmer's Market, Natural, organic, health, sustainable, locally grown, meat, vegetables, nuts, produce, bread



.

[lamb]

John Tester is under the illusion that he is an anti_ Washington pud.
He is wrong.
Read the Algore statement re: the 51st vote cast in 1994.. Ethanol and it's use was a political motivation for him, he now admits he was wrong.

Meanwhile we are saddled with GMO's up the kazoo that are making us ill.

Vote for Democrats and you vote for your own destruction.
Vote for a Republican... you at least have a fighting chance 75% of the time.

Your choice.

[Gator]

I have been signing petition after petition and calling my Senators and Congressmen.

naturalsolutionsusa.com I think.
Washington seems to think we are all stupid.This so called food safety bill is BS so they can have more control over us and our food

Please call or write your senators and congressmen, sign petitions while we still have a slight chance of keeping it fom passing. Have you heard Obama appointed someone from Montsano Chemical to be the top dog if this bill passes?

What does that tell us?

makes me so angry
gator

[sammy]

Originally Posted by lamb

John Tester is under the illusion that he is an anti_ Washington pud.
He is wrong.
Read the Algore statement re: the 51st vote cast in 1994.. Ethanol and it's use was a political motivation for him, he now admits he was wrong.

Meanwhile we are saddled with GMO's up the kazoo that are making us ill.

Vote for Democrats and you vote for your own destruction.
Vote for a Republican... you at least have a fighting chance 75% of the time.

Your choice.

actually democrats are much better on the enviornment than republicans if you look at all the pollution controls for water air etc. so this is not a true statement sammy

[tcmgpt13]

LOL. Not a true statement? Huh? Yeah, Dems are so much better on the environment so that they can figure out a way to control your life (and you thought their motivation was environmental?) and take your money too. Or maybe you like having less and less money as the dems figure out more ways to take it from average working Joe to give to the extremely wealthy like Al Gore, oh and others like him?

Originally Posted by sammy

actually democrats are much better on the enviornment than republicans if you look at all the pollution controls for water air etc. so this is not a true statement sammy

[sammy]

is that why republicans dont want too cut taxes for wealthy. Your so wrong the bush admin was the biggest pollution contributor in all admin. I CAN SEE SUPPORTING REP IF YOUR A BILLIONARIE WAIT TILL SARAH PALLIN GET IN THERE THEN YOU WILL SEE SAMMY