Urgent—Call your Senator Today!! THIS CAN NOT WAIT!

[libertygrl]

Someone sent me this and I thought I should share:

Next week, as early as Tuesday, April 13, the U.S. Senate is expected to vote on a sweeping overhaul of federal food safety law – S. 510. The House food safety bill passed last year (HR 2749) included several measures that threaten small-scale organic producers, including a registration fee of $500 and blanket application of complicated monitoring and traceability standards -- regardless of one's farm size.

There's no doubt that industrial agriculture needs better oversight. But, family-scale local and organic farms are probably the safest in the nation -- they are part of the solution, not part of the problem -- and need to be protected!

Now is your chance, as a supporter of sustainable family farming, to help fix these problems! Senator Tester (D-MT), a certified organic farmer himself, is proposing an amendment to S. 510 that would exempt small-scale farmers and food processors from the most burdensome regulations.

We need your help TODAY, please call your U.S. Senators in support of these proposals.
To reach your state's Senators,

1. Search his/her phone number online: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_c...

2. Or call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121.
Sample Talking Points:

Specific talking points you can share with your Senators from Tester's proposed amendment to S. 510 include:

1) With respect to the hazard analysis and risk-based preventive controls, add the following new section to Section 103:

(l) EXEMPTION FOR CERTAIN FACILITIES – This section shall not apply to a facility for a year if the average annual adjusted gross income of such facility for the previous three-year period was less than $500,000.

2) With respect to traceability, add the following new section to Section 204:

(f) EXEMPTION FOR CERTAIN FACILITIES – The traceback and recordkeeping requirements under this section shall not apply to a facility for a year if the adjusted gross income of such facility for the previous year was less than $500,000.

With respect to the produce standards, add the following new section to Section 105:

(g) EXCEPTION FOR DIRECT MARKET FARMS – This section shall not apply to farms whose annual value of sales of food products directly to consumers, hotels, restaurants, or institutions exceeds the annual value of sales of food products to all other buyers.

Thanks for your support of organic, local and sustainable farmers!

http://www.organicconsumers.org/

[Pepsi]

bump

[Anti Federalist]

I'm as worked up as anybody else, but just can't muster the effort to be ignored by my slut senators one more time.

If it increases the scope and power of the government, they'll vote for it, even if the phones exploded with people calling in against it, what ever it happens to be.

[BuddyRey]

Bump!

[BuddyRey]

Anyone have an update on this?

[Pepsi]

Senate Poised to Pass Fake “Food Safety” Bill – Harkin says DSHEA still governs

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/568/t/1128/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=26714

[A. Havnes]

What will it take to let these people know that enough is enough? I can stand outside with my sign and a megaphone or bombard my senator with relentless phone calls, but nothing helps! This is a problem all Americans are facing, but what is it going to take?

If anyone has any good ideas, let me know so I can implement them. Seems that we're much better at promoting bills (Audit the Fed) than we are at stopping them dead in their tracks.

[Anti Federalist]

What will it take to let these people know that enough is enough? I can stand outside with my sign and a megaphone or bombard my senator with relentless phone calls, but nothing helps! This is a problem all Americans are facing, but what is it going to take?

If anyone has any good ideas, let me know so I can implement them. Seems that we're much better at promoting bills (Audit the Fed) than we are at stopping them dead in their tracks.

HR 1207 is stopped in it's tracks.

Bills that increase the power and scope of government get the greenlight fast track treatment.

You'd do no better than King Canute giving orders to the tide as trying to stop some of these things.

Solutions...nah, ain't gonna go there.

Sorry if I'm throwing a wet blanket here, but it's just the facts.

[Pepsi]

From Farming to Serfdom

After thoroughly analyzing the text of H.R. 2749, the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund reports that small farms and local producers and small business would be forced to endure “a one-size-fits-all regulatory scheme” that would “disproportionately impact their operations for the worse.” The bill contains frightening and costly requirements, with severe penalties for individuals who are found non-compliant by the FDA.

Section 101 (b)(1)-p-3 requires food “facilities” to register annually and pay an annual fee of $500, with said amount to be adjusted for inflation at any time. While claiming that food facilities do not include farms, the FDA's current vague definition of a “farm” could open the door for the federal agency to designate many farms as food facilities at any time:

A facility in one general physical location devoted to the growing and harvesting of crops, the raising of animals (including seafood), or both. Washing, trimming of outer leaves of, and cooling produce are considered part of harvesting. The term “farm” includes:

(i) Facilities that pack or hold food, provided that all food used in such activities is grown, raised, or consumed on that farm or another farm under the same ownership; and

Facilities that manufacture/process food, provided that all food used in such activities is consumed on that farm or another farm under the same ownership. [21 CFR § 1.227(3)]


By this definition, one owns a farm if one consumes everything one produces, but if one sells any produce, one may no longer be considered a farm. And, a facility is any place that holds food; my kitchen pantry holds food, and so does my local grocery store and I’ve seen them wash and trim vegetables there, so if one were to adhere strictly to the terms above, a grocery store could be under the control of the FDA.

A “facility” according to the FDA is also applied to any place that holds, processes, or manufactures food, including lacto-fermented vegetables, cheeses, and breads. And manufacturing and processing is defined by the FDA to include any activity that uses, cutting, peeling, trimming, washing, waxing, eviscerating, rendering, cooking, baking, freezing, cooling, pasteurizing, homogenizing, mixing, formulating, bottling, milling, grinding, extracting juice, distilling, labeling, or packaging.” [21 CFR § 1.227(6)]

That covers just about anything one could do to a product intended for consumption, and if shared, sold, or purchased, one would fall under the FDA’s regulations, which then would spill over into other areas on the farm or in the business.

Under H.R. 2749 the FDA would require any such producer or holder of such products to develop a food safety plan to be submitted to the FDA for scrutiny. If the small business or farm can devote the time and resources to such a bureaucratic requirement, and if granted approval by the FDA, they then can be subject to “risk-based inspections” at any time for any reason or no reason, which in laymen’s terms are better labeled warrantless searches.

And if that isn’t enough to discourage the small farmer or entrepreneur, the required record keeping would be massive. All foods would have to be traced at all times, and animals would have to be tracked as well, by the farmer or businessman, and God help those who don’t get it right. The penalties could land individuals up to 10 years in prison and fines of up to $100,000 for each violation for bad recordkeeping to misbranding, to food spoilage or contamination.

The FDA will make the determination to detain food, but the Secretary of Health and Human Services can issue geographic quarantines to be enforced by the FDA if there is “credible evidence or information” that indicates any food presents a threat of “adverse health consequences or death to human or animals,” [21 USC 334(h)(1)(A)] OR if there is even a “reason to believe that the article [of food] is adulterated, misbranded or otherwise is in violation of this act,” [section 132(a)–p. 82].

The nail in the coffin for any independent producer would be provisions in H.R. 2749 empowering the FDA to dictate farming practices. In fact, organic- and sustainable-farming practices could be eliminated outright under a scheme to regularize farming practices under the heading of safety standards. Raw meat may be subject to irradiation, and no one would be allowed to drink raw milk. Manure handling, sanitation, animal controls, and temperature controls would be under the FDA’s discretionary power. For details, check section 104 of the text of the bill.

Food safety is best achieved at the local level; small farmers and local food processors are part of the solution to food safety, not the problem. Yet, this onerous Orwellian-style bill grants more and more power to an opaque and unaccountable agency, hyper-regulating small producers out of business or turning them into serfs for the state, and leaving the industrial food system and food imports completely alone to commandeer the marketplace.

It would seem then, that a centralized food system under the complete control of the government is the goal of this bill and others like it.

http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/usnews/congress/1255

[KCIndy]

Solutions...nah, ain't gonna go there.





Me neither...








...not yet....

[tpreitzel]

I just called "my" two monkeys and told them to basically support Tester's amendments since the bill will be passed regardless of our objections. One of guys noticed the cynicism in my voice when I said the bill will be "passed" even if intimidation, bribery, blackmail, or an executive order is needed to do so.

[Pepsi]

I made 8 phone calls, they knew it was me agian calling about it on the 5'th call.

[Noob]

The FDA Food Modernization Act (S. 510), also referred to as the “Food Safety” bill, has been modified to exempt dietary supplements from language that otherwise creates a slippery slope toward U.S. harmonization with Codex Alimentarius. ANH-USA worked to protect the natural health community from this dangerous provision that threatened access to high quality, therapeutic supplement doses by working with key senators to modify the language, now for the second time.

The most worrisome provision of the bill initially required the Food and Drug Agency (FDA) to recommend that U.S. foreign trading partners harmonize with Codex. This odd language was no doubt very intentional. How could we recommend harmonization to other countries if we rejected it for the U.S.? So in effect we were committing ourselves to a much more restrictive regulatory regime for supplements.

As the Senate moved forward with the Food Safety bill, Senator Harkin (D-IA), committee chair, working closely with Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT), promised to see what could be done to make absolutely clear this legislation was not intended to impact our access to dietary supplements. At that time, Senator Harkin modified the Codex provision, asking the FDA to consider “whether and how” to recommend U.S. foreign trading partners harmonize. This was a very important change and a tremendous show of support from both Senators, but we were still concerned that the inclusion of Codex language in the bill could be used to support future U.S. harmonization with Codex standards on dietary supplements.

ANH-USA worked with our allies in the Senate over the past several months to include additional language providing stronger protection for supplements. New language has now been added specifically stating, “Nothing in this section shall be construed to affect the regulation of dietary supplements.”

The Codex Alimentarius was initially developed to establish international food safety standards and regulate ingredients of food products. However, there is great concern that if the U.S. harmonizes with Codex standards, which are expected to follow Europe’s increasing ban on supplements, our access to supplements will be lost and even our food standards may be compromised. Although ANH-USA considers the new exemption a huge victory, it only applies to dietary supplements. The U.S. is still at risk of harmonization with other Codex food standards.

ANH-USA is especially grateful to Senators Harkin and Hatch for their leadership, continued dedication to the natural health community, and most recently, their show of support protecting our supplements from Codex harmonization. The Senate is expected to take up the Food Safety bill any day now. As the legislative process moves forward we will keep our members up to date on our efforts and where appropriate, we’ll ask for your help to protect supplements from increased government intrusion. The House version of the Food Safety bill, already passed, is especially worrisome. We will continue to make every effort, with your help, to ensure that the House version does not become law.

http://www.anh-usa.org/anh-usa-victory-supplements-are-exempted-from-codex-language-in-food-safety-bill/