Could the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009 be the End to Farmers’ Markets and Organic Farms?
As spring is in the air (when the north wind does not blow), I have begun longing for the good times my children and I have at the local farmers’ market and contemplating our participation as vendors this year. I can’t tell you how much we look forward to our weekly adventures at the farmers’ market, and how excited we are if we happen to visit a neighboring town on the day of their market; however, that could all change.
H.R. 875: Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009 could end farmers’ markets as we know it by requiring growers to register, be subject to inspections of their gardens by federal agents, and maintain safety records related to food production or face large fines.
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The Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009 reminds of the Consumer Product Safety Information Act (CPSIA) in the sense that is responding to recalls (salmonella in peanut butter/lead in toys) that needs addressing; however, the people responsible for providing consumers with safe products are inadvertently targeted. I feel much safer knowing the people and gardens my food comes from rather than some multinational food corporation providing produce in the supermarket.
Under H.R. 875, all participants in farmers’ markets will be forced to register, otherwise the market will be shut down as an illegal operation. Failure to comply with the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009 would result in a fine of up to $1,000,000 per violation. Specifically, the law would apply to any food establishment, including farmers’ markets, defined as:
(A) IN GENERAL- The term ‘food establishment’ means a slaughterhouse (except those regulated under the Federal Meat Inspection Act or the Poultry Products Inspection Act), factory, warehouse, or facility owned or operated by a person located in any State that processes food or a facility that holds, stores, or transports food or food ingredients.
Just like small family handmade toy companies can’t afford the requirements under CPSIA, the extra requirements and inspections required of small family farms under the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009 would be a burden. I believe this bill is well intentioned; however, some critics have gone so far as to say the bill criminalizes organic farming. Ironically, or not so ironically, the bill was introduced by Rosa DeLauro whose husband Stanley Greenburg works for Monsanto. OpEdNews explains why this is Monsanto’s dream bill:
The bill is monstrous on level after level - the power it would give to Monsanto, the criminalization of seed banking, the prison terms and confiscatory fines for farmers, the 24 hours GPS tracking of their animals, the easements on their property to allow for warrantless government entry, the stripping away of their property rights, the imposition by the filthy, greedy industrial side of anti-farming international “industrial” standards to independent farms - the only part of our food system that still works, the planned elimination of farmers through all these means.
The full text of the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009 reveals its well intentions, like protecting us from food grown abroad, and its favoritism towards agribusiness. While Ron Paul is trying to give consumers choice by legalizing interstate raw milk sales, other members of Congress are trying to outlaw small organic farms. We need to stand up for our local family farms!
I’m a huge Ron Paul supporter and these things have made me love him more, and I didn’t think I could lol. Who knew a Republican would be the one fighting these things!
I’m so pissed!!!!!! We have to ban together and fight this. Obama eats organic food, he can’t like this! But then again he did put someone from Monsanto as Sec. of Ag so I wonder sometimes.
Lisa, I know. I love Obama too, or maybe I love the idea of who I think Obama is. Agribusiness does need some serious oversight, but we should leave the small local organic farmers alone. I trust them!
In Los Angeles the Farmers Market vendors are required to register with the county already. The county verifies that the farmers are actually growing what they are selling. It would make more sense to for the federal government to just accept the counties registrations instead of wasting more of the farmers time.
I’m all about state rights. I didn’t vote for Obama but I didn’t vote for McCain either lol. And I wanted Obama to win out of those too. I’m just upset with his Ag. pick.
Ladies, please take a moment to read thru the proposed bill….unfortunately the Ron Paul political camp is putting their own spin on this and is only feeding the public bits and pieces.
If you don’t want to bother reading the whole thing, at least read Section 3, #13 A & B, and #14. This is where they clearly state who’s affected by this and who’s not. Too many are skimming thru the bill after getting wound up by the political blogs and are reading the word “Processor” as the word ” Producer/Grower” - not the same thing. And #13 & #14 clearly say so.
I’m a fan of Ron Paul’s politics, but not his tactics.
I’m a Fresh Organic Produce grower/wholesaler who markets to my local retailers and institutions. This bill won’t affect me at all as it is written at this time, but it will require my customers to keep a better paper trail as to what and where it came from that they sell/feed to the end consumer.
A couple of links you might want to take a moment at ;http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/F?c111:1:./temp/~c111HtXLCR:e5014:
http://www.localharvest.org/forum/thread.jsp?thread=1734&forum=16
Us “producer/growers” aren’t all that concerned about this as from what I’m reading in the forums and blogs, but the political Chicken Little’s of the world have all got their feathers ruffled because they thought they saw Big Brother’s shadow pass by.
You’ll have a hard time finding a tomato grower-for-profit in Florida opposing this bill, had it been in place last year they wouldn’t have had to compost an entire crop because of a pepper imported from Mexico.
So far everything I’ve investigated about the negative side of this bill has originated from the Ron Paul Political web site….and they are only telling enough to stir people up. When confronted with the details their only response is “..well, it could…”. Yeah, right - if I stand on my head and don’t wear my glasses when I read it.
I think there should definitely be some sort of registration to protect the consumer and the genuine organic farmers. The cost of this should be minimilised totally though.
I visited a farmers market the other week and I really was not sure if some of the produce was organic. I thought that’s what farmers markets were about. But sometimes it seems they are simply to support the local farmer,chemicals or not!
It’s absolutely ridiculous the amount that business pay to prove their credentials.I appreciate costs are incurred in the checking and monitoring systems but sometimes it’s just a joke!
[...] Could the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009 be the End to Farmers’ Markets and Organic Farms? … If the govt outlaws gardens, only outlaws will have gardens. [...]
Clifton, you must not be reading well or thinking this through. Here are a few relevant sections directly from the bill:
(2) review food safety records as required to be kept by the Administrator under section 210 and for other food safety purposes;
(3) set good practice standards to protect the public and animal health and promote food safety;
(4) conduct monitoring and surveillance of animals, plants, products, or the environment, as appropriate; and
(5) collect and maintain information relevant to public health and farm practices.
(b) Inspection of Records- A food production facility shall permit the Administrator upon presentation of appropriate credentials and at reasonable times and in a reasonable manner, to have access to and ability to copy all records maintained by or on behalf of such food production establishment in any format (including paper or electronic) and at any location, that are necessary to assist the Administrator
and a bit lower down:
…include, with respect to growing, harvesting, sorting, and storage operations, minimum standards related to fertilizer use, nutrients, hygiene, packaging, temperature controls, animal encroachment, and water;
This clearly applies to farmers and everyone in-between. I am not a fanatic, and I eat both organic and “factory-farm” produced goods, but the idea of the heartless corporations like Monsanto gaining control through corrupted government proxies is chilling.
Let me ask here - are organic farms responsible for a lot of illnesses out there? How about all the hormones, pesticides, and antibiotics in mass-produced meat. I eat the latter myself, but have been trying more and more, when I do eat meat (which is less and less), to get organically-grown (i.e. no hormones, no pesticides, no antibiotics, grass fed for cows) meat.
Monsanto’s bullying of farmers who accidentally get some of their genetic material into neighboring farms is a sign of how that company treats its neighbors, and the public.
While it’s true I’m right in the middle of a nasty bout with the flu and as David say’s might not be reading right or thinking this thru, let’s take a look at his “cut and pastes”….
For the benifit of those following along, he’s quoting from Section #206 FOOD PRODUCTION FACILITIES.
Basicly in a nutshell there is nothing new there that isn’t already being done by one agency or another already at this time.
We gotta keep in mind the line of thought behind this bill isn’t to make up new laws, it’s the consolidation of all the diff. agencies already in place to streamline the process and enforcement of those already in-place relative to the mainstream food supply and distribution in this country.
As to the safety of organics; don’t fool yourself, NOT PROPERLY HANDLED, both pre-harvest and post-harvest, organics can be some of the most deadly stuff you can put in your mouth. E-coli and salamanila aren’t caused by chemical-based farming practices.Those are organic organisms. When you think about the dangers of either of these farming practices, generally the chemical is a long-term accumlitive affect, where the organic danger’s negative affects tend to appear quickly after consumption. Same outcome in the end - you’re sick.
As for Monsanto and the like contaminating my farm, I worry about wind-drift from my neighbors just as I worry about a fungus or a drought…it’s part of the risk of farming. No diff. than a neighbor coming onto the property with fresh manure on his boots. Crap happens. I gotta deal with it and minimize it’s impact.
As an organic producer, I applaude your efforts to search out those products. Thank you.
In fairness, here’s another press release you might like to read.
http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/03/12/will-proposed-national-legislation-kill-the-farmers-market/
Yes Karen, it’s true…..by the very definition, farmer’s markets are suppose to be about the farmers. It’s the consumer’s responsibility to decide which farming practices they source their food from.