Bill could affect gardens, farmers markets, CSAs, and more

"Control oil and you control nations; control food and you control the people." -Henry Kissinger, 1970

If you:

• have a garden (backyard, homestead, or full-blown farmer)
• participate in a CSA
• buy or sell vegetables at a Farmer's Market, roadside stand or Amish/Mennonite community
• buy or sell milk or cheese (especially raw milk products) from a local farm
• buy/sell/grow organic meats, vegetables, or dairy products
  

... then you need to know that there's some legislation that's rapidly progressing through Congress that could affect you.

The bills are HR 875 and S 425: the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009 and the Food Safety and Tracking Improvement Act, respectively.

I won't go into a book, chapter and verse explanation of the bills - I encourage you to read them for yourself. I will, however, give you a brief overview, with commentary.

These bills would basically transfer all state control over food regulation to a new agency - the Food Safety Administration, under the the Department of Health and Human Services. (In blatant disregard for the 10th Amendment, I might add.) Its implications point to the weeding out of all independent, family farms as well as all organic farming operations because of peremptory federal regulations determined in favor of corporate factory farms.

Some of the requirements in these bills include:

Designating the Food Safety Administration (FSA) as sole regulator of food safety rather than the individual states, including granting FSA the power to implement and administer a "national system for regular unannounced inspection of food establishments" under its own terms. ("Food establishment" is so broadly defined in the bill that it can be anything from a meat packing plant to a backyard garden.)

Reclassifying all farms as "food production facilities", ensuring they come under the regulatory and inspection protocols of FSA as well as enforcing compliance with whatever FSA deems as appropriate food safety requirements. (Again, "farm" is used very generically.)

Requiring farmers to comply with FSA-established "minimum standards" for farming practices, including requiring them to establish Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point plans and other written documentation as determined and mandated by FSA.

Granting FSA the power to demand "preventative process controls to reduce adulteration of food" as it deems fit.

Establishing the FSA as the "food police," allowing it to assess penalties and fines for violation of any FSA safety laws up to $1 million for each violation. Collected fines would become unappropriated slush funds to be used however FSA deems fit in order to "carry out enforcement activities under the food safety law".

While many of these provisions may appear benign because of its language that emphasizes safety and standardization, the implications are far more menacing. While stripping states of what little tenth amendment powers remain, the bills would establish a central regulatory body with even more unaccountable authority than that of the Food and Drug Administration. Similar to the provisions contained in the Obama "stimulus" package and the Bush "bailout" before it, these new bills would bolster the ever-burgeoning federal empire in eliminating state sovereignty and individual freedom, particularly in relation to food.

The legality of any type of raw milk distribution (including cheese) across the country is also in jeopardy as these bills would grant the FSA the authority to impose a ban on its sale and distribution, period. If, for example, the FSA determines that pasteurization is a necessary "preventative process" for safe milk production, it could override any current state provisions permitting intrastate raw milk sales, an area where even the FDA does not have jurisdiction right now. There's a local farm in Knoxville (Locust Grove Farm) that makes the most amazing cheeses from raw sheep's milk, and I buy from them every chance I get. Under this new regulation, their cheesemaking could be effectively shut down.

Additionally, the bills contain language that would expand the definition of the word "contaminant" for purposes of widening the scope of what constitutes "adulterated food". In other words, the vague, open-ended language would grant nearly unlimited authority to the FSA to arbitrarily levy fines whenever and to whomever it deems fit for breaching its subjective food safety rules.

It's important to keep in mind that Rep. DeLauro sponsored the bill and her husband, Stanley Greenburg, works for biotechnology giant Monsanto, the multi-national corporation responsible for the creation of recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH) in cows, the perpetuation of "Round-Up Ready" sugar and soy products hidden in conventional foods, and the instigation of lawsuits against farmers whose fields were contaminated by Monsanto`s patented seeds. These bills provide the means by which corporations like Monsanto can seize control of the last remaining independent farming operations in the United States.

Now is the time to act. Bills are passing through Congress blindingly fast (remember the Stimulus?). Contact your Congressmen and Senators and urge them not to support these bills.

I've drafted a sample letter for you. Please feel free to use it and doctor it to suit your individual situation.

Dear Congressman _______________,

As a constituent and a homestead farmer, I am concerned about legislation that could affect my freedom to grow healthy foods to provide for my family’s nutritional and economic needs.

There is a bill in Congress right now – HR 875 – that has the potential to detrimentally affect that freedom.

This bill strips the state agriculture departments of their powers and binds them to enforcing federal standards – effectively turning them into “food police” for the new federal food agency that would be created. The broad language affects anyone growing food, even if they aren’t selling it, and all but criminalizes organic farming. The administrative aspect of the bill would place the job of interpreting the legislation into the hands of factory farming corporations and lobbyists. The remainder of the bill’s language is so generic that even a backyard gardener could find himself facing stiff fines and penalties.

I ask that you please oppose HR 875 – the Food Safety and Modernization Act of 2009 - and encourage your fellow Congressmen to do the same.

Sincerely yours,
Your Name
Your Address
Your County