| This broke earlier this week so I'm a little late in getting to it. Collin Peterson, chair of the House Ag Committee, is not a fan of HR 2749, the Food Safety Enhancement Act (a food safety bill that has already passed the House Energy & Commerce Committee). Peterson has said in previous interviews that he wants to keep the FDA off of farms. He's much more comfortable letting them handle food safety from the processing plant to the plate, and keeping food safety concerns from the farm to the processing plant in the hands of the USDA. Currently the USDA only really handles food safety for animal products (and for meat their role begins at the slaughterhouse doors) so right now nobody is really dealing with food safety on farms, and I guess the conflict now is who gets it. Or does nobody get it?
The bill is currently sitting in the Ag Committee, giving Peterson power to block its passage unless his demands are met. According to Congressional Quarterly:
Peterson is acting on behalf of agriculture groups that say a broad food safety overhaul would put "burdensome" regulations on certain food producers. They complain the bill does too little to reduce impacts on smaller family-owned farm operations.
Representatives from the Farm Bureau Federation, American Meat Institute, National Cattlemen's Beef Association, the National Farmers Union and other groups told Peterson's panel about their concerns related to user fees, food safety plans, recalls and record-keeping policies outlined in the legislation.
The idea that Peterson is acting on behalf of small farms is 100% bogus, but if he happens to do anything to benefit them, I'll be happy. However, it would be an enormous shame to see the necessary parts of this bill that regulate large food producers get watered down. |
