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La Vida Locavore is the blog for anyone whose crazy life includes planting, growing, weeding, fertilizing, raising, picking, harvesting, processing, cooking, baking, making, serving, buying, selling, distributing, transporting, composting, organizing around, lobbying about, writing about, thinking about, talking about, playing with, and eating food!

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Senate

Agriculture
Chair: Blanche Lincoln (D-AR)
- Max Baucus (D-MT)
- Michael Bennet (D-CO)
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- Bob Casey (D-PA)
- Kent Conrad (D-ND)
- Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)
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- Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)
- Saxby Chambliss (R-GA)
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- John Cornyn (R-TX)
- Chuck Grassley (R-IA)
- Mike Johanns (R-NE)
- Dick Lugar (R-IN)
- Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
- Pat Roberts (R-KS)
- John R. Thune (R-SD)

Appropriations
Chair: Daniel Inouye (D-HI)
Ag Sub-Committee
Chair: Herb Kohl (D-WI)
- Byron Dorgan (D-ND)
- Dick Durbin (D-IL)
- Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
- Tom Harkin (D-IA)
- Tim Johnson (D-SD)
- Ben Nelson (D-NE)
- Jack Reed (D-RI)
- Robert Bennett (R-UT)
- Christopher Bond (R-MO)
- Sam Brownback (R-KS)
- Thad Cochran (R-MS)
- Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
- Arlen Specter (R-PA)

Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions
- Chris Dodd (D-CT)

Senate Hunger Caucus

House

Agriculture
Chair: B Collin Peterson (D-MN)
V. Chair: B Tim Holden (D-PA)
B Joe Baca (D-CA)
- John Boccieri (D-OH)
B* Leonard Boswell (D-IA)
- Bobby Bright (D-AL)
B* Dennis Cardoza (D-CA)
- Travis Childers (D-MS)
B Jim Costa (D-CA)
- Henry Cuellar (D-TX)
- Kathy Dahlkemper (D-PA)
B Brad Ellsworth (D-IN)
- Debbie Halvorson (D-IL)
B Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-SD)
- Steve Kagen (D-WI)
- Larry Kissell (D-NC)
B Frank Kratovil (D-MD)
- Betsy Markey (D-CO)
B Jim Marshall (D-GA)
P Eric Massa (D-NY)
B Mike McIntyre (D-NC)
- Walt Minnick (D-ID)
B Earl Pomeroy (D-ND)
- Mark Schauer (D-MI)
- Kurt Schrader (D-OR)
B David Scott (D-GA)
B Zachary Space (D-OH)
- Timothy Walz (D-MN)
- Frank Lucas (R-OK)
- Bill Cassidy (R-LA)
- K. Michael Conaway (R-TX)
- Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE)
- Virginia Foxx (R-NC)
- Bob Goodlatte (R-VA)
- Sam Graves (R-MO)
- Timothy Johnson (R-IL)
- Steve King (R-IA)
- Robert Latta (R-OH)
- Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO)
- Cynthia Lummis (R-WY)
- Jerry Moran (R-KS)
- Randy Neugebauer (R-TX)
- Phil Roe (R-TN)
- Mike Rogers (R-AL)
- Jean Schmidt (R-OH)
- Adrian Smith (R-NE)
- Glenn Thompson (R-PA)
*=House Organic Caucus member
B=Blue Dog Democrat

Appropriations
Chair: Dave Obey (D-WI)
Ag Sub-Committee
Chair: P Rosa DeLauro (D-CT)
- Sanford Bishop (D-GA)
* Allen Boyd (D-FL)
- Lincoln Davis (D-TN)
*P Sam Farr (D-CA)
*P Maurice D. Hinchey (D-NY)
P Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. (D-IL)
P Marcy Kaptur (D-OH)
- Jack Kingston (R-GA)
- Rodney Alexander (R-LA)
- Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO)
* Tom Latham (R-IA)
*=House Organic Caucus member

P=Congressional Progressive Caucus

Education and Labor
P Chair: George Miller (D-CA)
- Jason Altmire (D-PA)
- Robert Andrews (D-NJ)
- Timothy Bishop (D-NY)
P Yvette Clarke (D-NY)
- Joe Courtney (D-CT)
- Susan Davis (D-CA)
P Marcia Fudge (D-OH)
P Raul Grijalva (D-AZ)
P Phil Hare (D-IL)
- Ruben Hinojosa (D-TX)
P Mazie Hirono (D-HI)
- Rush Holt (D-NJ)
- Dale Kildee (D-MI)
P Dennis Kucinich (D-OH)
P Dave Loebsack (D-IA)
- Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY)
P Donald Payne (D-NJ)
- Jared Polis (D-CO)
- Robert Scott (D-VA)
- Joe Sestak (D-PA)
- Carol Shea-Porter (D-NH)
P John Tierney (D-MA)
- Dina Titus (D-NV)
- Paul Tonko (D-NY)
P Lynn Woolsey (D-CA)
- David Wu (D-OR)
- Buck McKeon (R-CA)
- Judy Biggert (R-IL)
- Rob Bishop (R-UT)
- Bill Cassidy (R-LA)
- Michael Castle (R-DE)
- Vernon Ehlers (R-MI)
- Luis F Fortuno (R-PR)
- Brett Guthrie (R-KY)
- Peter Hoekstra (R-MI)
- Duncan D. Hunter (R-CA)
- John Kline (R-MN)
- Kenny Marchant (R-TX)
- Tom McClintock (R-CA)
- Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA)
- Thomas Petri (R-WI)
- Phil Roe (R-TN)
- Todd Russell Platts (R-PA)
- Tom Price (R-GA)
- Mark Souder (R-IN)
- GT Thompson (R-PA)
- Joe Wilson (R-SC)
P=Congressional Progressive Caucus

House Organic Caucus
Congressional Progressive Caucus

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Collin Peterson Threatens Food Safety Bill

by: Jill Richardson

Sat Jul 18, 2009 at 06:00:00 AM PDT

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.

Jill Richardson :: Collin Peterson Threatens Food Safety Bill

Tags: Food Safety, Collin Peterson, (All Tags)

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Collin Peterson Threatens Food Safety Bill | 2 comments

i grow apples and produce honey (0.00 / 0)

give me one good reason why the FDA should be allowed onto my property and shape my world. I may be a redneck hippie hermit living off the grid but I am open to hearing any good rationale.

i detest Colon Peterson and what he stands for but yet he may have a point keeping the FDA of the farm at least my farm.......

i sell at a major farmers market and wholesale - honey never has been a source of one recall. what exactly are they guarding the public from in my apples or honey? my annual sales are 300K so I am a good sized player in the local grown scene.

between this threat and Obama's stupid health care proposal that would cost me $5K a year to provide heatlh insurance for my mostly seasonal work force these programs could sink my ship or at the very least add 10K or more annual to my expenses - and for what?

what pisses me off is the heatlh care proposal. the drug mfgrs, hospitals give up a concessions of big money in exchange for 45 million new customers who will get health insurance paid for by business. they lose nothing in the end and small businesses take it up the butt and end up footing part of the bill. WRONG ANSWER!!!!.

i do appreciate the idea that Walmart should provide health insurance but I';m starting to more and more feel like the GOP has some good counter points as to too much government is a bad thing.

these well meaning policies could have a real negative impact on my livlihood and i will have to raise my prices for sure if they happen to recover the additional expense. other growers my area share the same fears.....

by: bud dingler @ Sat Jul 18, 2009 at 17:46:24 PM CDT

here are some more misguided ideas (0.00 / 0)

http://www.beyondpesticides.or...

do any of the well meaning people who condemn this amendment have any idea how low profit margins are for small farmers?

I just got done writing an email to my Senators asking them to support this amendment that would exempt small farmers form Health Care Reform.

Why should small farmers and small businesses for that matter be forced to buy health insurance for their employees? Did you know that the hospitals and big pharma and insurance companies took concessions to help the reform bill in exchange for knowing they will gain 45 new customers? Its a wash then for corporate America and small businesses and farmers will end up footing the bill.

Obama as much as I support him is wrong on this issue.

by: bud dingler @ Sun Jul 19, 2009 at 12:09:51 PM CDT