| The food safety bill is currently sitting in the Ag Committee, in the very untrustworthy hands of Collin Peterson. It's expected to make it to the House floor by Friday, and it will probably pass with a large majority (over 300 votes). Consumers' Union is lobbying hard to make this happen because if it's not passed by Aug 9, then Big Ag will have all of August (during the recess) to lobby for weakening the bill.
I realize there are some folks on our side who wouldn't mind seeing this bill gutted. When you have one-size-fits-all legislation that could be harmful to small farms, having provisions removed from the bill by Big Ag might simultaneously weaken the bill's effects on Big Ag while helping small producers (by preventing them from being subject to the bill's provisions that were written and intended for Big Ag). If Peterson does anything that helps us, it won't be intentional. It would just be a lucky accident.
Peterson will likely remove the provision in the bill allowing the FDA to quarantine geographic areas after the discovery of a food safety problem. I would be VERY HAPPY to see that provision removed from the bill. Peterson wants to keep the FDA off the farm - which, to be honest, I wouldn't mind at all - but it seems that some provisions will stay in the bill, like a requirement for farms to keep records and perhaps even the ability of the FDA to demand farm records. I'd also like to see them remove the part of the bill where they tell farmers how to grow and harvest food.
The best parts of the bill (the ones we most need to keep IN the bill) are the increased FDA inspections for food manufacturers and warehouses (and the $500 user fees to pay for them), the FDA's ability to view records during inspections and during food safety outbreaks, the FDA's authority to mandate a food recall, the requirement for high risk facilities to test for pathogens and send positive results to the FDA, and the punishments for breaking the law. It doesn't seem that the Ag Committee won't remove any of those provisions. If you want to call the House Ag Committee to ask them to pass the bill quickly and to keep the most vital parts of the bill intact while removing the parts that could be problematic for farmers, their phone number is 202-225-2171 and their fax is 202-225-8510.
Additionally, the Western Organization of Resource Councils asks us to call our representatives (and/or the Ag Committee phone number I provided above) and:
urge them to support language in the Managers Report to the House on H.R. 7249 that
1. Draws a bright line definition around small local food system producers and processors,
2. Ensures that fledgling local food producers and processors are not saddled by excessive registration, fees, and recording-keeping requirements. |
