| There are a number of food- and ag-related bills in Congress. Here are a few of the newest ones:
Dairy
H.R. 3674: Milk Import Tariff Equity Act - This is a GREAT bill that would slap a tariff on the Milk Protein Concentrates (MPCs) that come from other countries to undercut American dairy. This was also introduced into the Senate as S. 1542 by Chuck Schumer.
School Lunch
S. 1737 by Sen. Al Franken, to increase the number of children eligible for free school lunch. The companion bill is H.R. 3705 by Keith Ellison of Minneapolis.
S. 1693: The Safe Food for Schools Act by Kirsten Gillibrand. This bill seeks to correct current flaws in the government that have proven troublesome in keeping tainted food out of school lunches.
H.R. 3625: Food Marketing in Schools Assessment Act by Carolyn McCarthy. This bill calls on the Secretary of Education to study and report on the marketing of food and beverages in elementary and secondary schools.
H.R. 3277: Student Breakfast and Education Improvement Act by Gwen Moore of Wisconsin. This bill provide grants to expand the school breakfast program.
Food Safety
S. 1527: Unsafe Meat and Poultry Recall Act introduced by NM Senator Tom Udall. This bill gives the USDA authority to recall tainted meat and poultry.
H.R. 3624: The Poison-Free Poultry Act by Steve Israel. This bill bans the uses of roxarsone (an arsenical) in poultry. Roxarsone has already been banned in Europe for 10 years.
Food Stamps
H.R. 3587: Nutritious Food for Health Families Act by Mark Schauer of Michigan. This bill reduces the interval between issuances of food stamp benefits from a maximum of 40 days to a maximum of 17 days.
Labeling
H.R. 3317: Trans-Fat Truth in Labeling Act by Steve Israel. This bill requires labeling of trans fats even when amounts are under 0.5g. Currently, if a product contains less than 0.5g of trans-fat, it is allowed to claim itself trans-fat free.
Dead Zones
H.R. 3650: Harmful Algal Blooms and Hypoxia Research and Control Amendments Act of 2009 by Brian Baird of Washington. This bill is to research and reduce the algal blooms that lead to hypoxic conditions and dead zones in our waterways. And to reduce the algal blooms, we must reduce agricultural and municipal run-off.
Biochar
S. 1713: Water Efficiency via Carbon Harvesting and Restoration (WECHAR) Act, introduced by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
Breastfeeding
H.R. 3626: The Exemplary Breastfeeding Support Act by Carolyn McCarthy of New York. This bill is to support and promote breastfeeding.
Seeds
H.R. 3299: Seed Availability and Competition Act by Marcy Kaptur. This bill is "To require persons who seek to retain seed harvested from the planting of patented seeds to register with the Secretary of Agriculture and pay fees set by the Secretary for retaining such seed, and for other purposes."
Racism and Discrimination
H.R. 3623 by Rep. Artur Davis of Alabama. This bill provides compensation for claimants in the infamous Pigford case, a case in which the USDA discriminated against black farmers. Some farmers have been compensated already, but far too few received compensation, and the issue is still outstanding.
Ron Paul Crazy Stuff
H.R. 3395: Health Freedom Act. This bill would basically remove any limitations on what supplement manufacturers could claim on their labels. Wanna say vitamin C cures AIDS? Go for it. Under this bill, someone would have to take you to court and prove that you were wrong in order to make you take that off your label. |
