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Food Bills in Congress

by: Jill Richardson

Sun Aug 15, 2010 at 00:24:57 AM PDT

Here's an update of the latest bills introduced that have to do with food:

Food Safety:

S. 3669: Food Safety Enforcement Act: To increase the penalties for "knowing violations" when food is misbranded or adulterated. Introduced by Sen. Pat Leahy (D-VT) with 2 co-sponsors.
H.R. 6024: The E. coli Traceability and Eradication Act: "To develop an effective sampling and testing program to test for E. coli" in ground beef. Introduced by Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) with 7 co-sponsors.

School Lunch:

H.R. 5806: The Eat Local Foods Act: To add local foods to school lunch. Introduced by Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME) with 15 co-sponsors.
H.R. 5812: Creates a grant program that allows schools to buy local fruits and veg instead of taking the USDA commodities they are given for school lunches. Introduced by Peter Welch (D-VT) with no cosponsors.

Commodity Subsidies:

S. 3701: Rural America Preservation Act: Closes loopholes and tightens payment limits on agricultural subsidies. Introduced by Sen. Grassley (R-IA) and Sen. Feingold (D-WI).

Ethanol

S. 3736: Allows states to opt out of the requirement of putting corn ethanol in fuel. Introduced by Sen. Inhofe with no co-sponsors.

Rural Development:

S.3710: Broadband Program Reauthorization Act: To improve broadband service and coverage around the U.S., especially in rural and tribal areas. Introduced by Sen. Murray (D-WA) with no co-sponsors.
S. 3745: Rural Infrastructure Improvement Act: Adjusts the median income used to determine eligibility for USDA rural development programs. Introduced by Sen. Blanche Lincoln, no co-sponsors.

Miscellaneous:

H.R. 5984: The Cooking Helps Elevate Futures Act (a.k.a. The CHEF Act): To establish a pilot program teaching inmates to cook. Introduced by Rep. Laura Richardson (D-CA) (no relation) with 1 co-sponsor.
S. 3758: Establishes a maximum "somatic cell count" (i.e. amount of pus) allowed in fluid milk. Introduced by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), no co-sponsors.
S. 3693: A bill to pay the black farmers the settlement they got from the USDA for discrimination. Introduced by Sen. Grassley (R-IA) with no co-sponsors.
H.R. 6057: Farm Credit Expansion Act: Expands eligibility for Farm Service Agency loans. Introduced by Rep. William Owens (D-NY) with 1 co-sponsor.
S. 3656: Mandatory Price Reporting Act: A bill "to improve the reporting on sales of livestock and dairy products." Passed the Senate.

Jill Richardson :: Food Bills in Congress

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Food Bills in Congress | 7 comments

Grassley (4.00 / 3)

What the heck has happened to Senator Grassley lately? He is sufficiently batshit crazy that he didn't even draw credible opposition in his primary. Does he think that appearing reasonable for a couple of months will help his campaign against a strong Dem opponent?

by: count @ Sun Aug 15, 2010 at 08:08:22 AM UTC

by: you @ soon

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I like the idea of HR 6024 (4.00 / 2)

The E. coli Traceability and Eradication Act. But why stop at E. coli? As long as they're going to test their crap, why not test for listeria and residual antibiotics? Just wondering. I hope this bill won't work to eliminate small producers, also. But I think small producers don't do hamburger anyway.

by: Crider @ Sun Aug 15, 2010 at 16:40:16 PM UTC

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listeria (4.00 / 2)

Listeria caused the Maple Leaf Foods recall, the largest meat recall in Canadian history.

2008 Canadian listeriosis outbreak
Twenty-three people died and there were 57 total confirmed cases.

Congresscritters might not have noticed, because Maple Leaf Foods is not a U.S. company.

by: count @ Sun Aug 15, 2010 at 17:45:03 PM UTC

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Small producers do do hamburger (4.00 / 3)

I buy all of my ground beef and pork sausage from Mark's Meats in Canby, one of only two small independant USDA inspected slaughter houses in Clackamas County doing red meat. They're about as small as you can get and still be inspected.

Normal people scare me.... But not as much as I scare them.

by: JoanneRigutto @ Sun Aug 15, 2010 at 17:51:33 PM UTC

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I've been out of the meat loop for 17 years (4.00 / 2)

but I read the bill and it will phase in over a couple of years to include smaller and smaller producers until all producers are included in 2013.

(4) effective December 1, 2013, to all slaughterhouses, processing establishments, and grinding facilities that produce or grind trim or bench trim.

by: Crider @ Sun Aug 15, 2010 at 21:27:41 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I wonder if that will include the local butcher shops (4.00 / 2)

that produce sausage, etc. Even if they're not bringing in trim or bench trim from an outside source, they will still be using trim or bench trim if they're bringing in half carcasses or primals, especially if they're doing seam butchery.

If anyone is wondering what I'm talking about, go over to Youtube and search for videos on seam butchery, meat cutting, steak fabrication, etc. There's a lot of trimming that goes on, and all of that meat is what goes into sausages, ground beef, etc.

The quote doesn't seem to have any kind of an exhemption for local butchers, or other small facilities.

Normal people scare me.... But not as much as I scare them.

by: JoanneRigutto @ Sun Aug 15, 2010 at 23:43:04 PM UTC

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