Okay, I don't want to be a worry-wart or beat this subject to death, but tonight I'm reading news from many sources on the Internet that these 2 bills-- S. 875 and H.R. 425-- which supposedly will end organic farming as we know it, are NOW going to be rammed through Congress within the next 2 weeks. Is it true? I just don't know if these bills are as bad as reported, or if they are on a fast track, but I suspect there is some truth to both assertions. And it's pretty clear there's some very shady stuff in them that needs to be addressed, related to seed banking and the integrity of independent farming, etc., and I know for a fact one of the bills was written by the wife of a Monsanto employee.

The article linked below will give you the low-down.

It only takes a couple minutes to call your House Reps and Senators (use 1-800-828-0498, so you don't have to pay for the call). And remember: our activism does have a strong impact if enough of us call. Also call the White House switchboard to leave your opinion: at 1-202-456-1414 or the comment line at 1-202-456-1111 (but this line was busy when we called).

Prism Webcast News
Ecology, Sustainability, Equality, Democracy, Peace:

US Bill to Ban Organic Farming
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Solemn Walk Through HR 875
By Sue Diederich and Linn Cohen-Cole

The Pennsylvania Sustainable Agriculture Association, PASA, sent out information about HR 875 which lists ‘facts’ to counter ‘myths’ and ‘rumors’ on the internet. It gives no specifics to back up its ‘facts,’ so the following close up view of the bill and accompanying commentary offers readers a chance to decide for themselves what is myth and what is fact. Neither of us are lawyers, but we both can read. Sue Diederich heads the Illinois Independent Consumers and Farmers Association, an organization formed to protect the rights of farmers and consumers to deal directly with each other without government interference.
PASA’s assertions are in regular lower case font, as are the inserted portions of the bill which have all been provided by Sue Diederich who also provides her own comments in italics usually. My comments are in bold face. [Note: these type faces have been altered from the original to permit publication in the program used to publish this blog which lacks color font options - Dr. Rima]
Occasionally, we feel something is essential for people to see and those comments are in CAPITAL LETTERS. (It should all be in CAPITAL LETTERS [font changed to allow publication in this program - Dr. Rima], really, since so few organizations appear to have read the bill or seem to know how to read the bill or have thought through its massive cumulative impact or been concerned at its endlessly broad reach and over incredibly vague things.)
People seem to expect the bill to be titled “The Criminalization of Organic Farming and the Take over of the US Food Supply,” and when they don’t see any words to that effect anywhere in the bill, they declare “this bill is fine” and those seeing dangers are “alarmists.” Do they think the industrial side is composed of fools? These are the same people who make cheery cereals with cartoon characters on the box when, inside, high fructose corn syrup is all over the cereal which comes from Bt-corn associated with diabetes. HFCS is, too, and there is an epidemic of diabetes here even among children. They know how to package. Why do people understand that industrial food inside a box can be a problem and yet are so innocent about looking at the bills, not realizing there is packaging there, too, or how much is at stake that the public and even legislators not see since this is about taking control. The industrial side isn’t stupid.
Understanding parts of the bill at times depends on smelling smoke as you read it. Here in the US, we still have only smoke … an Ohio state ag department SWAT team raid on an organic coop, Pennsylvania ag department raids on horse and buggy Mennonites, California setting coliform levels so low fresh milk dairy farmers would need cows that produced pasteurized milk right out the udder, arrest and handcuffing of a single mother in front of her children for selling goat milk, the USDA paying its agents bonuses for foreclosing on farms, … But in the EU where 60% of the Polish farmers are now gone because of identical bills enacted into law there, and 60 UK farmers have committed suicide, there is fire. And in Iraq, where they have been rendered helpless serfs by the theft of their country’s seeds and criminalization of farmers’ collection of their own seed, it is roaring. And in India where 182,000 farmers have committed suicide since the WTO and IMF got hold of agriculture and our Big Ag firms went in there, and 8 million farmers have left the land, it is out of control.
The WTO, run by the multinational meat packers and genetic engineering corporations, want HR 875, here. The bills are “harmonized” rules for globalization of food and lower food safety standards to allow for it. Those corporations are members of NIAA, a corporate consortium that brought NAIS, created by Anne Veneman, to the USDA to be made into law.
We begin with PASA offering FWW’s take on the bills to its members:
Myths and Facts? H.R. 875 – The Food Safety Modernization Act
PASA members: The following information about a bill now before Congress, HR 875, was developed by our friends at Food and Water Watch, and forwarded to us by the National Sustainable Ag Coalition (NSAC), of which PASA is a member.
This Myth/Fact sheet was developed to help answer some of the rumors that are fairly rampant on the Internet right now. We will keep a close eye on the situation, and share further updates from NSAC as they become available. ?
MYTH: H.R. 875 “makes it illegal to grow your own garden†and would result in the “criminalization of the backyard gardner.â€
FACT: There is no language in the bill that would regulate, penalize, or shut down backyard gardens. This bill is focused on ensuring the safety of foods sold in supermarkets.
Though private residences are not specifically included, nor are they specifically excluded. While this does not immediately affect home owners growing tomatoes in the backyard, entered testimony leaves the door open for just that in the future. Referring back to the Bio-Terrorism Act, in a discussion on this very topic and entered in the official record of debate on the interim rule, (bold/underline = mine), the same argument exists here and no new definitions or exclusions have been provided in HR 875 - and “reasonable” is a subjective term in theory as well as practice…
(13) FOOD ESTABLISHMENT-
(A) IN GENERAL- The term ‘food establishment’ means a
Slaughterhouse (except those regulated under the Federal Meat
Inspection Act or the Poultry Products Inspection Act), factory,
Warehouse, or facility owned or operated by a person located in
Any State that processes food or a facility that holds, stores,
Or transports food or food ingredients.
Now, every home in the country holds food after buying it from the
Grocery store. Will they be included too?
—————————-
Hell, no. They’re going to be magnanimous and say that, while they could,
They won’t right now.
Excerpted from the same Interim Rule:
“(Response) FDA has concluded that private individual residences are
Not ”facilities” for purposes of the registration provision of the
Bioterrorism Act. Under the Bioterrorism Act, the term ”facility”
Includes ”any factory, warehouse, or establishment.” Congress did not Specify any definition for these terms.
Under their common meanings,
The terms can include private residences. For example, according to Webster’s II New Riverside University Dictionary (1994), the most
Relevant definition of ”establishment” is ”a business firm, club,
Institution, or residence, including its possessions and employees.”
However, ”n determining whether Congress has specifically addressed
The question at issue, the court should not confine itself to examining
A particular statutory provision in isolation * * *.
It is a fundamental canon of statutory construction that the words of a
Statute must be read in their context and with a view to their place in
The overall statutory scheme.”’ FDA v. Brown & Williamson Tobacco
Corp., 529 U.S. 120, 121 (2000).
Other parts of the registration Provisions in section 415 of the FD&C Act indicate that Congress only Intended businesses to register, and raise a question as to whether Congress intended that private individual residences, even though food Is manufactured/processed, packed, or held at such residences, be Considered facilities.
For instance, a registrant is required to submit”the name and address of each facility at which, and all trade names Under which, the registrant conducts business * * * ” (21 U.S.C.
350d(a)(2)).
Thus it is unclear whether Congress intended all Individual private residences at which food is manufactured/processed, Packed, or held to be included in the term ”facility.” Furthermore, The requirement that a facility submit its ”name” as well as its ”trade names” raises a question as to whether Congress intended ”facility” to include private individual residences since it is Unlikely that a home would have a name or a trade name.
Where the words Of the statute are ambiguous, an agency may make a reasonable Interpretation of the statute. Chevron, USA, Inc. V. NRDC, Inc., 467 U.S. 837, 842-843 (1984); Brown & Williamson, supra, at 132.
Consistent with the language of section 415(a)(2) discussed
Previously, the agency concludes that interpreting the term
”facility” to exclude private individual residences is a reasonable
Construction for purposes of registration.
This interpretation, However, does not necessarily preclude a reasonable construction of Other provisions of the FD&C Act to include such residences.”
[I do get that residences are easily included.]
MYTH: H.R. 875 would mean a “goodbye to farmers markets†because the bill would “require such a burdensome complexity of rules, inspections, licensing, fees, and penalties for each farmer who wishes to sell locally - a fruit stand, at a farmers market.†?
FACT: There is no language in the bill that would result in farmers markets being regulated, penalized any fines, or shut down. Farmers markets would be able to continue to flourish under the bill. In fact, the bill would insist that imported foods meet strict safety standards to ensure that unsafe imported foods are not competing with locally-grown foods.
SECTION 406 CLEARLY STATES ALL FOOD OFFERED FOR SALE WILL BE VIEWED AS BEING IN INTERSTATE COMMERCE AND SUBJECT TOT HE PROVISIONS OF THIS BILL.
C. 406. PRESUMPTION.
In any action to enforce the requirements of the food safety law, the connection with interstate commerce required for jurisdiction shall be presumed to exist
8) CATEGORY 4 FOOD ESTABLISHMENT- The term ‘category 4 food establishment’ means a food establishment that processes all other categories of food products not described in paragraphs (5) through (7).
(9) CATEGORY 5 FOOD ESTABLISHMENT- The term ‘category 5 food establishment’ means a food establishment that stores, holds, or transports food products prior to delivery for retail sale.
14) FOOD PRODUCTION FACILITY- The term ‘food production facility’ means any farm, ranch, orchard, vineyard, aquaculture facility, or confined animal-feeding operation.
[SUE, say it again and again, "this applies to farms and can apply to homes." It certainly looks to me that families baking cookies for bake sales could easily be included.]
SEC. 206. FOOD PRODUCTION FACILITIES.
(a) Authorities- In carrying out the duties of the Administrator and the purposes of this Act, the Administrator shall have the authority, with respect to food production facilities, to–
(1) visit and inspect food production facilities in the United States and in foreign countries to determine if they are operating in compliance with the requirements of the food safety law;
(2) review food safety records as required to be kept by the Administrator under section 210 and for other food safety purposes;
(3) set good practice standards to protect the public and animal health and promote food safety;
(4) conduct monitoring and surveillance of animals, plants, products, or the environment, as appropriate; and
(5) collect and maintain information relevant to public health and farm practices.
(b) Inspection of Records- A food production facility shall permit the Administrator upon presentation of appropriate credentials and at reasonable times and in a reasonable manner, to have access to and ability to copy all records maintained by or on behalf of such food production establishment in any format (including paper or electronic) and at any location, that are necessary to assist the Administrator–
(1) to determine whether the food is contaminated, adulterated, or otherwise not in compliance with the food safety law; or
(2) to track the food in commerce.
(c) Regulations- Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator, in consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture and representatives of State departments of agriculture, shall promulgate regulations to establish science-based minimum standards for the safe production of food by food production facilities. Such regulations shall–
(1) consider all relevant hazards, including those occurring naturally, and those that may be unintentionally or intentionally introduced;
(2) require each food production facility to have a written food safety plan that describes the likely hazards and preventive controls implemented to address those hazards;
(3) include, with respect to growing, harvesting, sorting, and storage operations, minimum standards related to fertilizer use, nutrients, hygiene, packaging, temperature controls, animal encroachment, and water;
THEY NEVER MENTION SEEDS BUT THIS IS PRECISELY HOW THEY WILL CRIMINALIZE SEED BANKING AND ALL HOLDINGS OF SEEDS.
[Notice they mention harvesting, sorting and storage operations, then watch below.
To follow how this will be done, you must understand that:
1. there is a small list inside the FDA called "sources of seed contamination"
2. in which they have now defined "seed" as food,
3. so seeds can be controlled under "food safety."
Those seeds (so far) include:
seeds eaten raw such as flax, poppy sesame, etc.;
sprouting seeds such as wheat, beans, alfalfa, most greens, etc.;
seeds pressed into oils such as corn, sunflower, canola, etc.;
seeds used as animal feed such as soy ....
That is most seeds. Seeds are essential to life and thus to freedom.
The "sources of seed contamination" include six little items:
agricultural water
manure (but NOT chemical pesticides or fertilizers)
harvesting, transporting and seed cleaning equipment
seed storage facilities
What you must realize is that seed cleaning equipment is THE single most critical piece of equipment for sustainable agriculture. It is how we save organic seed. It is the machinery used after plants "go to seed" to separate out (sort) the seeds from the plant material so the farmer can collect (harvest) and then save (put in storage) seed for the next year at little cost. With his own seed, the farmer stays free of patented, genetically engineered, corporately privatized seeds.
You must also understand that Monsanto is getting rid of the people who do the seed cleaning and many other means of our having access to seed .
This year, 2009, seed cleaning equipment is now illegal in some parts of the country which tips us off to both the intent to control seeds in this way and to how they could do things under this bill.
How can they make such vital equipment illegal? Quietly, and by saying it contaminates food.
"Contaminate" is their favorite word since the public fears the deadly contamination that industry itself - not farmers - has caused. Scare the public and thus push for "food safety standards" to be set.
And to eliminate seed cleaning equipment, they haven now set the standards so seed cleaning (the simple separation of seed from plant) will now require a million to a million and a half dollar building and/or equipment ... per line of seed.
So, a farmer who has been seed cleaning flax for 40 years with a hand made seed cleaner can't sell flax on the market anymore, though there are NO instances of anyone ever having gotten sick from seed cleaning equipment. A farmer who has been cleaning wheat, corn and soy each year with the same perfectly fine equipment would now need three to four and half million dollars for three pieces of equipment to continue.
(The FDA isn't so bar-setting when it comes to other things like melamine in baby formula, though it is proven to sicken and kill infants), initially denying the melamine was in our baby formula and then quickly inventing a "foods safety" standard to okay it.)
Organic farmers are not aware of this happening, perhaps because the left is being treated with kid gloves until HR 875 and related bills are/were passed. Meanwhile, the FDA and USDA have been tromping on traditional (many of them farming organically, by the way) farmers for years. The organic community is disconnected from them so hasn't been aware of what is happening to them. Indie farmers have a history of no one listening to them, which is too bad because it is they who are the ones bringing the warning that these bills are deadly. The organic community, measuring against its own seeming safety, hasn't heard or understood.
NOTICE, THOUGH, THAT BECAUSE A SINGLE "FOODS SAFETY" BAR HAS BEEN RAISED, IN TIME ON ONE WILL BE ABLE TO GET ORGANIC SEEDS IN ANY NUMBER BECAUSE IT WILL BE ILLEGAL FOR ALL FARMERS TO SELL THEM TO ANYONE.
Now, look at the last item on the list - seed storage facilities.
They would be careful not to ban them all outright given the extreme reaction they would get. But now the method is more clear. "Food safety" is the weapon and public fear is the driver and they only need to set the bar at the level that is impossible to meet.
Farmers, gardeners, seed saving exchanges, seed companies, scientific seed projects, and seed banks, all require "seed storage facilities." All are working overtime to protect biodiversity that is rapidly disappearing because of ... genetic engineering.
Set the standard for "food safety" and certification high enough that no one can afford it and punish anyone who tries to save seed in a multitude of ways that have worked fine for thousands of years, and PRESTO, YOU HAVE JUST CRIMINALIZED SEED BANKING.
The penalties, I will assume, will be tremendous, the better to protect us from nothing dangerous whatever, but to make monopoly over seed more absolute. One is left with control over farmers, and end to seed exchanges, to organic seed companies, to university programs developing nice normal hybrids.
When you know that Monsanto with the help of the US government plundered ancient and rare seed banks in Iraq that held seeds with a genetic heritage (a biohistory belonging to all of us) going back 1000s of years and then made it a crime for farmers there to collect or use their own normal and non-patented seeds off their own land, you see how extreme the intent to control is.
Now, perhaps it is possible to see how the identical thing is being done here, only it comes in a heavily, heavily disguised way - through "food safety" that isn't at all - and in only one tiny little paragraph within a very large bill.
The Iraqis are now abjectly dependent on Monsanto and the US for survival itself and will have to pay whatever prices are set for food. They cannot just grow their own and be free. So, no matter what form of government they may have, they are now slaves because the control over them is that extreme. Kissinger was right - control food and you control people.
WE ARE INCHES FROM THIS OURSELVES. THE LEFT NEEDS TO WAKE UP.
This trick of setting bars above any ability to be in the game, is similar to how blacks had been treated. Click here. This trick of setting bars above any ability to be in the game while imposing fines that destroy people who fail to meet that standard, is sadistic. Then, taking the land as confiscatory payment, is theft by government become totalitarian and colonizing its own people.
There are other items of the list which surely will be controlled as well. In toto, that little list is the deconstruction of farming itself and given the inclusion of manure, especially of organic farming.]
(4) include, with respect to animals raised for food, minimum standards related to the animal’s health, feed, and environment which bear on the safety of food for human consumption;
(5) provide a reasonable period of time for compliance, taking into account the needs of small businesses for additional time to comply;
(6) provide for coordination of education and enforcement activities by State and local officials, as designated by the Governors of the respective States; and
(7) include a description of the variance process under subsection (d) and the types of permissible variances which the Administrator may grant under such process.
(d) Variances- States and foreign countries that export produce intended for consumption in the United States may request from the Administrator variances from the requirements of the regulations under subsection (c). A request shall–
(1) be in writing;
(2) describe the reasons the variance is necessary;
(3) describe the procedures, processes, and practices that will be followed under the variance to ensure produce is not adulterated; and
(4) contain any other information required by the Administrator.
(e) Approval or Disapproval of Variances- If the Administrator determines after review of a request under subsection (d) that the requested variance provides equivalent protections to those promulgated under subsection (c), the Administrator may approve the request. The Administrator shall deny a request if it is–
(1) not sufficiently detailed to permit a determination;
(2) fails to cite sufficient grounds for allowing a variance; or
(3) does not provide reasonable assurances that the produce will not be adulterated.
(f) Enforcement- The Administrator may coordinate with the agency or department designated by the Governor of each State to perform activities to ensure compliance with this section.
(g) Imported Produce- Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall promulgate regulations to ensure that raw agricultural commodities and minimally processed produce imported into the United States can meet standards for food safety, inspection, labeling, and consumer protection that are at least equal to standards applicable to such commodities and produce produced in the United States.
Administrator shall have authority to grant exclusions to foreign producers.
[While it may be obvious to us that this is onerous beyond any capability of coping with it, it needs to be said and described in some detail what it would actually mean for farmers or for us. Here in story form is a taste of it, so anyone could feel the insanity of it:
SEC. 201. ADMINISTRATION OF NATIONAL PROGRAM.
(a) In General- The Administrator shall--
(1) develop, administer, and annually update a national food safety program (referred to in this section as the ‘program’) to protect public health; and
(2) ensure that persons who produce, process, or distribute food meet their responsibility to prevent or minimize food safety hazards related to their products.
[This is where I think it would be very helpful if you explained how astoundingly onerous that long list is and what its impact would be on any farmer who previously only needed to load up his goods and bringing them to a farmers market - though that in itself is a time consuming, physically effortful job that often begins pre-dawn on those mornings and ends late in the day, all of it separate from growing the food and boxing it up to bring.
A small farm is not an industry with staff to fill out paperwork, handle licensing, manage all the industrial bureaucracy that is being loaded on here, but is most often a couple who is also taking care of a family in addition to growing crops and raising animals. These are precisely the people who we need most as part of our food system and how will clearly be crushed by the grossly inappropriate application of such rules to small farms.]
• MYTH: H.R. 875 would result in the “death of organic farming.â€
FACT: There is no language in the bill that would stop organic farming. The National Organic Program (NOP) is under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The Food Safety Modernization Act only addresses food safety issues under the jurisdiction of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
[Of course, they are not going to come straight out and say it. But breaking this down to what is actually involved, you find that:]
The administrator is charged with developing minimum standards, not maximum limits on feed, fertilizers, nutrients etc- right here goes organics.
Secondly, this act creates a new agency, and the FDA becomes the Federal Drug and Device Agency. It combines offices currently under FDA and Commerce Department (National Marine Fisheries).
Third, FSA is to cooperate with the USDA in “promulgating rules and orders” which will have the bearing and impact of law.
To refer back to the previous “Myth”
[The one about foreign food having to meet our standard, right?]
- Alaska, Hawaii, US territories and foreign countries may apply for variances, so… NO… Imported foods do NOT necessarily have to meet the same standards. In fact, many countries have had to lower their standards due to WTO rules and trade agreements, and Australia had to further lower their regulatory standards when they instituted the NLIS program (their version of NAIS). There is no reason to think we would not have to do the same.
[NOW, COMES THE RESPONSE TO WHETHER THE BILLS WILL MEAN THE END OF ORGANIC FARMING.]
I’m going to format this differently to accentuate your points, Sue. This section should be a major education for people in how things have been working. This is in response to the myth that the bills will not affect organic farming, right?]
Animal health has traditionally meant medication and hormones, petroleum-based fly sprays and all sorts of other goodies.
Feed can be anything (GMO SOY OR CORN, ANYONE?),
environment can mean PESTICIDES, HERBICIDES USED ON PASTURES (IF pasturing is deemed “healthy” - internationally this is NOT so for poultry, in fact in many countries there is NO outdoor poultry anymore - by law).
Nutrients are not necessarily whole food based, many are produced SYNTHETICally, and again, PETROLEUM BASED …
Animal encroachment prevention can be anything from a scarecrow or plastic owl to POISON BATES AND BULLETS. Not one of these things is specified, yet there is no place for real public opinion in the decision making process provided. I will grant that there is usually a public comment period for federal register entries, for whatever that has been worth in the past.
[Meaning, it has been worth little to nothing. And obviously, the public is left having to respond ad infinitum to one issue after another. Someone compared the numbers of things being thrown at us to try to stop, to carpet bombing so you can't comment on everything, even if it helped which is clearly often doesn't.]
SEC. 206. FOOD PRODUCTION FACILITIES.
(a) AUTHORITIES.—In carrying out the duties of the Administrator and the purposes of this Act, the Administrator shall have the authority, with respect to food production facilities, to
(1) visit and inspect food production facilities in the United States and in foreign countries to determine if they are operating in compliance with the requirements of the food safety law;
(2) review food safety records as required to be kept by the Administrator under section 210 and for other food safety purposes;
(3) SET GOOD PRACTICE STANDARDS to protect the public and animal health and promote food safety;
[This is where words that sound so friendly and innocuous and even good are code words for international rules set by the WTO that actually define industrial requirements which do not fit real farming in the least, much less organic farming, would be applied.
[This is where insane, anti-nature, anti-farming rules like "animals and crops can't exist on the same farm" come into play. Where wild animals aren't ever supposed to be near crops so the government has been poisoning deer and frogs. The list of such manufacturing rules for farming is long, and each very much "efficiency manager comes and wrecks the farm."]
(4) conduct monitoring and surveillance of animals, plants, products, or the environment, as appropriate; and
[Please, those of you who find the idea of NSA-spying intolerable, look carefully at those words. Now, imagine it were your farm, your home on that farm, and realize that the USDA and FDA have been run by and the new agency will be run by Monsanto, Cargill, Tysons, ADM. Their interest in helping consumers have safer food is nil The bills are meant to eliminate farmers as is now rapidly occurring in the EU with identical ("harmonized" bills, now law there.
(5) collect and maintain information relevant to public health and farm practices.
[There needs to be a pause here to consider the implications of each of those on someone's home - their family's farm. This is quite different from applying them to industrial sites where no one lives, and beyond that, these powers are so broad and vague, they are dangerous if only in that.
Those things listed open the door to total control, warrantless entry and perpetual surveillance. Notice how innocuous they have made it appear, even beneficial - always about public health. Yet, the insincerity of this is boggling - the USDA and Big Ag have worked to prevent inspections to the point where farmers have had to actully sue to get them done , even after offering to pay for them.]
(b) INSPECTION OF RECORDS.—A food production facility shall permit the Administrator upon presentation of appropriate credentials and at reasonable times and in a reasonable manner
[Who defines "reasonable"? Does a farmer have to go to court each time there is an "unreasonable" manner and time? How wide open do we push the door to Big Ag-corrupted government control over farmers - the people creating the only safe food?
Look carefully and realize the USDA right now is countenancing state ag departments conducting terrorizing raids on non-corporate farms across the country. Imagine it were your home and USDA agents banging on your door to demand paper work and if you don't have it, facing fines that would bankrupt you in a moment and lose you your land and home.]
, to have access to and ability to copy all records maintained by or on behalf of such food production establishment in any format (including paper or electronic) and at any location, that are necessary to assist the Administrator—
[Imagine again.]
(1) to determine whether the food is contaminated, adulterated, or otherwise not in compliance with the food safety law; or
[Be aware that in Pennsylvania where there has been an aggressive effort to destroy fresh milk dairy farmers, the tests by the states repeatedly do not match those of independent testers but the harm to farmers from such false tests and reporting of them is done and can't be undone. Be aware that the USDA has a record of creating test results damaging to small farmers while it refuses to inspect even when farmers ask to pay.]
(2) to track the food in commerce.
[This could mean farmers bringing food to markets with USDA agents surveilling.]
(c) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator, in consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture and representatives of State departments of agriculture, shall promulgate regulations to establish science-based minimum standards for the safe production of food by food production facilities. Such regulations shall—
[Everything in this bill is being left to be filled in however the "Food Safety Tsar" - "the Administrator" decides? Right now, to give people pause and to wake them up a bit to how this is not a wise idea but in fact absurd, it appears that person could be Michael Taylor, a Monsanto lawyer infamous for approving rBGH - the first genetically engineered product ever approved - over the objections of doctors, scientists who said the numbers were being rigged, and the public.
How can anyone leave a bill so utterly vague in the hands of anyone to decide later what it all means? Do we not make laws here with specific meaning anymore? Or do we simply let totalitarian rules be applied by industry against non-industrial entities like farms and homes in any way they wish and with immense police power behind what they, for their own interests, decide?]
(1) consider all relevant hazards, including those occurring naturally, and those that may be unintentionally or intentionally introduced;
[GOODBY RAW MILK.]
(2) require each food production facility to have a written food safety plan that describes the likely hazards and preventive controls implemented to address those hazards;

(3) include, with respect to growing, harvesting, sorting, and storage operations, minimum standards related to fertilizer use, NUTRIENTS, HYGIENE, PACKAGING, TEMPERATURE CONTROLS, ANIMAL ENCROACHMENT, AND WATER;
[GOODBYE ORGANIC FARMING.]
(4) include, with respect to animals raised for food, MINIMUM STANDARDS related to the animal’s HEALTH, FEED AND ENVIRONMENT which bear on the safety of food for human consumption;
[GOODBYE ORGANIC FARMING AND GRASS FED ANIMALS.]
(5) provide a reasonable period of time for compliance, taking into account the needs of small businesses for additional time to comply;
[Oh, heavens, this looks like padding to throw in the word "reasonable" again but it has no explicit meaning whatever and so no safety for a soul.]
(6) provide for coordination of education and enforcement activities by State and local officials, as designated by the Governors of the respective States; and
[This appears to be where Homeland Security works with the USDA for such things as "depopulation of animals" - for which 6 meetings are already scheduled in June and into which livestock owners are not allowed though foreigners are.
These "depopulation" plans look like what is happening in Asia where animal disease caused by industry (and worth a fortune to the pharmaceutical industry ) are then used by industry to wipe out its competition in heritage breeds of animals on small farms and to substitute genetically engineered animals that are patented by industry and thus owned by industry.
(7) include a description of the variance process under subsection (d) and the types of permissible variances which the Administrator may grant under such process.
(d) VARIANCES.—
States and foreign countries that export produce intended for consumption in the United States may request from the Administrator variances from the requirements of the regulations under subsection (c)
.
[This is where the "fact" that foreign countries must meet our food safety requirements collapses by simply reading the bill.]
MYTH: The bill would implement a national animal ID system.?
FACT: There is no language in the bill that would implement a national animal ID system. Animal identification issues are under the jurisdiction of the USDA. The Food Safety Modernization Act addresses issues under the jurisdiction of the FDA.
This bill mandates NAIS BY claiming that it is already law,
then contradicts itself by citing COOL, which specifically prohibits mandatory tracking.
It justifies NAIS by claiming that the AHPA gives authority - but this is a bill (and supposedly a program) concerning interstate commerce (though any item of food for sale is “presumed” to be in interstate commerce, whether it is in reality or not.) and AHPA does not regulate interstate commerce.
How many contradictions in a single section do we need before red flags go up?
[YES, AND PUT UP RED FLAGS FOR WHOLE BILLS IF THIS CENTRAL PART IS SO CORRUPTLY BEING PUSHED.]
Below in CAPITALS [fonts altered - Dr. Rima] , Sue answers the absurd claim that NAIS is not mandatory. FWW has gotten this and many other items wrong. That would be fine if the whole organic movement and all our farms and freedom were not riding on our seeing these very real threats and stopping those bills completely - not compromising on them but demanding their complete withdrawal.]
(a) IN GENERAL - THE ADMINISTRATOR, IN ORDER TO PROTECT THE PUBLIC HEALTH, SHALL ESTABLISH A NATIONAL TRACEABILITY SYSTEM THAT ENABLES THE ADMINISTRATOR TO RETRIEVE THE HISTORY, USE AND LOCATION OF AN ARTICLE OF FOOD THROUGH ALL STAGES OF ITSPRODUCTION, PROCESSIN, AND DISTRIBUTION.
(b) APPLICABILITY - TRACEABILITY REQUIREMENTS UNDER THIS SECTION SHALL APPLY TO FOOD FROM FOOD PRODUCTION FACILITIES, FOOD ESTABLISHMENTS, AND FOREIGN FOOD ESTABLISHMENTS.
(c) REQUIREMENTS-
(1) STANDARDS- THE ADMINISTRATOR SHALL ESTABLISH STANDARDS FOR THE TYPE OF INFORMATION, FORMAT, AND TIMEFRAME FOR FOOD PRODUCTION FACILTITIES AND FOOD ESTABLISHMENTS TO SUBMIT RECORDS TO AID THE ADMINISTRATOR IN EFFECTIVELY RETRIEVING THE HISTORY, USE AND LOCATION OF AN ITEM OF FOOD.
(2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION- Nothing in this section shall be construed as requiring the Administrator to prescribe a specific technology for the maintenance of records or labeling of food to carry out the requirements of this section.
(3) AVAILABILITY OF RECORDS FOR INSPECTION- Any records that are required by the Administrator under this section shall be available for inspection by the Administrator upon oral or written request.
(4) DEMONSTRATION OF ABILITY- The Administrator, during any inspection, may require a food establishment to demonstrate its ability to trace an item of food and submit the information in the format and time frame required under paragraph (1).
(d) Relationship to Other Requirements-
(1) CONSISTENCY WITH EXISTING STATUTES AND REGULATIONS- To the extent possible, the Administrator should establish the national traceability system under this section to be consistent with existing statutes and regulations that require recordkeeping or labeling for identifying the origin or history of food or food animals.
[Does this mean consistent with international laws under the WTO? Is this a means of locking everything together into Smart Grid or NAFTA or CAFTA or GATT and even, the worst of all,
CODEX
?]
(2) EXISTING LAWS- For purposes of this subsection, the Administrator should review the following:
(A) Country of origin labeling requirements of subtitle D of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1638 et seq.).
( The Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act of 1930 (7 U.S.C. 499a-t).
(C) Country of origin labeling requirements of section 304 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1340).
(D) The National Animal Identification System as authorized by the Animal Health Protection Act of 2002 (7 U.S.C. 8301 et seq.).
EC. 210. TRACEBACK REQUIREMENTS.
MYTH: The bill is supported by the large agribusiness industry.?
FACT: No large agribusiness companies have expressed support for this bill.
This bill is being supported by several Members of Congress who have strong progressive records on issues involving farmers markets, organic farming, and locally-grown foods.
[Who almost certainly have not read the bills or can't interpret how it will work to destroy farmers, organic food, seed banking, and all of us.]
Also, H.R. 875 is the only food safety legislation that has been supported by all the major consumer and food safety groups, including:
[Perhaps others know details on each organization and why they might be supporting a bill that is so threatening to real food safety and to the survival of our farms and organic farming.]
?– Center for Foodborne Illness Research & Prevention
?– Center for Science in the Public Interest
?– Consumer Federation of America
The Consumer Federation of America (CFA) is a long-standing consumer organization based in Washington, DC. However, it has accepted funding fromthe ROCKEFELLER FOUNDATION to “develop an optimum regulatory regime” for genetically engineered food.
?– Consumers Union?– Food & Water Watch
[Food and Water Watch just put out a description of the bill in which it is apparent they do not understand what is in it and what it will do. With that as their starting point, they support it.]
?– The Pew Charitable Trusts
[They are also connected to the ROCKEFELLER FOUNDATION, and involved with them in mandatory vaccinations programs around the world and issues of reducing population.]
?– Safe Tables Our Priority ?– Trust for America’s Health
[There is no list here of groups opposing this bill, which include the people whose lives are most at risk from it and who know its dangers the best and who should have been the first people consulted. Instead, they have been shut out and when they have tried to report extreme dangers, they have ignored, dismissed, marginalized. Perhaps the other organizations listed here are as unfamiliar with the bill's contents and ramifications as FWW.]
If you consider that not only is Rosa DeLauro married to Stanley Greenberg, who boasts Monsanto as one of his clients, but also that she receives the largest donations from agribusiness PAC’s of just about anyone in Congress, does industry NEED to come out and say they support this particular bill? If cash to the sponsor doesn’t count, and if formal positions supporting various specific aspects of the bill do not count, then what does? Would there not be massive public backlash against it if industry DID take a formal stand on every bill they want to see passed?
By the same token, I’ve not seen a single industrial ag company come out and oppose this bill, either. They have all been conspicuously silent. I seem to remember that they threw up quite a fuss over COOL, and caused enforcement to fall behind by more than 7 years… Not to mention the garbage with loopholes we’ve had to deal with since enforcement began. (What good does a “Canada, US, Mexico” label do for anybody? Especially with BSE in Canada and TB coming in daily from Mexico?) Where’s the hoot and holler over this?
MYTH: The bill will pass the Congress next week without amendments or debate.?
FACT: Food safety legislation has yet to be considered by any Congressional committee.?
I can’t speak to the time frame.
[It came from those who first discovered the bills were there, inserted only one week after Vilsack had said the USDA wasn't even considering centralizing the FDA and USDA at this time, so people saw how similar the bills were, knew who fast other things were being shoved through Congress without even reading those bills, and estimated how fast this could happen.
Perhaps with people alerted now, these bogus "food safety" bills can be stopped by the organic community once it realizes they will utterly destroy it.]
However, since I did have the luxury of listening to the farce taking place on the floor of the House of Representatives on March 11 concerning HR1105 (which FUNDS NAIS among its hundreds of other projects) while awaiting the Livestock, Dairy and Poultry subcommittee hearing on NAIS - I have no doubt that this bill will move quickly now that 1105 has passed and since it has so many co-sponsors.
Especially since the Representatives were honest enough to admit that though the Senators claimed everybill in the Omnibus Act had been heard and passed in the previous session, when in actuality, some 100 of the 170 bills in the package had NOT.
But this is my personal opinion.
The “ominous Omnibus Act” as several Representatives called it, went from introduction to the President in less than 13 working days.
I really have to question just who’s side those groups are really on that are in support of this bill…..
And finally,
WHAT THE NEW “FOOD SAFETY” BILLS MEAN TO YOU
by Gail Combs
Our food safety system was trashed in 1995 by Sec of Ag Ann Veneman (Board member of Monsanto). She appointed Dan Amstutz (VP of Cargill) who wrote the World Trade Organization Agreement on Agriculture (WTO AoA). Unlike GATT, WTO has major clout from trade sanctions and control of 90% of the international trade. [www.publiceyeonscience.ch]
“Aims to ensure that governments do not use quarantine and food safety requirements as Unjustified trade barriers.. It provides Member countries with a right to implement traceability {NAIS} as an SPS measure.” WTO
In other words the WTO did away with “quarantine and food safety requirements” that gave us “the safest food in the world” and is graciously going to allow Farmers to track AND COUNT the world’s livestock for them instead. Now HR 875 and an FDA release indicate All food will be tracked and all food producers will have Food inspections and the threat of fines up to $1,000,000 a day will eliminate all the independent farms that have acted as a check on Corporate AG.
The FDA wants
to implement a more effective trace-back process, using technologies to rapidly and precisely track the origin and destination of contaminated foods, feed and ingredients
Nanotech in Food can make it happen “California’s Oxonica makes Nanobarcodes from nano-particles that contain silver and gold stripes varying in width, length and amount, such that billions of combinations can be created to tag individual products. The barcodes have been primarily used to assure brand and authenticity in pharmaceuticals, but applications could be forthcoming in tracing food batchesâ€.
In regard to pets:
HR 875 uses “animals” and then “animals raised for food” and there are no exclusions. The Animal Welfare Act had exclusions for livestock, pets and people raising three or less litters of puppies a year. Therefore pets are not excluded.
“set good practice standards to protect the public and animal health and promote food safety”
“conduct monitoring and surveillance of animals, plants, products, or the environment, as appropriate”
“with respect to animals raised for food, minimum standards related to the animal’s health, feed, and environment which bear on the safety of food for human consumption;
In regard to gardens:
The Feds Already have plans for controlling food “FROM FARM TO FORK” including home preparation since September of 1995 (WTO ratified in 1995)
HR 875
“require each food production facility to have a written food safety plan that describes the likely hazards and preventive controls implemented to address those hazards;”
“include, with respect to growing, harvesting, sorting, and storage operations, minimum standards related to fertilizer use, nutrients, hygiene, packaging, temperature controls, animal encroachment, and water”
“include, with respect to animals raised for food, minimum standards related to the animal’s health, feed, and environment which bear on the safety of food for human consumption;”
“set good practice standards to protect the public and animal health and promote food safety”
“..facility owned or operated by a person located in any State that processes food or a facility that holds, stores, or transports food or food ingredients.”
Notice it does not say a person SELLING food, it says a person holds, stores, or transports food or food ingredients. The bill specifically states it covers commerce with in state but again there is no exclusion for food raised for home use. The fact you are growing veggies for your and friends and not selling them does not exclude you.
“in any action to enforce the requirements of the food safety law, the connection with interstate commerce required for jurisdiction SHALL BE PRESUMED TO EXIST.”
Under Ag Sec. Veneman …
in September, 1995, the USDA’s Food Safety & Inspection Service presented a 600-page document “Farm-To-Table” intended to control of every step in the food chain from production to home preparation.
This is a real life example of what has already occurred and what people may have in store:
Today a state Ag inspector and two county officials show up and scare the bee-jesus out of me. First they accuse me of selling products and milk, then explain that even “giving milk products away†is illegal in California. Now everything is pasteurized, but it is illegal to share milk products in any form! They explained it was even ILLEGAL to give it to my own children if they did not live under my roof! I can’t even take a lasagna dish to my grown sons home without risk of being fined, arrested and or jailed! This is OUTRAGEOUS!!!!…..” Donna Tue Aug 12, 2008 [finance.groups.yahoo.com]
More stories on Feds raiding farms and co-ops
—————————————————————————————————-
Conclusion
The related package of “food safety” bills are totalitarian. There are no two ways about it.
They allow government warrantless intrusion into and extreme, detailed, surveilled control over every aspect of farmers’ land and home, straight-jacketing them into a bureaucratic nightmare which precludes their even functioning as farmers. And yet for real food safety and for food security, it is exactly farmers we need.
We need the real food they produce and the farmland they spare and protect from industrialization and the heritage animals and seeds they raise and their knowledge about nature and animals, and we need the way of life they represent. Free. How interesting that to have real and clean and wholesome food, it requires that farmers have freedom.
These bills which claim to be about “food safety” but are proven in the EU already to be about the destruction of farmers, are so frighteningly broad, they allow the government to take over our lives, too. They allow the government to use rules written by multinational corporations within the WTO, to control whether we can garden or how, whether we chip our pets, even what happens inside our homes in our kitchens.
These controls all all for mandating things that make money for corporations just as we are all trying to get off the corporate grid of power, fuel, food, … Now it is easy to appreciate people’ resistance to mandated vaccines (and they keep adding more kinds).
There is point at which we must say stop. Our lives are our own, our property is our own, our decisions on what to eat and how to heal ourselves are our own. We must protect our own freedom and now it is apparent how intimately tied it is those who have been providing for us for ever - our farmers.
HR 875, SR 425, HR 814, HR 759 and all related bills must be withdrawn immediately and then trashed.
[www.opednews.com]

Yikes!-- sorry, that 2nd post was a LONG article. Here's a short alternate opinion from the Organic Consumers' Association that says the concerns are not warranted... just for a balanced perspective:

In last week's issue of Organic Bytes, the OCA had a story entitled "Internet Myth of the Week: Congress To Pass Bill That Will Outlaw Organic Farming?" The article focused on our stance on a new controversial bill in congress: HR875, the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009. There's been a lot of hype circulating the internet about the possible ramifications of the bill, and the OCA felt it was necessary to weigh in on the issue. Linn Cohen-Cole, the most vocal opponent of HR 875, and the person who initially shared her concerns about the bill with the OCA, responded to our article in Organic Bytes last week with deep concerns. We've posted her main points in our web forum for our readers to discuss.

OCA has taken a middle-ground position on HR875. We think food safety legislation is needed. We'd like to see factory farming stopped along with the practices of confining animals, feeding them slaughterhouse waste and manure, and not letting cows eat grass. These practices would virtually eliminate mad cow, salmonella and E. coli. HR 875 doesn't do this, but it does make food recalls mandatory and allows for civil penalties, two important tools the government could use against the factory farms that are making us sick.

Sharrhan:


[www.facebook.com]

P.S. One more thought, just to recap: I personally feel that this proposed legislation clearly warrants, at the very least, a closer look (most Congressmen/women don't even read half of what they vote on), and a number of amendments to clean up the ridiculously broad language that leaves so many loopholes for corporate agri-business to use to their advantage. I'm thinking too, of how many people-- including the so-called experts-- didn't see the economic collapse coming. I may be wrong, but these food bills feel to me like they carry a similar sense of urgency, especially with a new USDA chief who was high up in the ranks at Monsanto.

Okay... now I'll get back to my science fiction movie with Jonathan, after spending a VERY frustrating couple of hours tonight having to remove a very malicious virus from my computer. (I was successful!!) ;-)

Sharrhan:


[www.facebook.com]

My favorite and most trusted news source, NHNE (New Heaven/New Earth) has now jumped on the concern bandwagon with the article below from the Natural News e-zine about H.R. 875. I've never known NHNE's creator, David Sunfellow, who sends out a daily digest of news and articles on a variety of environmental, cultural, psycho-spiritual and political concerns, not to do his homework and send out anything but the highest caliber of information. Usually, if it's a suspect conspiracy theory, he won't touch it. So I'm especially concerned to see that he has now posted an article about it:

STOP FEDERAL TAKEOVER OF FOOD REGULATION IN H.R. 875
By Ethan Huff
Natural news
Wednesday, March 11, 2009

[www.naturalnews.com]

The Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund recently reported the unveiling of
the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009 (H.R. 875) on Feb. 4, 2009, by
Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), to both the House Committee on Energy and Commerce
and the House Committee on Agriculture. Cosponsored by 36 other Congressmen,
all Democrats, H.R. 875 would essentially transfer all state control over
food regulation to the Food Safety Administration (FSA), a newly-established
federal bureaucracy to be created within the Department of Health and Human
Services (DHHS). Its implications point to the elimination of all
independent, family farms as well as all organic farming operations due to
overbearing federal regulations subjectively determined by FSA in favor of
corporate factory farms.

Some of the requirements set forth within H.R. 875 include:

- Designating FSA as sole regulator of food safety rather than the
individual states, including granting FSA the power to implement and
administer a "national system for regular unannounced inspection of food
establishments" under its own terms.

- Reclassifying all farms as "food production facilities", ensuring they
come under the regulatory and inspection protocols of FSA as well as
enforcing compliance with whatever FSA deems as appropriate food safety
requirements.

- Requiring farmers to comply with FSA-established "minimum standards" for
farming practices, including requiring them to establish Hazard Analysis
Critical Control Point (HACCP) plans and other written documentation as
determined and mandated by FSA.

- Granting FSA the power to arrogate "preventative process controls to
reduce adulteration of food" as it deems fit.

- Instituting FSA as food safety law enforcement, allowing it to assess
civil penalties and fines for violation of any and all FSA safety laws up to
$1 million for each violation. Collected fines would become unappropriated
slush funds to be used however FSA deems fit in order to "carry out
enforcement activities under the food safety law".

While many of these provisions may appear benign due to language emphasizing
safety and to standardized regulations, the implications are far more
mischievous. While stripping states of what little tenth amendment powers
remain, H.R. 875 would establish a central regulatory body with even more
unaccountable authority than that of the FDA. Similar to the provisions
contained in the Obama "stimulus" package and the Bush "bailout" before it,
H.R. 875 would bolster the ever-burgeoning federal empire in eliminating
state sovereignty and individual freedom, particularly in relation to food.

The legality of any type of raw milk distribution across the country is also
in jeopardy as H.R. 875 would grant FSA the statutory authority to impose a
ban on its sale and distribution, period. If, for example, FSA determines
that pasteurization is a necessary "preventative process" for safe milk
production, it could override any current state provisions permitting
intrastate raw milk sales, an area where even the overbearing FDA does not
have legitimate jurisdiction. This limit would not apply to FSA, however,
which would be granted unlimited jurisdictional power over all decisions
concerning food safety, despite the unconstitutionality of such authority.

Additionally, the bill contains language that would expand the definition of
the word "contaminant" for purposes of widening the scope of what
constitutes "adulterated food". In other words, the vague, open-ended
language would grant seemingly unlimited authority to FSA to arbitrarily
levy fines whenever and to whomever it deems fit for breaching its
subjective food safety rules.

The full text of H.R. 875 can be found here
[www.govtrack.us] as well as
committee contacts and a listing of the bill`s cosponsors. It is important
to keep in mind that Rep. DeLauro`s husband, Stanley Greenburg, works for
biotechnology giant Monsanto, the multi-national corporation responsible for
the creation of recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH) in cows, the
perpetuation of "Round-Up Ready" sugar and soy products hidden in
conventional foods, and the instigation of lawsuits against farmers whose
fields were contaminated by Monsanto`s patented seeds. H.R. 875 provides the
means by which corporations like Monsanto can seize control of the
last-remaining independent farming operations in the United States.

H.R. 875 is still being reviewed by the committees with no official date set
for a vote. Now is the time to contact both the House Committee on Energy
and Commerce [bit.ly] and the House Committee on Agriculture
[agriculture.house.gov] to express opposition to
this federal takeover of the food supply. Also, be sure to contact your
representatives to express opposition as well:

[writerep.house.gov]

"Control oil and you control nations; control food and you control the
people." -- Henry Kissinger, 1970

what should we say when we call? i don't know what to say, so i have not called yet.

Tell them the bill, as currently written, is a gateway to the demise of organic farming, independent small farms, farmers' markets, seed banking, and even private backyard gardening. Tell them it penalizes independent and organic farmers (with financial penalties and jail terms) for not using specific, mandated, extremely harmful industrial pesticides, fertilizing chemicals and drugs for livestock-- clearly destroying the farmers' right to natural and healthful farming practices. Tell them it is written by and for the large industrial agriculture complex, which wants no competition from independent and organic farms.

Sharrhan:


[www.facebook.com]

Kwan,

I'm sorry, but I don't see this as something that will likely lead to the "demise" of farming; organic, independent or what have you. This argument is being couched in states' rights vs. Feds' rights terms which cannot be discussed on these boards. I don't disagree with some of the matter of the opposing argument: I can personally attest to restrictions that have hobbled small-scale raw dairy farming already, due to my own farcical misadventure in that sphere, which I undertook in behalf of milk-drinking friends and which also cannot be discussed on these boards. Did I mention it was farcical? I will say that, given that the new White House veg garden is an organic-cum-biodynamic one, and that the First Lady is giving interviews about how we need to buy stuff in season, and support regional growers, and shop at farmers markets, etc. these bills can be interpreted thusly:

a.) either the administration is talking out the side of its mouth and is in league with the evil entity that is Monsanto Corp.

b.) or the administration(right hand) doesn't know what the pro-agribusiness arm of Congress(the left hand, ha-ha) is doing and is oblivious to what those in league with the evil entity that is Monsanto are attempting

c.) or this is a lot of fuss about nothing more than a concerted attempt to make agriculture policy more cogent and consistent, more safe(there is NOTHING wrong with implementing HACCP-or everyone would've died of botulism by now), and more "American."

Perhaps there is a slight drift of paranoia at work with the naysayers?

PS to Bryan: I honestly don't know if I've broken some proscription with this post--sorry if that's the case.

Hi Tamukha,
I hear you. And one of the main reasons I did some research on this was to find articles written about this subject by progressives, rather than the conservative bloggers who want to get big government out of their hair altogether. I personally believe government regulation is a good thing (especially in this era of unfettered deregulation that has led to so many horrific scenarios) when it comes to health and food, as long as it's VERY carefully orchestrated to be fair to all parties, and not just a tool of corporate interests and lobbyists.

I am not certain where this legislation is going either, but I'd rather be cautious and keep an eye on it. I believe that at the very least, it places undue burdens on small farms and organic farms. And it could well drive small farms out of business by adding large overhead costs.

Sharrhan:


[www.facebook.com]

Okay, I just found this in my inbox tonight. It's disturbing that NHF, the health organization I trust more than any of the others, has gone out on a limb condemning this legislation. Yikes! Please scroll down to the section highlighted in purple near the end of the article to see the actions they recommend taking and links to other articles they recommend reading.

NATIONAL HEALTH FEDERAION
***PRESS RELEASE***

THE EMPIRE STRIKES AGAIN -

CONTROLLING FOOD FROM GROWTH TO TABLE

March 26, 2009

Is this broad legislation the avenue to?:

* De Facto authorize NAIS

* Regulate the sale of raw milk out of existence

* Over-regulate small & large farming practices

* Inspect farms for “intrastate” & “interstate” commerce

* Use extremely expensive civil & criminal offense fines to regulate

* Force States to uphold Federal food safety laws causing them to lose their State power to regulate local food

* Let the food industry (agri-business) control food bill legislation

The NHF Thinks So..........

Last month, the so-called Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009 was introduced by Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) as House Resolution 875. The bill calls for the creation of a Food Safety Administration within the Department of Health and Human Services. This new agency would empower the government to regulate food production at all levels, up and down the chain of production. For violations, the bill provides for criminal prosecution for producers, manufacturers, and distributors who fail to comply with these regulations, and punitive property seizures and large fines of as much as $1 million for each offense upon conviction.

The supposed reason for the launch of this bill is that all of these burdensome regulations – heaped on top of already-existing, unevenly-enforced burdensome regulations – will somehow make the nation’s food supply safer. Standards would be set and legions of bureaucratic enforcers would descend upon food establishments of all sorts, including “food production facilities” comprising even the smallest farms, ranches, orchards, and poultry-raising operations. Recordkeeping would be mandated and costs of compliance would soar resulting in a boom for professional accountants and lawyers, who would of course be in increased demand.

The bill would, admittedly, transfer the Center for Food Safety and Nutrition out of the clutches of the truncated Food and Drug Administration (FDA); but that would be small compensation for the havoc that would be wreaked upon small farmers and food producers as farm-industrial complex threw its financial weight around and ensured that burdensome rules and regulations, with which it could easily keep up with and afford, were laid down to suffocate out of existence its small competition. True organic food production would also be threatened by “minimum standards” that farm-industry lobbyists would help the Agency establish – including certainly Rep. DeLauro’s husband’s company Monsanto, which pushes herbicides and genetically-engineered seed upon the World.

As if that were not enough, last September, Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) placed before the U.S. Senate another “food safety” bill (S.425) called the Food Safety and Tracking Improvement Act. Also supported by Monsanto, this bill would – as with H.R.875 – establish an electronic “traceability system” for the FDA to track food production, manufacturing, processing, and distribution. An Advisory Committee would assist in managing this system, which would have recall and confiscation powers in the event tainted food were found. Like H.R.875, this bill would disproportionately burden small farms and food producers. It would also unconstitutionally stick Federal noses into State regulatory affairs, further centralizing power in Washington, D.C.

NHF’s president Scott Tips notes, “Congress never seems to learn. The NHF opposes these two bills as unconstitutional in their usurpation of States rights, far-too burdensome in their scope, wildly overbroad, largely unnecessary, and so discriminatory against small businesses as to be almost certainly intended deliberately to drive small food businesses out of the marketplace. As with typical government action, these bills – if passed into law – would fail in their stated purpose as they would make food less safe, not safer. Remember, the failed War on Cancer, the failed War on Drugs, the failing War on Terror were all launched by the Federal Government. Are we so naïve as to think that centralizing food safety in the hands of the Federal government will be any different in result?”

It has already been a busy Congressional legislative year with the start of this 111th Congress. The NHF‘s proactive representation with Congressional decision-makers will continue in concert with confronting FDA regulatory actions so as to protect health freedoms of choice.

H.R.875 Bill text- [frwebgate.access.gpo.gov]

S.425 Bill text- www.govtrack.us/data/us/bills.text/111/s/s425is.pdf

Link to Sarah Foster article- “Will Congress Wipe Out Home Gardens, Grower Markets?” - www.newswithviews.com/NWV-News/news133.htm

PETITION TO ACT NOW - [www.usalone.com]

DON’T LET THIS BILL GET TO COMMITTEE - PETITION COMMITTEE MEMBERS AND CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVES

Energy and Commerce Committee: (202) 225-2927, or email: [energycommerce.house.gov]
content&task=view&id=1313&Itemid=1

Agriculture Committee: 202-225-2171, fax: 202-225-8510, or email: agriculture@mail.house.gov.

Committee members: [agriculture.house.gov]
CONTACT YOUR CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVES


Click on this address to find your U.S. Senators: [www.senate.gov]

Click on this address to contact your Congressperson in the U.S. House of Representatives: [www.house.gov]

********************

Click on the following links below for individual mailing addresses for
letter writing and other contact info for Congress Members:

Senate

House of Representatives

Fax List for Senate

Fax List for House of Representatives

(Note: These last 'links' obviously don't work-- I'll put the link to the website version in a separate post.)


********************

As the oldest and best-respected health-freedom group on Capitol Hill, the NHF continues to be the credible source of objective assessment of, and proactive actions on, Congressional legislation and FDA matters that have material impact upon our freedom-of-health choices and access to dietary supplements and nutritional foods.

********************


Click here for the permanent link to this press release, use this link to inform others.

National Health Federation: Established in 1955, the National Health Federation is a consumer-education, health-freedom organization working to protect individuals' rights to choose to consume healthy food, take supplements and use alternative therapies without unnecessary government restrictions. The NHF is the only such organization with recognized observer-delegate status at Codex meetings. www.thenhf.com


**************************************



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/27/2009 04:48AM by kwan.

Here's the permanent link to the NHF Press Release, with working links for Congress:

[www.thenhf.com]

Sharrhan:


[www.facebook.com]

Kwan,

It's not a great bill, but it's so bloated I do not see it being implemented, even if it passes. It's the corrupted form that it will morph into in action that really worries me.

Again, somewhat put off by the "angle" the NHF is taking: whiffs of Libertarian Statesism, which has no place in this argument; last time I checked, states weren't doing a bang-up job on this issue, either. The antis should couch it in terms of food safety, period.

And as for the House bill, I already see the achilles heel of the agribusiness complex, the long gnarled hand of which is playing a role in the drafting: under sec. DEFINITIONS, Item (10) CONTAMINANT ". . . natural toxin or manufactured toxicant . . . " I believe all classes of synthetic pesticides and herbicides may qualify under that definition. I smell a class action lawsuit against Monsanto in 2011 if this passes!

I shall contact my Congresspersons forthwith.

>somewhat put off by the "angle" the NHF is taking: whiffs of Libertarian Statesism; last time I checked, states weren't doing a bang-up job on this issue, either<

I'm put off by that angle, as well. I fervently wish they wouldn't bring any of that stuff into the argument, because it doesn't lend anything to their argument, and it turns progressives off. I have rejected the urge to post other articles on this subject because they came from right wing agenda websites and I didn't trust their information. However, I've been in touch with Scott Tipps and I've grown to trust this group, especially because of Scott's direct involvement in fighting Codex, so I decided it was worth posting.

Thanks, Tamukha. Your insights are always on target and appreciated.

Sharrhan:


[www.facebook.com]

Thanks, Kwan : ) I'm really grateful that you are bringing this to our attention because, while we are deluged with stuff all over the media about the stimulus package and AIG and yadda yadda, no one is talking about this. No one!

Does obama support this?

>Does obama support this?<

Well, his #1 man heading up the USDA was a CEO at Monsanto, and I believe a couple of other Monsanto people have been given positions at USDA, as well.

On the one hand, it's wonderful that his wife is planting a garden on the White House lawn, but that doesn't jibe too well what many perceive to be Obama's big agribusiness goals for our food supply, so we need to let him, as well as our Congressional reps, know that we want strong organic standards and protection for independent farmers and clean local food.

Sharrhan:


[www.facebook.com]

Thanks Kwan for the info, I made my calls this mornig again as you see here health and poly tics cant keep the little bugs seperate.





















You poisoned my sweet water.
You cut down my green trees.
The food you fed my children
Was the cause of their disease.

My world is slowly fallin' down
And the airs not good to breathe.
And those of us who care enough,
We have to do something.......

(Chorus)
Oh.......oh What you gonna do about me?
Oh.......oh What you gonna do about me?

Your newspapers,
They just put you on.
They never tell you
The whole story.

They just put your
Young ideas down.
I was wonderin' could this be the end
Of your pride and glory?

(Chorus)

I work in your factory.
I study in your schools.
I fill your penitentiaries.
And your military too!

And I feel the future trembling,
As the word is passed around.
"If you stand up for what you do believe,
Be prepared to be shot down."

(Chorus)

And I feel like a stranger
In the land where I was born
And I live like an outlaw.
An' I'm always on the run..........................

An Im always getting busted
And I got to take a stand........
I believe the revolution
Must be mighty close at hand.......................

(Chorus)

I smoke marijuana
But I cant get behind your wars.
And most of what I do believe
Is against most of your laws

I'm a fugitive from injustice
But I'm goin' to be free.
Cause your rules and regulations
They dont do the thing for me

(Chorus)

And I feel like a stranger
In the land where I was born
And I live just like an outlaw.
An' I'm always on the run.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/29/2009 03:52PM by riverhousebill.

Mmmmm, great song!

Sharrhan:


[www.facebook.com]

Monsanto's Dream Bill -- Dr. Mercola's Take on H.R. 875

Monsanto's Dream Bill

Congressional Bill HR 875 was introduced by Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, whose husband Stanley Greenburg works for Monsanto.

The bill is essentially a giant gift package for Monsanto, mandating the criminalization of seed banking, prison terms and confiscatory fines for small farmers and 24 hour GPS tracking of their animals, and of “industrial” standards to independent farms.

The corporations want nothing less than full control of the land, the end of normal animals so they can substitute patented genetically engineered ones, and the end of normal seeds and thus of seed banking by farmers or individuals.

And now Monsanto wants its own employee, Michael Taylor (the man who forced genetically engineered rBGH on the country when the Clintons placed him over “food safety” in the 90’s) back in government, this time to act with massive police power as a “food safety tsar”. HR 875 would give him immense power over what is done on every single farm in the country and massive police state power to wield over farmers.

Rosa DeLauro and Stanley Greenburg have a great deal to account for in attempting to force through a mislabeled “food safety” bill with hidden intent to wipe out farmers and harm everyone.

Dr. Mercola’s Comments:
Although I’m not familiar enough with this bill in its entirety to make any definitive declarations about what it would mean for the future of small organic farms should it pass, I will say this: any law introduced by someone with ties to Monsanto is likely to be grossly tainted by industry bias.

Who Does This Bill Benefit the Most?

And Monsanto in particular – one of the most evil companies on the planet — is a powerful entity that has repeatedly proven its clout. Monsanto has already managed so many reprehensible acts, it boggles the mind. Including:

Leading the world into a new age of potentially hazardous genetic modification of seeds.
Patenting not only their own GMO seeds, but also a huge number of crop seeds, patenting life forms for the first time — without a vote of the people or Congress.
Not allowing farmers to save their seeds to replant the next year – a practice that has been done for generations. Instead, they aggressively seek out and sue farmers they suspect of doing so.
Suing farmers who have not been able to prevent the inevitable drift of Monsanto’s GE pollen or seed onto their land for patent infringement!
Producing two of the most toxic substances ever known — polychlorinated biphenyls, known as PCBs, and dioxin (Agent Orange).
Perhaps their biggest assault to your food supply already is what’s known as terminator technology. These are seeds that have been genetically modified to “self-destruct.” In other words, the seeds (and the forthcoming crops) are sterile, which means farmers must buy them again each year.

The implications that terminator seeds could have on the world’s food supply are disastrous: the traits from genetically engineered crops can get passed on to other crops. Once the terminator seeds are released into a region, the trait of seed sterility could be passed to other non-genetically-engineered crops, making most or all of the seeds in the region sterile.

If allowed to continue, every farmer in the world could come to rely on Monsanto for their seed supply!

So, would it be safe to say that Monsanto stands to gain from H.R. 875?

Absolutely! With thousands of organic farmers driven out of business, they would be that much closer to dominating the food supply of the world, since organic farms don’t use Monsanto seeds or toxic products.

Based on their history, I believe it’s prudent to question what the future of our small farms will hold, should a bill with such blatant ties to Monsanto be allowed to pass without further scrutiny.

It is quite possible, perhaps even most probable, that the bill entitled H.R. 875: Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009 is designed to halt the growing trend of small organic farms – not through a direct, frontal assault on organic farming, but rather by insidiously creating rules and laws that make it extremely difficult, and incredibly expensive, for small farms to comply.

And in this case, the rules and regulations created by this proposed bill are mandatory, not voluntary, meaning they apply equally to a tiny farmer with half a dozen cows as it does to a massive factory farm.

What are the Potential Hazards of HR 875?

The stated purpose of H.R. 875: Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009 is:

To establish the Food Safety Administration within the Department of Health and Human Services to protect the public health by preventing food-borne illness, ensuring the safety of food, improving research on contaminants leading to food-borne illness, and improving security of food from intentional contamination, and for other purposes.

As detailed in the articles above, some of the potential hazards of HR 875 include:

It includes small farmers who just sell their fruits and vegetables at farmer’s markets
Anyone engaged in food growing, or “holding food for consumption” in the U.S. would have to register annually, and create and maintain extensive records of the foods they grow and/or store
The definitions of who this law pertains to are so broad and loosely defined that they could potentially even include your personal backyard fruit or vegetable garden, even if you don’t sell anything but grow them for personal consumption
It appears it could dictate how all food growers would have to grow their food, including potentially the necessity to use certain pest control measures, for example
Authorities would have the ability to inspect any food production facility at random to make sure it’s operating in compliance with the food safety law, and again the definition of “food production facility” is so loosely defined it could apply to your personal orchard, vineyard, or vegetable garden, as long as it produces something edible
After the enactment of this Act, the Administrator, in consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture and representatives of State departments of agriculture will promulgate regulations to establish “science-based minimum standards for the safe production of food” by food production facilities. Meaning, no one even knows what the food production standards are yet, but whatever they turn out to be will have to be followed
It is prohibited to: fail to register; refuse to permit access to an inspector; refuse to allow copying of all records; fail to establish or maintain any record required under the law
Should you fail to comply with any of the rules and regulations, there are both civil and criminal penalties, going as high as $1 million per violation, something that could clearly wipe out any small farmer in a blink of an eye
What Can You Do?

I believe everyone should take the time to look this bill over and decide for yourself — Do you, or do you not believe industry will use every loophole they can find to further their own interests over up-and-coming small, organic family farms?

If you believe this bill warrants further scrutiny before being blindly passed, here are a few ways you can get involved and make your voice heard:

Contact your Congressional members at 202-224-3121 and ask them to oppose HR 875 and S 425.
Find out who sits on your states agriculture and farming committee and contact them with your concerns.
Contact your local elected officials and let them know your position on legislation and why.
Attend a local Weston A. Price Foundation (WAPF) meeting, this is a good start to learning about what is going on in farming, as well as getting involved with local and state initiatives .
Support the Farmers Legal Defense Fund

To hear an excellent short synopsis of just how bad H.R. 875 is, go to this page
[www.peaceteam.net]

... and scroll down to this video clip:

"This is Linn Cohen-Cole speaking out against HR 875"

It's only 11:26 minutes long and you can listen to it while you read your e-mail or whatever.

Sharrhan:


[www.facebook.com]

Hmmm... I asked my partner about it and he is too busy planting to pay attention to it. I don't know... I think that too many people would rise up against it, should it actually pass. It is a scary thought on some level, but I'm not going to be intimidated; I'm gonna keep saving my seeds and planting. A corporation that is really that bent on controlling the livelihood of the world shouldn't exist, and I bet there are enough people that would stop this craziness, whatever it takes. My son went to war behind my back, but I would send him and his brother to fight for this one!!! I think we definitely need to do what we can to not let it get to that point though.

>A corporation that is really that bent on controlling the livelihood of the world shouldn't exist, and I bet there are enough people that would stop this craziness, whatever it takes.<

But we can also fight it NOW and not wait till they pass the bill. If we take a wait and see attitude, we may very well be sorry down the road. I just don't understand why Americans are unwilling to exercise their democratic rights. It's OUR government, not 'theirs.' They are supposed to be governed by 'the people,' but if the people don't let their legislators know what they want, they will deserve what they get. If we just wait till the ***t hits the fan, and then we act, it's too late.

Think it won't happen here? In Europe there are already very similar really bad food bills that have been passed, adversely affecting independent farmers. Yet the people of Europe are even more nutritionally savvy and activist-oriented than Americans (vastly more so). Also, take a look at what happened to Iraq: we went in and raided all their heirloom seeds and forced new food legislation on them, and now they have to buy Monsanto seeds, and their food supply is ****ed. Farmers around the world are committing suicide. Why? Because the big agri-business government interests are taking over and making it far too expensive for farmers to comply with the new world order rules.

My point is, there seems to be a global agenda here to push GMO and industrial food, and phase out independent farms, and probably organics, as well. (Or at least dumb down the organic standards.) You and I can't fathom why they'd want to do this, but we aren't corporate fascists. It's all about the bottom line ($$$$) and ease of production.

So we need to push back NOW, before these draconian laws are put in place, in my opinion. All it takes is a few minutes on the phone, and a few minutes signing one or two petitions online, and you can make a huge difference.

In Massachusetts, each person who calls Rep. Michael Capuano (my rep in the House) is considered to represent 13,000 people. The staff memebers who take the calls keep a 'tally' of people's opinions, and we've been told that a lot of people are calling up on this issue, because it's obviously important. Throughout the country the alarm is being raised. The more of us who call, the more likely they'll look at the bill and take out the offensive parts before passing it.

Sharrhan:


[www.facebook.com]

"Henry Kissinger put it this way: "Control oil and you control nations; control food and you control people."

"This is essentially true and what we're seeing here is the true face of the globalist totalitarian empire. People whine when they see pictures of past dictatorships; how should we react when we realize that most of the food production in the world is controlled by a handful of ruthless and manipulative oligarchs, under the disguise of peace and democracy? People, sooner or later we have to admit to ourselves that we've been duped big time."

Alex Birch
"How Corporate Giants Are Taking Over: Control The Food And You Control The People Who Eat It"
[snipurl.com]

You're right, Kwan. I just signed an online petition, and when I get home from work and/or in the next few days will do more. S425 looks a little more innocuous than HR875, which appears to be very scary in a fascist sort of way. If it goes through, real food may be a black market item if it is available at all. Yikes!!!

>You're right, Kwan. I just signed an online petition<

<<<<<<<<<<<<<smiles....hugs>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

i signed too the site allowed other countries to participate

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

YAY! Everybody join the signing party!! The more the merrier! That's interesting that they let other nations participate.

Sharrhan:


[www.facebook.com]

hehe yea well , i should say , it didnt BOUNCE the form back at me .. usually if i put an invalid address in those forms it sounds off alarms, sends back notices and sends a small gnome out dressed like uncle sam to slap me around a little

this tiem it worked tho

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

> usually if i put an invalid address in those forms it sounds off alarms, sends back notices and sends a small gnome out dressed like uncle sam to slap me around a little <

Girl, you're better than Saturday Night Live.

Sharrhan:


[www.facebook.com]

hah ! thanks !

you are sooooooo picturing the gnome right now arent ya ! arent ya ! =D

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist