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sarah gilbert
The headlines may be a bit melodramatic: "Criminalize Organic Farming?" says the one on YouTube, claiming that bills H.R. 875 and S 425, now in committee, are sponsored by Monsanto, Cargill, Tyson and ADM. I am immediately skeptical and go to read the bill's text. I am horrified.
In the bill, there is no specific criminalization of organic practices, no call for banning heirloom pumpkins. But there are other things, first of which is the sort of government many Democrats excoriated Bush for; specifically, the creation of a gigantic organization which combines existing ones.
The Food Safety Modernization Act would create the Food Safety Administration, an agency eerily similar to Homeland Security. Among others, the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition; the Center for Veterinary Medicine; and the National Center for Toxicological Research would be dissolved and merged into the FSA, which would "promulgate regulations to ensure the safety and security of the food supply from all forms of contamination, including intentional contamination" and "enforce food safety law."
Worst of all is the requirement that every "food establishment" and "food production facility" be registered with the agency (which has authority to seize food, refuse registration, and make all kinds of rules surrounding the food). The language is broad and could include every preschool kitchen, every coffeeshop, every farmer's market plot, even, in a close reading of the Senate version, every backyard chicken coop. Here's the part that frightens organic farmers: the FSA must make regulations "with respect to growing, harvesting, sorting, and storage operations, minimum standards related to fertilizer use, nutrients, hygiene, packaging, temperature controls, animal encroachment, and water."
Seriously? The government is now going to tell us which fertilizer and how much water we can use in our small farms? While the bills don't say what limits on fertilizer there could be, it's certain that this is way too broad, and the FSA would have far too much power. Yes we want safe food. But requiring endless, expensive paperwork for small farmers and food purveyors and setting boundless powers on a mega-merged federal agency is not the way to get it; in fact, just the opposite. Any legislation making it more economical for big corporations to provide food, instead of small providers, the more likely we'll end up ... just where we are now.
How we can green our Summer
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Thanks for the major eye-opener, Sarah. The Homeland Security Administration is intrusive enough. I don't its potential cousin digging deep in my own backyard ... nor in my daughter's extremely healthful preschool kitchen ... or my sons' charter school rooftop veggie garden. You've given me plenty of seeds to think about as I begin planting in the Spring sun.
I meant, I don't NEED its potential cousin ... oops.
Hey! Poor old Monsanto and Cargill and Archer Daniels Midland just want a level playing field. So it's only fair that whatever policies and regulations apply to them should apply to the charter school veggie garden, the CSA, the roadside stand selling sweet corn. Isn't it?
but Frank, Monsanto et. al ARE SPECIAL. How else could they on one hand say that their GMO crops is "substantially equivalent" to natural alternatives and hence requires neither labeling nor FDA approval and, on the other hand, take out patents on them as unique?
Thanks for the posting, I'll take a look at the legislation.
Thanks for the links, but mostly thanks for the calm article. It's hard to get my husband who thinks I'm a crazy-overboard tree-hugger to get behind the idea that this is bad when the source is full of exclamation points and their own scare tactics. Calm logic and links to the actual text should do a better job -- and I'm sure there are lots of others like him.
While you're at it, look at the NAIS (National Animal Identification System), which has been voluntary at the Federal Level, but appears to be on it's way to becoming mandatory. It will require EVERY parcel with farm animals to have an ID#, and every animal to have an ID tag (right down to your neighbor with 2 laying hens, maybe even the rabbits in my own suburban garage--one is a "fiber animal" after all, not just a pet). This is being done by the USDA under the auspices of 'food safety', but we all know that food diversity=safety, and this is all about big agribusiness. It will put an undue burden on small farmers to comply, and add tremendous expense to consumers of animal products. See http://www.nonais.org/ for more information, and see the most recent update here (today is the last day to post a comment): http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=DocketDetail&d=APHIS-2007-0096