Greens urge amendment to food safety bills, citing need to protect family farms and organic farming

GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES
www.gp.org

For Immediate Release:
Monday, April 6, 2009

WASHINGTON, DC -- Green Party leaders voiced concerns about the "Food Safety Modernization Act" (HR 875 and S 425) and, while supporting the goal of food safety and farm inspections, urged amendments in the bill to protect small and family farms, farmers' markets, and organic farming.

"America needs national food safety guarantees in the age of genetic modification, misleading labeling, food-borne illnesses and contaminants, especially pesticides. But the 'one size fits all' approach of the bills endangers family farms and local, organic agriculture. Without amendments, the result of HR 875 and S 425 may be the demise of small farms and organic agriculture, increased profits and the expansion of giant agri-businesses," said Nancy Allen, farmer and member of the Maine Green Independent Party.

"Rather than crushing protocols and penalties, we call for regulation that ensures food safety by working with family farms, farmers markets, and similar small businesses and promotes the selling of locally, organically, and sustainably grown produce," Ms. Allen added.

Greens noted that the bills do not address the problems of the large corporate farms: poor working conditions, limitations on fast marketing because of large quantities of produce, long-distance markets, overuse of chemicals, petroleum dependence, and lack of quality, nutrition, taste, and freshness.

Recent breakdowns in food safety have been the result of major corporate farming practices that fail to control pathogens, because of indequate regulatory oversight caused by the influence of agricultural monopolies on state and national agencies responsible for protecting consumers. Greens said that all farms should be held to strict standards and undergo inspections, but warned that the cost of paperwork and oversight protocols would be prohibitive to small farms and would ultimately harm consumers if small farms were subjected to the same requirements as huge agribusiness farms.

The Green Party's national platform advocates "legislation that assists new farmers and ranchers, that promotes widespread ownership to small and medium-sized farms and ranches, and that revitalizes and repopulates rural communities and promotes sustainable development and stewardship" (www.gp.org/platform/2004/ecology.html).

For more information on the Food Safety bills and concerns about their effect on small farms, visit the Cornucopia Institute's web pages: "Farmers Fear Being Run over by Food Safety Juggernaut" (April 2, 2009) (www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_17451.cfm); Action Alert: Critical Pending Food Safety Legislation (www.cornucopia.org/2009/03/action-alert-critical-pending-food-safety-legislation).

See also "Food Safety Hits the Fan: Regulatory Action, Inaction and Over-reaction and the Effects on Small Scale Growers" by Steve Gilman, Northeast Organic Farm Association - Interstate Council Policy Coordinator (www.nofa.org/policy/leafygreens.php).

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Family Farmers Fear Being Run over by Food Safety Juggernaut

Organic and Local Farmers Seek Protections in Washington

CORNUCOPIA, Wi. - April 3 - Momentum is building in Congress for new food safety reforms aimed at addressing the growing cycle of food contamination outbreaks. But concerns are also being raised cautioning legislators not to trample organic farmers, backyard gardeners, and consumers of fresh local foods in the rush to fix the nation's food safety problems.

"There is no question that our increasingly industrialized and concentrated food production system needs a new regulatory focus," said Will Fantle, Research Director for The Cornucopia Institute, a Wisconsin-based organic food and agriculture watchdog. "No one disputes that our food safety system is broken," Fantle added.

In the last several years, contamination of bagged spinach, lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, beef, and peanuts have sickened thousands of Americans. And currently a massive recall of food products containing pistachios is underway.

After years of industry-friendly regulations and deteriorating budgets for inspections, holes in the food safety net have prompted some in Congress to push for new laws and increased oversight.

The legislative process, however, has sparked a flurry of internet and email activity, with some warning the agribusiness and biotechnology lobbyists are conspiring to pass legislation outlawing organic farming and home gardens. One of the pending bills, The Food Safety Modernization Act (HR 875), sponsored by Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), has been a lightning rod for criticism.

As a result of the blowback Congresswoman DeLauro is scrambling to assure organic advocates that they are not the target of her bill: "The purpose of this bill is to improve the safety of food products derived from large industrial processing facilities by increasing the inspection frequency and safety standards at these plants."

Attempting to quell concerns in the blogosphere, which is going viral, Congresswoman DeLauro also stated, "Organic farmers have a strong record in providing safe, high quality foods to American families and I will continue to work toward making sure that organic farming continues to thrive."

Hearings have already begun on food safety legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives. Of the multiple bills being considered, the FDA Globalization Act (HR 759), sponsored by the most senior member of Congress, Congressman John Dingell (D-MI), appears most likely to be voted on, with elements of the other bills, including DeLauro's, possibly incorporated into the bill.

"We have closely examined the various legislative proposals and have been talking with our contacts in Congress," said Fantle. "We don't believe that harming organic and local producers is the intent of these bills, but we must engage consumers and local food producers in this process to clearly express our concerns that a ‘one-size fits all' regulatory focus could very well seriously damage some of America's best growers of wholesome, fresh food," Fantle stated.

After the 2006 spinach contamination outbreak in California, that affected consumers across the country, the state adopted a regulatory model that has economically injured growers producing a diverse selection of fresh foods for local markets. It is also caused vast environmental damage as farmers are required to quarantine large tracts of land, removing vegetation and wildlife. California's "leafy greens" program has attracted interest at the U.S. Department of Agriculture for possible national use.

Organic farmer Eve Kaplan-Walbrecht, of Riverhead, NY, is critical of this type of plan. "They are burdening produce growers with the impossible task of ‘sterilizing' their farms. We need good regulatory oversight that doesn't penalize smaller-scale owner-operated farms of farmers and marketers like me."

While some of the nation's food safety issues have farm origins - largely due to the inability of huge industrialized conventional livestock facilities to properly manage their mountains of manure, contaminated with lethal pathogens - many E. coli and salmonella outbreaks originate at processing facilities. This year's outbreak of salmonella in peanut products has been traced to unsanitary conditions at a massive processing plant. And now, the FDA has issued a warning about contaminated pistachios, which appear to have also been tainted during the processing or storage of the nuts or finished processed food products.

"We don't want organic family farmers to be made scapegoats and lose their markets because of objectionable food treatment practices or recalls put in place due to sloppy practices at giant food processing facilities," said Dr. Jesse Schwartz, the President of Living Tree Community Foods, a manufacturer of organic nut butters. "The health and well-being of America, its people, and the American land depend upon the stewardship of family farmers who are the true husbandmen of their soil, plants, and animals."

The Cornucopia Institute is calling on farmers and consumers to stand up for and protect organic and sustainable local farmers. "Organic, local producers of high quality foods are part of our nation's food safety solution-not part of the problem," said Fantle.

Ronnie Cummins of the Organic Consumers Association said that citizens, who are seeking safer and nutritionally superior food are willing to pay a premium for organics, and, "In order for consumers to have continued access to this high quality food family size farmers must be protected from regressive regulation."

An action alert released by Cornucopia provides talking points and guidance for consumers and farmers interested in contacting their legislators to urge protection of organic and local food production. It can be found on Cornucopia's web page at www.cornucopia.org/2009/03/action-alert-critical-pending-food-safety-legislation/

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Internet Myth of the Week:
Congress To Pass Bill That Will Outlaw Organic Farming?

This week, we received numerous calls and emails from OCA supporters who came across alarming YouTube videos and emails circulating on the internet that claimed a new food safety bill (HR 875) introduced in Congress would make "organic farming illegal." Although the Bill certainly has its shortcomings, it is an exaggeration to say that is a secret plot by Monsanto and the USDA to destroy the nation's alternative food and farming system. In actuality, HR 875, the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009, is a limited-vision attempt by moderate Democrats and Republicans to craft food safety legislation to address the out-of-control filth and contamination that are inherent in our industrialized, now globalized, "profit-at-any-cost" food system.

This being said, OCA does not support HR 875 in its present form, given the fact that, if the Bill's regulations were applied in a one-size-fits-all manner to certified organic and farm-to-consumer operations, it could have a devastating impact on small farmers, especially raw milk producers who are already unfairly targeted by state food-safety regulators. Although the OCA deems this Bill as somewhat well-intentioned, we are calling on Congress to focus its attentions on the real threats to food safety: globalized food sourcing from nations such as China where food safety is a joke, domestic industrial-scale and factory farms whose collateral damage includes pesticide and antibiotic-tainted food, mad cow disease, E.coli contamination and salmonella poisoning--and to support a massive transition to organic farming practices.

Click here to learn more and take action:
www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_17194.cfm


By Alexis Baden-Mayer, Esq.
Organic Consumers Association, March 25, 2009

The rumors persist...

The following note is typical of the calls and e-mails Organic Consumers Association has been receiving this week:

"Do you know anything about HR 875, a 'food safety' bill that was written by Monsanto, Cargill and ADM? I've heard a few individual activists scream about this as the death of farmers markets, CSAs and local organic food, yet have seen no alerts from any of the reliable groups, including OCA. Any idea what's up with this?"

HR 875 is a food safety bill that, as it is currently drafted, could be applied to all farms, including certified organic and farm-to-consumer operations. The bill would require farms to have a food safety plan, allow their records to be inspected, and comply with food safety regulations.

Organic Consumers Association has an alert on HR 875 that asks Congress to avoid a one-size-fits all approach to food safety that could disadvantage certified organic and farm-to-consumer producers . In addition, we are calling on Congress to focus specifically on the known source of E. coli, salmonella and mad cow : factory farms.
www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_17194.cfm

When researching this issue, Organic Consumers Association turned to trusted sources within the organic farming community. I suggest the following resource for further reading:

An Integrated Approach to Food Safety
Russell Libby, Executive Director
Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association
www.nationalorganiccoalition.org/MOFGAFoodSafety.pdf

Letter from the Farmers Market Coalition on HR 875
graysriver.grange.wahkiakum.info/grays_river_grang...

Organic food healthier and more intensively inspected—but not magically protected from humans or pathogens
Rodale Institute
www.rodaleinstitute.org/Bowman/20090306a

Even if HR 875 isn't perfect, we don't think that Monsanto, Cargill or ADM had anything to do with this run-of-the-mill food safety legislation. In fact, the bill is targeted at the massive factory farms and food processors that are responsible for the constant E. coli and salmonella outbreaks our broken food system produces. It would make food recalls mandatory and enable the government to level hefty fines against companies that send poisonous food to market.

To get a sense of the food safety issues that Congress is trying to deal with, read Jill Richardson's (La Vida Locovore) write-up of a March 19, 2009, hearing in the House Energy & Commerce subcommittee on Oversight & Investigations on the salmonella peanut butter outbreak :
www.lavidalocavore.org/showDiary.do