Nov 17th Deadline - Mass Farmers Market at Risk Due to New Bill
I am a huge fan of supporting local farmers and local agriculture. I thought it important to post this information to help drum up support for the cause. Please read the below statement from the Mass Farmers Market and act to protect our local farmers.
Large corporate players in the US food system are pushing for a "one size fits all" Food Safety bill which will benefit them while harming small producers. We need you to contact Senator Brown and Senator Kerry before this Wednesday, November 17th and urge them to support two amendments to the bill which are essential to protecting the small, local farms we all value.
Debate and voting on The Food Safety Modernization Act (S. 510) is set to begin on the Senate floor on November 17th.
Recent issues of food safety have exposed weaknesses in the industrialized food system and this bill takes important steps to improve corporate food safety rules. However, its current form it is not appropriate for the small farms and food producers that provide you with your local food.
The inside track: Mega food businesses, largely from California and Florida, are pushing for a "one size fits all" bill because such a bill is very much in their competitive interest. As S.510 stands it will put many small farms out of business. The bill also sets a flat regulatory fee. This means a $100 billion global food giant pays the same $500.00 fee to the US government as the small farm near you, even if that farm that grosses just a few thousand dollars a year (or less). This just doesn't make sense to us.
The net effect: it provides "mega food" an opportunity to wrestle more control of your choice of foods away from you and to give it to them when it comes to your choice of food.
Two amendments will be offered when S. 510 comes to the floor and both are essential to protect the small, local farms we all value:
· The Manager's Amendment
· The Tester-Hagan Amendment
In combination they provide for size and practice appropriate regulation that will keep small farmers farming safely. Please tell our Senators to ensure the amendments are adopted because size and practice appropriate food safety regulation is vital to economic recovery, public health, food security, and your wellbeing.
It is imperative that you make your stand now. The Senate is our last chance to correct the bill's flaws because efforts to amend the house version of this bill were thwarted by political maneuvering. In short, the bill failed to pass the house with the required majority because of the public demand for size and practice appropriate legislation. When that happened, House leadership called a vote to suspend the rules (read violate normal protocols for passing legislation), prevented amendments to fix the bill, and pushed the bill through the House with only the slimmest of margins.
More details and information may be found from the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition.
Sincerely,
Mass Farmers Markets
240 Beaver Street
Waltham, MA 02452
(781) 893-8222