Homestead mailing list

[Susan Trickett <gmasue AT inbox.com>]

I don't know how well it worked but:


Lack of Funding Forces Closure of Food Supply Safety Program
Last update: 10:55 a.m. EDT Oct. 2, 2008
Source of Article: http://www.marketwatch.com/

WASHINGTON, Oct 02, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Despite extensive efforts 
by America's veterinarians to convince the US Congress, the US Department of 
Agriculture, and the Food and Drug Administration to provide long-term 
funding, a critical food safety resource is permanently shutting down, 
leaving in the lurch information essential to protecting America's food 
supply.
The Food Animal Residue Avoidance Databank (FARAD) -- used by veterinarians, 
livestock producers, and state and federal regulatory and extension 
specialists to ensure that drug, environmental and pesticide contaminants do 
not end up in meat, milk, and eggs -- began shutting down yesterday. The 
program needed an immediate cash infusion to stay open, and, ultimately, 
long-term funding of $2.5 million per year.
The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) has been leading efforts 
to fund FARAD, which is administered by the USDA's Cooperative State 
Research, Education, and Extension Service and operates out of North Carolina 
State University, the University of Florida and the University of 
California-Davis.
Through lobbying and grassroots efforts, the AVMA worked with Congress to 
have language authorizing FARAD at $2.5 million inserted in this year's Farm 
Bill. The USDA, however, never incorporated the funding in its budget, and 
Congress has provided neither emergency funding nor appropriations.
"It's disheartening -- even tragic -- that a program that costs so little yet 
does so much to keep our food supply safe is not being funded," said Dr. Mark 
Lutschaunig, director of the AVMA's Government Relations Division. "We're 
talking about a cost of less than a penny per American to help keep meat, 
eggs and dairy products free of drugs and pesticides."
Lutschaunig said the last-ditch hope of keeping FARAD from completely closing 
is for the USDA or stakeholders to fund the program. The AVMA is planning an 
emergency stakeholder meeting to discuss the future of FARAD.
In the interim, Lutschaunig urges all Americans to call the USDA at 
1-202-720-1542 and tell them to immediately provide $2.5 million in emergency 
funding for FARAD.
More information on FARAD can be found on the AVMA's food safety advocacy web 
site, http://www.keepourfoodsafe.org.
The AVMA and its more than 76,000 member veterinarians are engaged in a wide 
variety of activities dedicated to advancing the science and art of animal, 
human and public health. Visit the AVMA Web site at http://www.avma.org for 
more information.
SOURCE American Veterinary Medical Association

____________________________________________________________
GET FREE 5GB EMAIL - Check out spam free email with many cool features!
Visit http://www.inbox.com/email to find out more!