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  • From: Mike Rock <mikerock AT mhtc.net>
  • To: market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [Market-farming] Fwd: Urgent Vote: Michael Pollan supports farmers - Do your Senators?]
  • Date: Wed, 17 Nov 2010 15:12:45 -0600



-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Urgent Vote: Michael Pollan supports farmers - Do your
Senators?
Date: Wed, 17 Nov 2010 19:01:03 +0000
From: Food Democracy Now! Team <info AT fooddemocracynow.org>
Reply-To: Food Democracy Now! Team <info AT fooddemocracynow.org>
To: Lawrence London <lflj AT bellsouth.net>



**Join Michael Pollan & Eric Schlosser in urging your Senators to pass the Tester-Hagan Amendment to protect
family farmers! ** <http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/276?akid=229.181984.pMpSpC&t=1>

<http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/276?akid=229.181984.pMpSpC&t=2>


**Click here to call your Senators Now! ** <http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/276?akid=229.181984.pMpSpC&t=3>


**Yesterday we made over 3,000 calls, can we get to 5,000? **

<http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/276?akid=229.181984.pMpSpC&t=4>


*Critical Vote: Tell your Senators to support the Tester-Hagan amendment - *Vote YES for family farmers! **
<http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/276?akid=229.181984.pMpSpC&t=5>

*The Senate just voted 74 Yes to 25 No in favor of the cloture vote*. *This means that S.510, aka The Food Modernization
Act, will move forward in the Senate for a vote by the end of the week, possibly as soon as tomorrow*. Even as the
debate continues on the Senate floor, the forces of Big Ag are working behind the scenes to kill the Tester-Hagan
Amendment and all provisions meant to protect small farmers. ^1

Yesterday we sent out an alert asking that you call your Senators to tell them vote for the 2 critical amendments needed
to protect family farmers in this new food safety bill.

Incredibly more than 3,000 Food Democracy Now! members made calls to their Senators in all 50 states in less than 24
hours along with thousands of calls from other groups across the country.

*Despite this heroic effort, we're hearing that some Senators still have not made up their minds or /even worse/,/ some
are waffling/ in their support for the Tester-Hagan and Manager's Amendments*, which will help protect farmers who sell
their produce or goods locally to farmers markets, customers, stores and restaurants from excessive regulations that
could harm their ability to compete and even survive. Clearly our work is not yet done.

*As early as tomorrow* the Senate could vote on the food safety bill and FARMERS NEED the Tester-Hagan and Manager's
Amendments to be included to protect them from harmful regulations.

*Pollan and Schlosser weigh in*

The recognition of how important the passage of the Tester-Hagan Amendment is has brought out 2 of the biggest voices in
the sustainable food movement to lend their support for family farmers.

Yesterday food experts and authors Michael Pollan and Eric Schlosser released a statement urging swift action in passing
the food safety bill and the Tester Amendment:

"S.510 is the most important food safety bill in a generation. The Tester amendment will make it even more effective,
helping to ensure food safety while protecting small farmers and producers. We both think this is the right thing to
do," said Michael Pollan and Eric Schlosser.

After years of following these issues, meeting with hundreds of farmers and victims of food safety outbreaks, both
Pollan and Schlosser are convinced that these important provisions are needed to improve food safety and protect family
farmers.

*Please join them in asking your Senators to vote Yes for family farmers and the Tester Amendment!*

http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/276?akid=229.181984.pMpSpC&t=7
<http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/276?akid=229.181984.pMpSpC&t=6>

When you click, we'll provide your Senators' contact information and a way to tell us how your call went. That way we
can track our campaign's progress.

We're hearing from our members, especially in California and New York, that callers are having trouble connecting with
their Senate offices. We regret that. But know that the delays are because the offices are overloaded with calls from us
and others. Please take the extra time to get your call connected. *We can't let up at this critical moment.* A big
"Thank you" to you of all who hung in there yesterday to get through to your Senators - your diligence is needed and
making a difference!

Montana Senator John Tester, the only organic farmer in the Senate, believes that without his amendment, the food safety
bill could seriously hard family farmers.

In an interview with the /Associated Press/, Senator Tester said, "It's going to put a nail in the coffin of our family
food producers." ^2

Clearly there's concern at the highest level of how this bill will affect farmers and we need your help in making sure
provisions are passed that protect small-scale farm producers.**

*FARMERS NEED YOUR HELP TODAY TO MAKE SURE THESE AMENDMENTS ARE INCLUDED. Call your Senator now!*

http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/276?akid=229.181984.pMpSpC&t=9
<http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/276?akid=229.181984.pMpSpC&t=8>**

*If the food safety bill passes without the Tester-Hagan and Manager's Amendments there will be no guaranteed
protections for family farmers who sell locally to farmers markets, customers, stores or restaurants and the most
vibrant segment of agriculture could face severe restrictions from the FDA*.

If you care about family farmers YOU need to act today.

If you care about the local food movement, this could be your last chance to act to make sure these important provisions
guaranteeing protections for small farmers are written into law.

*Please call your Senators today and tell us how the call went. Make sure the staffer tells you how your Senator plans
to vote on the Tester-Hagan and Manger's Amendments. As a constituent, you have a right to know*!

http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/276?akid=229.181984.pMpSpC&t=11
<http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/276?akid=229.181984.pMpSpC&t=10>

Once again, thank you for participating in food democracy today - Our nation is only as strong as those who participate
in the democratic process.

Today's action is exactly why Food Democracy Now! exists. Without the collective voices of hundreds of thousands of
activists who care deeply and want to fight hard for real food democracy, the corporate voices would run the table in
Washington. Little by little, call by call, we are turning the tide.

- Dave, Lisa and The Food Democracy Now! Team

*Sources*:

1. "Food and Ag Groups Rally Against Tester Amendment", Helena Bottemiller, /Food Safety News/, November 16, 2010.

http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/277?akid=229.181984.pMpSpC&t=13
<http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/277?akid=229.181984.pMpSpC&t=12>

2. "Local Food Avocates Target Food Safety Bill", Mary Clare Jalonick, /Associated Press/, Real Clear Politics, November
17, 2010.

http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/278?akid=229.181984.pMpSpC&t=15
<http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/278?akid=229.181984.pMpSpC&t=14>

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the last two years alone America has witnessed some of the largest food safety recalls in our nation’s history,
including the American Peanut Corporation fiasco and more recently, Jack DeCoster’s massive egg recall. * *

*If one thing is clear from watching this news, it’s the fact that America’s food system is broken and needs to be fixed*.

During this same time, the sustainable food and agriculture community has been gripped by the debate over food safety
legislation. After countless rumors, battles behind the scenes in DC and passage in the U.S. House of Representatives,
the Food Safety Modernization Bill (S.510) has languished in the U.S. Senate until now.

Tomorrow (Nov. 17th) the Senate is finally set to vote on the controversial bill, and small-scale and organic farmers
urgently need two important amendments so the new regulations don't place huge financial burdens on small farmers.

Without these two important amendments -- currently opposed by all the big names in agribusiness -- small farmers will
not be protected from inappropriate regulations meant to curtail the largest and most likely culprits of food safety
outbreaks in the U.S.: giant, consolidated agribusinesses and their massive processing partners.

*Please call your Senators and tell them it's time to stand up for family farmers, farmers markets and restaurants that
source their products locally from small farmers and are driving the safe, healthy food renaissance in America*.* *

*Click here to call your Senators to ask them to protect small farmers and local food economies today
<http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/275?akid=229.181984.pMpSpC&t=16>*.

When you click, we'll provide your Senators' contact information and a way to tell us how the call went. That way we can
track our campaign's progress.

For those who have followed this debate closely, one needs to only consider that yesterday a Who’s Who of Big Ag sent
Congress a letter demanding that your Senators not allow the Tester Amendment nor the Manager’s Amendments to pass.

The battle lines are drawn, with the American Meat Institute, National Chicken Council, National Meat Association,
National Pork Producers Council and the National Turkey Federation once again railing against small-scale family farms
and local food production.

It's clear that we need food safety legislation. However, without the Tester-Hagan Amendment, small farmers will be
subject to "one size fits all" food safety regulations that will unfairly subject them to the same standards as Tyson,
Smithfield, DeCoster and the worst food safety abusers.

Sustainable Ag groups such as the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) have been hard at work for the past
18 months on this bill, protecting the interests of small farmers and we need to support their efforts.

*Farmer Protections from The Tester-Hagan Amendment*

The first and most important provision is the Tester-Hagan amendment, which provides an exemption for family farmers who
gross less than $500,000 and sell direct to farmers markets, restaurants, customers and local stores within 400 miles of
their farm/processing facility. As the only organic farmer in the U.S. Senate, John Tester has made sure that this
amendment protects the growing local food movement and allows small and beginning farmers the opportunity to grow the
most economically vibrant part of agriculture, without excessive fees or paperwork that could harm smaller-scale producers.

*The Manager's Amendment*

In addition, the Manager's Amendment, which includes 5 vital amendments, would protect small-scale farmers from
burdensome paperwork, offer farmers competitive grants for food safety training, allow them to engage in co-mingling of
products from multiple farms in processing, reduce paperwork and excessive traceability requirements, and protect
wildlife and wildlife habitat.

While we understand that there are fears from many members within the sustainable food and agriculture community
regarding S. 510, only the Tester-Hagan Amendment and the Manager’s Amendment stand to offer real protections to
small-scale local and organic farmers that are at the center of a resurgence in agriculture today, while protecting all
of America's food consumers.

*Tomorrow (Nov. 17th) this bill is finally set to come up for a vote in the U.S. Senate and farmers need you to call
your Senators and tell them it’s time to stand up for family farmers, farmers markets and restaurants that source their
products locally from small farmers <http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/275?akid=229.181984.pMpSpC&t=17>*.

With the most recent elected officials set to take office next year, this may be our last best hope of protecting
consumers and small farmers alike - please take a moment to make this important call today!

Thank you for participating in food democracy today!

- Dave, Lisa and The Food Democracy Now! Team

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  • [Market-farming] Fwd: Urgent Vote: Michael Pollan supports farmers - Do your Senators?], Mike Rock, 11/17/2010

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