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permaculture - Re: [permaculture] Major Victory for family farmers, sustainable agriculture: Food Safety Bill Passes with Family Farm Protections

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  • From: "Lawrence F. London, Jr." <venaurafarm@bellsouth.net>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] Major Victory for family farmers, sustainable agriculture: Food Safety Bill Passes with Family Farm Protections
  • Date: Thu, 02 Dec 2010 15:55:02 -0500

On 12/2/2010 3:44 PM, jamesdavid Sneed wrote:

I think it would help all concerned if anyone who knows how to locate
a copy of what actually passed the senate, with amendments, could let
us know where to read it. It has changed so much over the year that
many of us may be debating moot points, or conversely, may not
realize how dangerous that (or any) legislation really is. It is a
pain in the ass to read entire bills, but since it is obvious that
those in congress don't read before they vote, we really need to take
that time. One thing I do know is this: It doesn't matter a whit if
republicans or democrats control any house or branch of government.
Corporate greed via lobbying transcends all lines, blue, red, green
or whatever. Labels become indistinct as soon as we apply them, and
thus obscure the truth.

This link:
http://www.tester.senate.gov/Newsroom/pr_111810_foodsafety.cfm

Fwd: [Market Farming] U.S. Senator Jon Tester: Tester’s amendment for family-scale producers now part of Food Safety Bill
U.S. Senator Jon Tester
http://www.tester.senate.gov/Newsroom/pr_111810_foodsafety.cfm

Tester’s amendment for family-scale producers now part of Food Safety Bill

Senator: ‘Time to get this bill passed and strengthen food safety for all’

Thursday, November 18, 2010

(U.S. SENATE) – U.S. Senator Jon Tester has reached an agreement with consumer groups and the bipartisan authors of the
Senate’s Food Safety Bill to include his amendment to protect family-scale food producers from expensive federal
paperwork and unnecessary new regulations.

“This important legislation is shaping up to be a much better bill with the inclusion of my amendment for family-scale
producers, and it protects the jobs of family farmers and ranchers and processers,” Tester said today during a speech to
the Senate. “It really is time to get this bill passed and strengthen food safety for all Americans.”

Under Tester’s amendment, food producers who sell their goods directly toconsumers and have less than $500,000 in
annual sales would not be subject to the onerous new requirements designed for industrial-scale food producers.
Family-scale producers would, however, continue to be overseen by local andstate food safety and health agencies.

Negotiators have agreed on the following minor revisions to include Tester’s amendment in the Food Safety Bill:

* New language that gives U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s authority to withdraw an exemption from a farm or
facility that has been associated with a food-borne illness outbreak.
* The distance from a facility or farm that is eligible to be a local “qualified end-user” has been reduced from
400 miles to 275 miles, or within the same state.

Tester says his amendment is a major victory for family agriculture, safer food, and for the local food movement.

“We deal with consolidation in our energy sector, we deal with consolidation in our banking sector,” Tester said. “We
have consolidation in our food industry too. The fact is we need to not encourage that consolidation. I think if we can
get more locally grown food—if we can get producers to connect up the consumers eyeball to eyeball—that’s a positive
thing. And I don’t want to diminish their ability to do this.”

Although Tester is himself a family-scale grain farmer, Tester’s own farmdoes not qualify under the amendment because
he does not sell grain directly to consumers.

The Senate is currently debating the Food Safety Bill. A final vote on thebill, including Tester’s amendment, could
happen as early as today.

RESOURCES

* Tester’s Food Safety Bill resource page is now available online at: http://tester.senate.gov/foodsafety
* A summary of Tester’s revised amendment is online HERE
* The latest version of Tester’s amendment is online HERE
* A YouTube video of Tester’s Senate floor speech is online HERE


Why the Tester Amendment?

“[Family-scale producers] are small. There’s a pride of ownership therethat is real. They raise food; they don’t raise
a commodity as happens when these operations get bigger and bigger. And there is a direct customer relationship with
that customer or that farmer that means a lot. And if a mistake is made, which rarely happens, it doesn’t impact
hundreds of thousands of people. We know exactly where the problem was. And we know exactly how to fix it.” –Senator
Jon Tester




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