Hous of Reps. #875/Protect our organic food!

baylian

baylian

Cathlete
This is an email I received about it...

Can you imagine growing a garden being more criminal than a meth lab?

A quote from Henry Kissinger "Control oil and you control nations, control the food and you control the people" . . .


.................Lose your property for growing food?
Big Brother legislation could mean prosecution, fines up to $1 million


Posted: March 16, 2009 By Chelsea Schilling--2009 WorldNetDaily

Small farms and organic food growers could be placed under direct supervision of the federal government under new legislation making its way through Congress.

Food Safety Modernization Act

House Resolution 875, or the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009, was introduced by Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., in February. DeLauro's husband, Stanley Greenburg, works for Monsanto – the world's leading producer of herbicides and genetically engineered seed.

DeLauro's act has 39 co-sponsors and was referred to the House Agriculture Committee on Feb. 4. It calls for the creation of a Food Safety Administration to allow the government to regulate food production at all levels – and even mandates property seizure, fines of up to $1 million per offense and criminal prosecution for producers, manufacturers and distributors who fail to comply with regulations.

Michael Olson, host of the Food Chain radio show and author of "Metro Farm," told WND the government should focus on regulating food production in countries such as China and Mexico rather than burdening small and organic farmers in the U.S. with overreaching regulations.

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=92002

There is an enormous rush to get this into law within the next 2 weeks before people realize what is happening.

Main backer and lobbyist is Monsanto*.

This bill will require organic farms to use specific fertilizers and poisonous insect sprays dictated by the newly formed agency to "make sure there
is no danger to the public food supply".

This will include backyard gardens that grow food only for a family and not for sales.


If this passes then NO more heirloom clean seeds but only Monsanto
genetically altered seeds that are now showing up with unexpected diseases in humans.

No more organic. No more gardens. No more farmer's markets. No more roadside stands.

The name on this plan is Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009.

This has NOTHING to do with food safety.
This is only about TOTAL CONTROL.

Get on that phone and burn up the wires. Get anyone else you can to do the same thing.

I HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY suggest calling at (202) 224-3121 or email your Congressperson at House of Representatives Website. While emailing is nice, calling is 5 times better.
 
These people are out of their minds!!! I'll take my chances with a few buggies on my organics rather than a boatload of pesticides I can't pronounce. There are also organic pesticides/soaps to kill the buggies, too. Pesticides kill things, why would I want to eat poison? Crazy people. *sigh*

Nan
 
I haven't read the bill, but it sound from the article, like the government is just trying to prevent massive outbreaks of salmonella and other potentially deadly food-borne illnesses from happening again as they did with organic spinach a couple of years ago and the peanut fiasco. As I said, I haven't read the actual legislation, but I am betting that whatever fertilizers/pest control measures they will require would have to fit under the organic standards for organic gardeners. I'm really glad about the animal encroachment clause that apparently is part of it. THe E coli problem with organic spinach that occurred a couple of years ago was due to run-off from a nearby farm. It seems like we are seeing SO MANY deadly food poisoning outbreaks, I kind of am glad the government is stepping up to do something to protect our kids.

I remember reading this USA Today article when it came out and just crying and crying because I had a son the same age as the little boy who died because of the tainted spinach. The article is here: http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2007-09-20-spinach-main_N.htm

I think it's great to eat organically. I try to eat organic as much as possible, but I really think that regulations should be in place to protect our kids.
 
I suggest you read the bill.

I for one am getting darn tired of the fed's sticking their fingers into EVERYTHING . . .

They want to clamp down on organic growers and such but can't seem to clamp down on where the bailout money is going to and what is being done with it all. ie - AIG . .

Sorry - off soapbox to head to workout room.
 
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The fact that Monsanto has anything to do with this bill certainly makes me very suspicious of it. They've been no friend to the small local/organic community in the past.

If you like your food with all the genetic modifications that science has to offer and a total loss of biodiversity, then this bill is for you.

It's got more to do with than just rat poo and pesticides.
 
Gayle said:
The fact that Monsanto has anything to do with this bill certainly makes me very suspicious of it. They've been no friend to the small local/organic community in the past.

If you like your food with all the genetic modifications that science has to offer and a total loss of biodiversity, then this bill is for you.

It's got more to do with than just rat poo and pesticides.
Click to expand...

Couldn't agree more, Gayle. Monsanto has actively gone after the local/small/organic farming community on more than one occasion. Bastids. :)
 
Gayle said:
The fact that Monsanto has anything to do with this bill certainly makes me very suspicious of it. They've been no friend to the small local/organic community in the past.

If you like your food with all the genetic modifications that science has to offer and a total loss of biodiversity, then this bill is for you.

It's got more to do with than just rat poo and pesticides.
Click to expand...
DITTO what she said!!
 
baylian said:
This bill will require organic farms to use specific fertilizers and poisonous insect sprays dictated by the newly formed agency to "make sure there
is no danger to the public food supply".

This will include backyard gardens that grow food only for a family and not for sales.


If this passes then NO more heirloom clean seeds but only Monsanto
genetically altered seeds that are now showing up with unexpected diseases in humans.

No more organic. No more gardens. No more farmer's markets. No more roadside stands.
Click to expand...

Where in the bill does it say that or imply any of the above?
 
Gayle said:
Why is Biodiversity Important? Who Cares?
http://www.globalissues.org/article/170/why-is-biodiversity-important-who-cares

http://www.scienceclarified.com/As-Bi/Biodiversity.html

http://www.davidsuzuki.org/Forests/Biodiversity/Importance.asp
Click to expand...

Oh brother. You can quote internet sources until the bioengineered cows come home, it will not convince me that the extremely small percentage of engineered food in comparison to the rest of the ecological world is healthier than consuming diseased excrement from a variety of animals.

Or maybe I should just STFU now? :rolleyes:
 
LauraMax said:
Oh brother. You can quote internet sources until the bioengineered cows come home, it will not convince me that the extremely small percentage of engineered food in comparison to the rest of the ecological world is healthier than consuming diseased excrement from a variety of animals.

Or maybe I should just STFU now? :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

You're kidding, right?
 
Did anyone read the USA Today article I mentioned above? A 2-year-old little boy died from eating organic spinach with e coli. And e coli isn't something you just wash off your veggies. The soil had been contaminated by diseased livestock. Just THINK about how that mom must have felt knowing that she fed her child a meal that ultimately ended his life. NO parent should experience that pain. One child is one child too many to have to die from this. I applaud the government for addressing this issue. I don't want to have to be scared every time I open a package of spinach or a jar of peanut butter. I just read the bill and I also did not see where in the bill it would dictate which kinds of fertilizers/insecticides farmers use. It did say environmental testing would be done, which is a good thing.

As for the "feds sticking their fingers into everything," if the government had not deregulated the banking industry eight years ago, the feds would not have to step in and try to fix this mess. If AIG were not bailed out the country's economy would literally collapse. I agree that the AIG big wigs are a bunch of greedy criminals. But not bailing them out would not punish them it would punish all of us. The government NEVER should have deregulated the industry. They acted the way they did because they COULD these past eight years under NO regulations.

This administration is trying to fix the problem AND be proactive by initiating other bills like this Food Safety Modernization Act, which ultimately could save many millions of dollars AND many lives. Below, I attached the "Purpose" portion of the act. The bill can be read at http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h111-875. How can anyone disagree with the good this is trying to do? Baylian, did you read the bill or just the article referring to the bill?

(b) Purposes- The purposes of this Act are--
(1) to establish an agency within the Department of Health and Human Services to be known as the ‘Food Safety Administration’ to--
(A) regulate food safety and labeling to strengthen the protection of the public health;
(B) ensure that food establishments fulfill their responsibility to process, store, hold, and transport food in a manner that protects the public health of all people in the United States;
(C) lead an integrated, systemwide approach to food safety and to make more effective and efficient use of resources to prevent food-borne illness;
(D) provide a single focal point within the Department of Health and Human Services for food safety leadership, both nationally and internationally; and
(E) provide an integrated food safety research capability, including internally generated, scientifically and statistically valid studies, in cooperation with academic institutions and other scientific entities of the Federal and State governments;
(2) to transfer to the Food Safety Administration the food safety, labeling, inspection, and enforcement functions that, as of the day before the date of the enactment of this Act, are performed by various components of the Food and Drug Administration and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration;
(3) to modernize and strengthen the Federal food safety law to ensure more effective application and efficient management of the laws for the protection and improvement of public health; and
(4) to establish that food establishments have responsibility to ensure that all stages of production, processing, and distribution of their products or products under their control satisfy the requirements of this law.
 
LauraMax said:
it will not convince me that the extremely small percentage of engineered food in comparison to the rest of the ecological world is healthier than consuming diseased excrement from a variety of animals.
Click to expand...

Just wondering why you think that the choice is between "engineered food" and "diseased excrement from a variety of animals". Isn't that a false dilemma?

Amy
 
Stephanie0523 said:
Did anyone read the USA Today article I mentioned above? A 2-year-old little boy died from eating organic spinach with e coli. And e coli isn't something you just wash off your veggies. The soil had been contaminated by diseased livestock.
Click to expand...

Stephanie - The e coli outbreak happened in an industrialized farming/processing environment, as did some of the other more recent problems (jalapeno peppers come to mind). That story is tragic, but it's important to fix things properly.

The problem with this bill is the potential to put small, local, and organic food producers in serious jeopardy under a burden of excess bureaucracy and regulation. The little guy isn't the problem with the food chain...they're close to their product in every phase of production. It's the big industrial producers who are so incredibly far removed from the food they produce that crap like the e coli incident can happen.

It may not mean much to you, but I live in an area where the small farm is a HUGE part the community, the economy, the culture, and the environment.

I think it's time for Michael Pollan shout out...WORD!
 
Stephanie0523 said:
Did anyone read the USA Today article I mentioned above? A 2-year-old little boy died from eating organic spinach with e coli. And e coli isn't something you just wash off your veggies. The soil had been contaminated by diseased livestock. w.
Click to expand...

It was NOT organic spinach, Steph.

http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2006/09/19/72520.htm

It is not like many people assume that organic produce is drenched in cow manure to get fertilized. Contamination of food organic or non-organic can happen at any time during processing. I think the biggest problem these days is the automatized processing of huge volumes of food, shipping over long distances and the fact that it goes through several hands before it even gets in the fridge of consumers.

Any person who dies or gets sick from food contamination is one too many but unfortunately I don't think that stricter regulation will prevent that. Buying directly from a local farmer or growing your own produce may cut down on the risk but not eliminate it.
 
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