Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009

[started 03/12/09 --- 03/27/11 UPDATE: This is a FYI Action. . . .
The links don't go anywhere anymore, but the info from OCA, Organic Consumers Association is important for helping understand this issue, so I am not closing it. 
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10/11/10 UPDATE --- THE ACTIONS ON THIS PLEDGE ARE CLOSED BUT THE LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS BILL HR 875, BUTTON BELOW IS STILL UP TO DATE ... Read about this bill
http://capwiz.com/grassrootsnetroots/issues/bills/?bill=12878051&alertid=12878056

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Internet Myth of the Week: Congress To Pass Bill That Will Outlaw Organic Farming?
This week, we received numerous calls and emails from OCA supporters who came across alarming YouTube videos and emails circulating on the internet that claimed a new food safety bill (HR 875) introduced in Congress would make "organic farming illegal." Although the Bill certainly has its shortcomings, it is an exaggeration to say that is a secret plot by Monsanto and the USDA to destroy the nation's alternative food and farming system. In actuality, HR 875, the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009, is a limited-vision attempt by moderate Democrats and Republicans to craft food safety legislation to address the out-of-control filth and contamination that are inherent in our industrialized, now globalized, "profit-at-any-cost" food system.

This being said, OCA does not support HR 875 in its present form, given the fact that, if the Bill's regulations were applied in a one-size-fits-all manner to certified organic and farm-to-consumer operations, it could have a devastating impact on small farmers, especially raw milk producers who are already unfairly targeted by state food-safety regulators. Although the OCA deems this Bill as somewhat well-intentioned, we are calling on Congress to focus its attention on the real threats to food safety: globalized food sourcing from nations such as China where food safety is a joke and domestic industrial-scale and factory farms whose collateral damage includes pesticide and antibiotic-tainted food, mad cow disease, E.coli contamination and salmonella poisoning. And, of course, Congress and the Obama Administration need to support a massive transition to organic farming practices.

Click here to learn more and take action
http://capwiz.com/grassrootsnetroots/issues/alert/?alertid=12878056


EDITABLE TEXT TO NON-SPONSORS IN THE HOUSE:
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SUBJECT: Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009  

I am writing in regards to the Food Safety Modernization Act. I agree with the Pew Food Safety Initiative, which supports the bill, that:  

"The FSMA contains key improvements that will enable federal authorities to better ensure the safety of the food supply by requiring food companies to implement preventive plans and meet performance standards for contaminants in food; creating a system for certifying the safety of imported foods; establishing a strong risk-based inspection regime for food companies; and granting the government explicit authority over all food-production facilities. The legislation also provides essential enforcement tools such as mandatory recall and civil penalties."  

However, I share the concerns of the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund which opposes the bill because it could be interpreted to impose onerous regulations on small farms, especially raw milk producers who are already unfairly targeted by state food-safety regulators. The bill should be amended to protect local and organic producers from burdensome one-size-fits-all legislation. We need a food safety system that is scale-appropriate and compatible with organic system plans. Organic and local food advocates like the Northeast Organic Farming Association's Leafy Greens Working Group and the Community Alliance with Family Farm's Family Farm Food Safety Campaign should have a seat at the table whenever food safety issues are discussed.   Hopefully, this bill will enhance the public debate over why the industrial food production system is so unsafe. The number one thing we could do to increase food safety among large-scale producers is to stop the factory farming of animals:
    
1. Animals should never be fed blood, manure or slaughterhouse waste.     

2. Cows need to eat grass.     

3. Animals need to be spread out on enough land to absorb their waste.  

The dangers to food safety of factory farms, also known as Confined Animal Feeding Operations, are well documented by the Organic Consumers Association, the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production, the Union of Concerned Scientists, and Food & Water Watch.  

Thank you for your attention to the important matter of food safety.    

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MORE INFO:

From: "Organic Consumers Association
Subject: Organic Bytes: Workers Rights, Toxins, Organic & Pandemic Threats, & More...
Date: 12 марта 2009 г. 11:13  

http://capwiz.com/grassrootsnetroots/issues/alert/?alertid=12878056  

Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009

Tell Congress to Improve Food Safety by Stopping Factory Farming Read about this bill HR 875, the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009, is a limited-vision attempt by moderate Democrats and Republicans to craft food safety legislation to address the out-of-control filth and contamination that are inherent in our industrialized, now globalized, "profit-at-any-cost" food system. This being said, OCA does not support HR 875 in its present form, given the fact that, if the bill's regulations were applied in a one-size-fits-all manner to certified organic and farm-to-consumer operations, it could have a devastating impact on small farmers, especially raw milk producers who are already unfairly targeted by state food-safety regulators. Although the OCA deems this bill somewhat well-intentioned, we are calling on Congress to focus its attention on the real threats to food safety: globalized food sourcing from nations such as China where food safety is a travesty and domestic industrial-scale and factory farms whose collateral damage includes pesticide and antibiotic-tainted food, mad cow disease, E.coli contamination and salmonella poisoning. And, of course, Congress and the Obama Administration need to support a massive transition to organic farming practices.

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