Community Alliance with Family Farmers

POLICY :: Food Safety

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Federal Food Safety News and Legislation (last updated December 10, 2009)

Recent food-related illnesses and deaths from processed peanuts, Mexican chiles, Chinese pet food ingredients, fresh-cut leafy greens, and an upsurge in contamination of meat has led to a renewed effort to reform food safety laws and agencies in Washington DC.

The legislative effort in 2009 was at first centered in the House of Representatives’ Energy and Commerce Committee, chaired by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Los Angeles). The Committee passed a food safety bill (HR 2749) at the beginning of the summer. For more information, please download the text of the bill. You may also read the Farr/Kaptur letter of needed amendments that CAFF supported. Now the issue is being debated in the Senate, and the bill is S 510. This bill has passed out of Tom Harkin’s HELP Committee and will be taken up on the floor of the Senate when there is time. You can view the “Chairman’s Mark” of the bill here and view the November 18 committee hearing here. You can also read the letter that the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition sent to the Committee on behalf of groups around the country, expressing our concerns about potential impacts on family farms and sustainable farming practices.

CAFF is not happy with the inclusion of explicit authority for the FDA to promulgate mandatory on-farm food safety practices for fruits and vegetables. There is a tendency in such regulations to create “one-size-fits-all” metrics that in fact are inappropriate for most farmers who do not grow large tracts of individual crops. And we believe that the FDA’s own data show that whole raw commodities are not what is making people ill, rather it is processed products, such as the fresh-cut leafy greens in plastic bags.

Family farmers have a lot to fear from the FDA and the state health agencies bringing a “sterile” attitude to farms. We have written up what happened in the California sprouts industry after the FDA decided that all sprouts were dangerous.

Take Action

CAFF is working with a variety of sustainable agriculture organizations around the country to amend the bill so that the FDA is given the right instructions and so that direct marketing is exempted from onerous regulation.

Contact your U.S. Representative with the message: “Keep the FDA off the farms. Focus on the high-risk activities—food processing and imported food.”

Read the July 24, 2009 action alert concerning HR 2749.

Read CAFF's July 31, 2009 update on HR 2749.

Press

Links to Hearings

  • June 3, 2009 hearing Food Safety Enhancement Act: the Subcommittee on Health of the House Energy and Commerce Committee met to discuss views from FDA and other stakeholders on this legislation.
  • July 16, 2009 hearing The Full House Committee on Agriculture met to review current issues in food safety.

National Farmers Union

  • See testimony from the House Agriculture Committee hearing
  • Download the National Farmers Union letter to the House Energy and Commerce Committee regarding HR 2749

National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition

  • Download the NSAC Food Safety Policy Brief (December 10, 2009)
  • Read the Farr/Kaptur letter of needed amendments that CAFF supports (July 23, 2009)
  • Download NSAC's policy alert concerning HR 2749 (July 24, 2009)
  • Download the press release "House Rejects Food Safety Bill with Regressive Fee on Farmers" (July 29, 2009)
  • Read the final NSAC statement on HR 2749 after House passage of the bill (July 31, 2009)

Statements by other Sustainable Agriculture organizations

 

 

 What You Can Do about Food Safety, E. coli, & Leafy Green regulations
  1. Get the facts
  2. Take action and stay informed
  3. Donate to the campaign

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