Say goodbye to cookies...

It may be close to time to say goodbye to cookies, jams, pies, and mixed greens at the farmers markets, or at least many of them. People who do any of these will be considered "Processes" under the bill which passed the house yesterday and as such subject to a $500 annual fee and inspections.

$500 may not seem like a lot, but it may be enough to keep small farms or small business people from trying to start doing "value added" products.

The ramifications of the bill may be a while in the making but it is time to let your senators know that you think this bill needs to be reworked as not to so heavily impact small producers and local economies. The Bill still needs to pass the senate but if it does that it is game over, because the president will not veto a bill to enhance food safety. No president would or politically could.

I will try to keep on top of this. It is amazing how hard it is to find information about it, but I suppose to most people it is a non-issue... I'm hoping YOU care about this though.

What to say...

I was speaking with a friend this afternoon and they said that when they called to talk about HR2749 they felt like a bumbling idiot. This is an intelligent person, she said she just didn't know what to say. Here is a simple script... Look up your representative's name find the number and just say this...

I am a constituent of Representative___________ and I am calling to ask him/her to support the Kaptur-Farr proposal to HR 2749, the Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009. I am also asking him/her to vote against HR 2749 unless the proposals included in the Kaptur-Farr letter are included in the final bill.

It may be too late, but we need to fight agaist this bill, or for the inclusion of this reasonable amendment... The problem is when you rush items through to fast things fall through the cracks. Things like small farmers.

ACTION NEEDED!!!

HR2749 was defeated yesterday in the house. It did not get the 2/3rds majority it needed to pass.

Today they are bringing it up again and this time it only needs a simple majority!

• "The small-producer lobby was less successful; the $500 per-facility fee remained in the version voted on Wednsday. In a Wednesday press release, Ferd Hoefner, policy director of the widely respected National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, said that some small-producer concerns had been taken care of in the version voted on Wednesday. In particular, farms that sell directly to consumers would have access to “limited exemptions from traceability and registration requirements” that would be onerous.
  But the legislation would stiill place double bookkeeping and traceability requirements on organic growers, who already follow similar procedures from the USDA’s National Organic Program. And even as it gives factory-scale livestock farms a free pass, the bill comes down hard on the wildlife that might—gasp!—trespass on farms. “The bill contains language that experience shows can do serious harm to wildlife and biodiversity, while failing to specify the positive role that conservation practices can play to address food safety concerns,” Hoefner says.
  All in all, Hoefner finds the bill wanting. “This bill ultimately had great potential to economically harm family farms as a result of overreaching provisions that do nothing to advance the important cause of food safety,” Hoefner declared."

It is probably way to late to do anything but try to call your represeantivies. If they feel a need to pass it at a minimum we should attempt to get it passed with the inclusion of the Kaptur-Farr amendment which would adress many of the issues. Read it Here and use it as speaking points when you call your congress people, whose numbers you can find here.

There is no time to waste...