The working on Capitol Hill may sense world away from farm life , but the Food Safety Modernization Act ( S.B. 510 ) , schedule for public debate today in the Senate , brings legislative issues to our front porch . A complex and controversial bill , S.B. 510 warrants examination and involvement , especially from the small-scale , house farm community .
Let ’s start with the meat ingredient behind the Food Safety Modernization Act that everyone , in theory , agrees on : the fundamental rightfield of all Americans to eat safe food and the need for meliorate checkpoints to achieve this .
While the concept seems wide-eyed and fundamental , when you start formulating the “ how ” behind ensuring such rights , complexity and disputation overspill . Over the past C , we develop from a country of granger to an industrialised food for thought system intricate in layers and instrumentalist . As Americans , we leaped from a country where the legal age of us regularly run through what ’s now know as the “ 100 - mile diet ” to one where we ca n’t say name on a soup can ’s constituent list , much less love where they came from .
The Act’s History
The current incorporated farming system inherently increases risk of exposure in the food supplying , and in many path , the Food Safety Modernization Act is run catch - up . It aims to regulate and check the nation ’s food supplying and the industrial - rooted problems created over the retiring 100 years .
propel by public cry on recalls of introductory kitchen staples like eggs , spinach and peanut butter , Senator Dick Durbin ( D - Ill. ) first introduced the note in March 2009 . The gist lawmaking goal is to increase the power of the Food and Drug Administration to better monitor and foreclose food - borne disease outbreaks , increasing the ability of the FDA to trace problems back to the seed and holding those party responsible .
While such general purpose may sound sane , S.B. 510 has the potential to aversely affect small farms because of a “ one size match all ” legislative approaching . By coerce agriculturalist of all sizes and locations to adhere to the same regulations , small operations wo n’t be able to afford the colligate monetary value , paperwork and metre commitment .
Amendments Support Small Farms
“ While the Food Safety Modernization Act take important steps to meliorate collective food for thought safety rule , it is not appropriate for small farms and central processor that betray to place like restaurants , food co - ops , farm brook and farmers ’ markets , ” excuse Annette Higby , grassroots coordinator for the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition , an advocacy chemical group representing more than 80 sustainable - agriculture groups across the body politic . “ As we rage up food - safety protections , it ’s decisive that we do n’t inadvertently do hurt by imposing expensive , ‘ one size meet all ’ rules . ”
To address these concerns , humble farm and sustainable - agriculture advocacy organization like NSAC are champion two amendment that will be extend when S.B. 510 hits the Senate storey :
“ farmer need to call back that it is important that we apportion our stories and experience with our elect officials and that we act an important persona in the legislation process if we make our vox heard , ” explain Gini Knight , a Wisconsin - based farmer who just finished the first growing season of her operation , Sweet Magnolia Farm . “ Unfortunately , there are increase barriers for small scale of measurement farmers and we must keep ourselves informed and engaged when legislation like the Food Safety Modernization Act come up in order of magnitude to conserve our nation ’s family farms . ”
