Urgent Action Alert on Food Safety Legislation

[Guest guest]

This is urgent, friends.

D.

moderator

>

> URGENT ACTION ALERT ON FOOD SAFETY LEGISLATION

>

> The Senate is coming back for the lame duck session, and the Food

> Safety Modernization Act (S.510) is scheduled for a cloture vote

> this week. We have asked you to take action on this issue several

> times this year, and now were in the final push. It is critical

> that you call your Senators NOW to urge them to amend or oppose S.510!

>

> S.510 greatly expands FDAs authority over both processed foods and

> fresh fruits and vegetables, and would give FDA authority to impose

> extensive, burdensome requirements on even the smallest processing

> facilities and farms that sell to local consumers.

>

> We need the Tester-Hagan amendment to protect our vulnerable local

> food producers!

>

> TAKE ACTION

>

> Please call BOTH of your Senators. You can find their contact

> information at www.Senate.gov or by calling the Capitol Switchboard

> at .

>

> Urge your Senators to amend or oppose S.510, and specifically to:

>

> 1) SUPPORT the TESTER-HAGAN AMENDMENT to prevent the imposition of

> new federal regulations on small-scale, direct-marketing producers.

>

> 2) OPPOSE any amendment to add criminal penalties to S.510.

>

> As it is currently written, S.510 would make our food supply LESS

> safe by harming local producers, increasing our reliance on imported

> foods due to the burden on domestic producers, and giving FDA new

> powers without holding the agency accountable for its failures.

>

> TALKING POINTS

>

> 1. Small, local food producers have not contributed to the highly

> publicized foodborne illness outbreaks and should not be subjected

> to extensive new federal regulation. Although S. 510 includes some

> provisions that call for flexibility, the bills current language

> still imposes extensive new requirements on even the smallest

> farmers and food producers. State and local regulation have already

> proven to be enough for local food producers; we dont need new

> federal regulations.

>

> 2. Increased regulations and record-keeping obligations could

> destroy small businesses that bring both jobs and food to local

> communities. In this time of economic hardship, we need more local

> food businesses! Congress should work to reduce regulatory burdens

> on them, not increase them.

>

> 3. Food safety and security both come from a diversified, vibrant

> local food system. Local foods give consumers the choice to buy

> from producers they know, creating a transparent, accountable food

> system without federal government oversight.

>

> 4. Additional FDA regulation is counterproductive. FDA has not

> used its existing authority well. Instead of focusing its resources

> on the problems posed by imported foods and large processing

> facilities, FDA has chosen to target small processors. While

> approving unlabeled GMOs to enter our food supply, it has opposed

> raw milk and interfered with the free choice of informed adults who

> want access to this healthy food. Simply giving FDA increased

> authority and power will not improve the food supply unless Congress

> requires the agency to focus on Agribusiness and not small, local

> producers.

>

> 5. Increased regulation of our domestic food suppliers will lead to

> greater dependence on imported foods, harming both our economy and

> our security. The bill will create incentives for retailers to

> import more food from other countries, because it will burden family

> farms and small business and because it will be practically

> impossible to hold foreign food facilities to the same standards and

> inspections. The bill will create a considerable competitive

> disadvantage for ALL U.S. agriculture and food production (see

> analysis at http://ftcldf.org/news/news-20Oct2009-2.html).

>

> 6. S.510 does not address many of the fundamental problems with our

> food. The bill does not cover the factory livestock farms that are

> the source of dangerous E. coli 0157:H7, nor does it address issues

> such as BPA, pesticide and herbicide contamination, GMOs, or the

> many other contaminants that impact our health. It is not

> productive to focus on bacterial contamination and nothing else.

>

>

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