Guest guest Posted May 20, 2010 Report Share Posted May 20, 2010 Another threat! Let's all defend our right to local, grassfed meat from the family farm! Sara eNewsletter Summer Delivery Date June 17th July 22nd August 26th Important Newsletter Contents News from the Farm News from the Red Tail Valley Click here to send this to a friend Click here to subscribe News from the Farm Hello Friends, The Food Safety and Inspection Services (FSIS) division of the United State Department of Agriculture (USDA) is proposing new rules which will impact small meats processors greatly and potentially make meats from here at Pastures A Plenty and Red Tail Valley unavailable for you to buy. As we understand it, Belgrade Meat Center, our processor, would be required to submit their products (our meats) to as many as thirteen tests per product, costing perhaps $10,000 per product to initiate and another $3500 annually to maintain. Consider then the fact that we offer about 40 different processed beef and pork products in addition to all the fresh cuts and you can begin to see the size of the problem. Implementation of these kinds of requirements will shut us down! Here is what we would like you to do before June 19th: • Call USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack at . Tell him that these rules run exactly counter to the USDA's much ballyhooed local foods " Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food " campaign. You will not reach the Secretary. Try to get to someone responsible and leave a message with him/her. • Submit a written comment. E-mail a message to DraftValidationGuideComments@... or mail comment to: Docket Clerk USDA FSIS, Room 2-2127 5601 Sunnyside Avenue Beltsville, MD 20705 Remember to make it personal. This is your government and your USDA. If you eat, you have a right to be heard on agricultural issues. Tell them you want to choose the food you will eat, that you want to buy locally, that you want to support local rural economies, that you want to eat meats from animals that have been humanely raised and slaughtered, or whatever else you feel strongly about. You have every right to do this and you should expect to be heard! Hints and Tips: Remind them that they have not made the case that small processors are a danger, and that it is large processors that are involved in every food safety news story you see. Ask them why federal inspectors do not have the power to stop slaughter at major plants if they see something bad. Remind them that the state equal-to system, which is the licensing under which Belgrade Meat Center operates, has the built in safety that the meats are marketed in state only. And remind them that healthy, wholesome local meats are an important part of the fight against obesity in our nation. Thank you for speaking up for farms like ours! Josh and Van Der Pol Jim and LeeAnn Van Der Pol Terry Van Der Pol To order contact us at shop@... or 1- Pastures A Plenty! Jim, LeeAnn, Josh, ,Terry And Dean Farm Number 1- Cell Number Cell number Josh Cell Number Jim & LeeAnn Cell number Terry You are subscribed as mom2hns@.... To unsubscribe please click here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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