They want to make it ALL illegal. What do you think of Senate Bill 510

[Wifezilla]

My greatest concern with these kinds of regulations is that it becomes cheaper for the regulating industry to pick on the small operator when it comes time to show that they are doing their job.

BINGO! Because small operators are not usually politically connected nor do they employ a fulltime army of lawyers.​

 

[poltroon]

Those seeds (so far) include:

*seeds eaten raw such as flax, poppy sesame, etc.;
*sprouting seeds such as wheat, beans, alfalfa, most greens, etc.;
*seeds pressed into oils such as corn, sunflower, canola, etc.;
*seeds used as animal feed such as soy ….

"sprouting seeds" does not mean seeds for planting for a mature crop, but seeds used for making sprouts to be eaten in the baby stage, as in a salad or sandwich. There have been many foodborne illness outbreaks due to these kinds of sprouts.​

 

[Ridgerunner]

Quote:
Exactly. You are not going to convince me and I will not convince you. Most of the people that read this thread already have their minds made up and cannot be convinced otherwise no matter what either of us say. Our target audience is that small percent of people that have not made their mind up yet.

If you don't trust your government, nothing is going to change your mind. We just look at things differently. With 76,000,000 food related illnesses in the US every year and our current health care costs, I see a possibility to do something meaningful that may actually help us. If you consider that as the government just trying to get more control over us, that is your business. We just have different perspectives. Last time I read the Constitution, that is allowed.

 

[buildingmyark]

Quote:
"sprouting seeds" does not mean seeds for planting for a mature crop, but seeds used for making sprouts to be eaten in the baby stage, as in a salad or sandwich. There have been many foodborne illness outbreaks due to these kinds of sprouts.

Exactly. Pretty sure those seeds are actually the same seeds planted to grow a mature plant.

1. There is a small list inside the FDA called “sources of seed contamination” and
2. The FDA has now defined “seed” as food,
3. So seeds can now be controlled through “food safety.”

 

[HHandbasket]

I trust my government about as much as I trusted my parents--I think they'll be there for us in an emergency, but in day-to-day life, they suck.

That being said, though, and having heard and read several discussions in several places about this bill, I have come to the conclusion that there are some really, really good things about it and some really bad things about it. The good thing in the bill is that it will hold large production facilities accountable if they produce and distribute contaminated food, and I think they've been getting away with that for far too long, so in that respect, this is good legislation that is past due.

For the record, I'm politically very moderate and try to look at both sides of things like this. I don't think the intent with this bill is to beat down hobby farmers and small operations--the government doesn't have the time or manpower to enforce this to every small-time farmer/food-grower/backyard gardener in the country. If they did, the thousands of families in Sacramento city who have illegal chickens would have been caught and fined and jailed a long time ago! (For the record, I live outside of city limits by half a block neener neener.) As far as SB 510 is concerned, though, while I think it may have an element of another attempt at government stretching/reaching into our everyday freedoms, I think there's more good in it than bad & I don't think the purpose is to criminalize small-time farmers or people who grow backyard gardens.

BTW, food seeds have *always* been defined by the FDA as food. You have always been able to buy them with food stamps.

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

 

[PortageGirl]

Thank you for that bit of reasonable common sense HHandbasket, and Ridgerunner, and Joanne WI. I am certainly watching and trying to view this legislation carefully, but I do not buy into the whole 'they're out to get us' viewpoint. We DO need some regulation on foods, and thanks to the elected officials in office, and their varying opinions about how things will be written, nothing written is going to be perfect.

I do not see this bill as some conspiracy, it's written by imperfect human beings, and is an imperfect document. These sorts of things go on a lot, and have gone on for at least 200 years. the kinks get worked out and always have. It's not perfect but nothing is.

//edit to add// my parents were extremely dependable, I trusted them MUCH more than I trust the government

But, I don't fear my government either, being watchful is good, fear is not and I'm somewhat sorry for those who feel that way, it must be very worrisome.

 

[JoAnn_WI_4-H_Mom]

I do not believe there is a collective consciousness that is acquired when you take a government paid job or get elected.

I am more afraid of the influence of large multi-national corporations who seem to act soul-lessly than I am of "the Government".

We have seen with the health care bill that insurance industry leaders got involved in the wording. Our govenrment doesn't have the time to figure out the wording themselves apparently, even if many of them are lawyers

.

Immediately after passing, the proponents stated that the bill prevented children from being excluded for pre-existing conditions. The insurance industry replied that they could still exclude such children based on such-and-such a clause that the industry had careful included in the wording.

The industry was just trying to safeguard their profit margin and business plan. Let's admit it, don't we all?

This bill seems to suffer from large food producers getting it written to benefit themselves as much as possible.

"The Government" and "They" are "out to get us" or "not trustable" always makes me wonder. I do not see a group of government officials who sit around all day trying to figure out how to tyranize the population and reduce the number of rights the average person has. What possible benefit could it be to "the government" to do that? These are inidvidual people, and there has to be some motivation for the individual for such a plan.

I believe we are more in danger from individual greed. malice or ignorance put in a position of power than a collective "the government" as a whole being "out to get us". If our individual elected officials take bribes or promises of future jobs, or are simply careless, and allow industries to write their own regulations, then it is our job to vote them out. These forums where we share accurate information about what bills actually say and how they probably will be applied and how they possibly could be applied are great for keeping our representatives from straying down that path. We need to let them know we are watching and listening.

Where it will get dicey is when the bill is subjectively applied by individual officials who are not elected. The folks in our area would jump all over any inspector who went after a small producer while ignoring attrocities by larger producers. That's what investigative journalism is for. That's what talking to your caring elected officials is for. We can get after those individuals and should.

But I am reluctant to broadly state "the government can do nothing right, they have only bad intentions towards the general public, they cannot be trusted".

I know there are many that feel much more comfortable making that statement, and that I will not convince them otherwise.

Thanks for the soap box. That felt good.

 

[GardenerGal]

Well said, Jo_Ann. It truly is about corporate power and profits. Just like NAIS (National Animal ID System) profitting the big meat/poultry industries. I'm glad you got on the soapbox.

 

[draye]

JoAnn_WI_4-H_Mom

I believe we are more in danger from individual greed. malice or ignorance put in a position of power than a collective "the government" as a whole being "out to get us". If our individual elected officials take bribes or promises of future jobs, or are simply careless, and allow industries to write their own regulations, then it is our job to vote them out. These forums where we share accurate information about what bills actually say and how they probably will be applied and how they possibly could be applied are great for keeping our representatives from straying down that path. We need to let them know we are watching and listening

.​

Exactly they need to be voted out, but people keep electing the same idiots back in time after time, sometime to even a higher positon than before, so we keep getting the same old ...............Over and over again. Then add to that more idiots wiht even more power.​

 

[omahalostpunk]

How is saving back seed to plant next year a health risk? All it can do is say a person from having to buy it the next year when the price is marked up again. I don't know much about crop diseases or food diseases. I do know that when you harvest you wash it before you eat. I can't see how that seed can make me sick.