US about to ban organic farming

[Ridgerunner]

13) FOOD ESTABLISHMENT-

(A) IN GENERAL- The term ‘food establishment’ means a slaughterhouse (except those regulated under the Federal Meat Inspection Act or the Poultry Products Inspection Act), factory, warehouse, or facility owned or operated by a person located in any State that processes food or a facility that holds, stores, or transports food or food ingredients.

(B) EXCLUSIONS- For the purposes of registration, the term ‘food establishment’ does not include a food production facility as defined in paragraph (14), restaurant, other retail food establishment, nonprofit food establishment in which food is prepared for or served directly to the consumer, or fishing vessel (other than a fishing vessel engaged in processing, as that term is defined in section 123.3 of title 21, Code of Federal Regulations).

(14) FOOD PRODUCTION FACILITY- The term ‘food production facility’ means any farm, ranch, orchard, vineyard, aquaculture facility, or confined animal-feeding operation.

I find the excluions part of the bill informative. This bill is clearly aimed at the Chinese imports and the recent pistaccio and peanut paste problems. It has nothing to do with organic gardening nor does it apply to anyone not engaged in commerce.

Just my opinion after reading portions of the proposed bill.

 

[FunnyFarmer]

I also read through the bill, and it doesn't seem aimed at small backyard producers at all, or really even at farms. It's mostly targeting processing and packaging facilities, and imported stuff. If the gvt was really going after people's veggie gardens I'd think the seed companies like Burpee would be hollering. Not, mind you, that I particularly trust the gvt, but in this case I don't think they're out to get us.

Erika

 

[mistylady]

I don't trust anything written in Governmenteese language. Any loop hole or area that is not completely defined is an opening for them. But then I don't trust the government!

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-875 Actual bill

Questions page scroll down a bit to get to the section.

http://www.govtrack.us/users/questions.xpd?topic=bill:h111-875

how many fruit trees make an orchard? cows a dairy farm? acres a farm? - Show 7 Answers
A1: This bill does not refer to a size of a business. It only refers to sale of food for human and animal consumption, storage and slaughter. In the US and international. [Answer submitted on Mar 8, 2009 9:34 PM]
A2: International is a misnomer. It says "foreign" entity. A foreign entity is an business not located on a federal reserve. [Answer submitted on Mar 10, 2009 2:30 PM]
A3: The fact it does not refer to the size of a business, makes this bill have the ability to zero in on an individual making preserves at home to sell at a farmer's market. [Answer submitted on Mar 11, 2009 2:02 PM]
A4: This would effectively eliminate 4H animal projects, which are traditionally sold at auction as part of the county or state fair at which they compete. [Answer submitted on Mar 12, 2009 8:50 AM]
A5: As a farmer, my guess is that the definition of a "farm" is not based so much on size as whether or not you sell your produce. Although I'm sure there are plenty of people who will tell you that the writers of this bill have deliberately left that open for interpretation... and, incidentally, at our local farmer's markets (here in California) all prepared foods, such as preserves, must be made in an inspected commercial kitchen ? no way could you get away with making them at home in your kitchen. The food-safety regulations currently in place are already pretty extreme, at least around here, but farmers are a tenacious lot and we're pretty good at jumping through hoops to do what we love... so I wouldn't kiss the organic farm goodbye just yet. [Answer submitted on Mar 23, 2009 1:40 PM]
A6: Does this mean that we could not have a single milk cow or goat and sell the baby calf to the neighbor or on craigs list for someone personal use? Does this bill effectively stop any sell of anything no matter how small? [Answer submitted on Mar 23, 2009 6:15 PM]
A7: This is all about perspective...while it may become illegal to sell organic produce, you can still barter. [Answer submitted on Mar 24, 2009 1:30 PM]

 

[Wifezilla]

Exactly misty. WAAAYYY too much is left open to interpretation.

 

[unclejoe]

Quote:
I must respectfully disagree with you. This is just another chip in the way the government is stripping away the personal freedoms of the American people. Politicians aren't naive enough to think they can take an ax to our liberties so they use a pocketknife to slowly whittle away at them and most people don't notice or shrug their shoulders and say "Well, it's not that big of a deal." Look back at the anti-hoarding laws of the early 20th century which are still on the books today and can be invoked at any time. In 1918 a US Navy medical director was arrested and fined for having too much food in his possession. Here is the full article.
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=940CEEDD1238EE32A25753C3A9639C946996D6CF

Once you have established yourself as a "food producer" by registering your premises with NAIS, you have opened the door for the government to, in a time of crises or "national emergency", come to your house and take your "excess" (more than 30 days worth) and redistribute it for the common good under the food hoarding law. Don't get me wrong. I have no problem with helping people in need, but to have someone come and commandeer my winter stores is simply not acceptable. I work hard to grow and preserve enough to see me through to the next harvest. Would something like this happen? Maybe ... Maybe not. Personally, I won't put our family in that situation. I won't be registering with NAIS. JMHO.

 

[Wifezilla]

Thanks for that perspective Uncle Joe.

I wont be registering either.

 

[mistylady]

Those anti-hoarding laws are really scary. I'm going to be a criminal for so many reasons. And I've never hurt anyone. My animals will not be registered either.



http://www.standeyo.com/News_Files/Exec.Orders/EOs.html

"So Where Do Anti-Hoarding Laws Come In?

These ideas of anti-hoarding legislation may have stemmed from two areas of confusion:

First is from Executive Orders in place dating back to 1939 which Clinton has grouped together under one order, EO #12919 released on June 6, 1994. The following EOs all fall under EO#12919:

10995--Federal seizure of all communications media in the US;
10997--Federal seizure of all electric power, fuels, minerals, public and private;
10998--Federal seizure of all food supplies and resources, public and private and all farms and equipment;
10999--Federal seizure of all means of transportation, including cars, trucks, or vehicles of any kind and total control over all highways, seaports and water ways;
11000--Federal seizure of American people for work forces under federal supervision, including the splitting up of families if the government so desires;
11001--Federal seizure of all health, education and welfare facilities, both public and private;
11002--Empowers the Postmaster General to register every single person in the US
11003--Federal seizure of all airports and aircraft;
11004--Federal seizure of all housing and finances and authority to establish forced relocation. Authority to designate areas to be abandoned as "unsafe," establish new locations for populations, relocate communities, build new housing with public funds;
11005--Seizure of all railroads, inland waterways and storage facilities, both public and private;
11051--Provides FEMA complete authorization to put above orders into effect in times of increased international tension of economic or financial crisis (FEMA will be in control incase of "National Emergency").



These EOs are not aimed at anti-hoarding but rather at seizure or confiscation of items and facilities "to provide a state of readiness in these resource areas with respect to all conditions of national emergency, including attack upon the United States." You'll find most 'seizure' legislation ends with this phrase. These Executive Orders don't define what specifically constitutes a national emergency and maybe this is as it should be. The specifics on hoarding are left up to the individual states.

What Is FEMA's Role?

EO #11051 is interesting; it authorizes FEMA near-total power in times of crisis. There's been lots of discussion on the Internet regarding the excessive control FEMA has been granted and it was pointedly commented upon in July's world premiere movie release of the "X-Files". "