**Will it be illegal to grow my own food? WHAT????**

[FarmerJamie]

I sent my Senators a note complaining about the lack of specificy in the bill, Here is Sherrod Brown, D-OH, response:

Thank you for sharing your thoughts about S.510, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Food Safety Modernization Act.

This legislation would give the FDA new authority and resources to address the food safety issues in our country. In addition, it would increase the frequency of inspections in all food facilities, and would allow the FDA to recall dangerous food products if a company fails to recall a product at the FDA’s request.

I appreciate hearing your views on this legislation. While improving our food traceability system is a high priority for me, I have concerns about creating new and un-called for requirements for farmers. As food safety legislation continues to be discussed in Congress, I will work to ensure that our farm sector is protected, and that Americans do not have to worry about the safety of the food on their dinner tables.

Should S.510 come before the Senate for consideration, I will certainly keep your views in mind. Thank you for getting in touch with me.

 

[noodleroo]

The senate may not be done yet; it seems they included language in the bill that they (constitutionally)don't have the right to do - the house isn't happy about it and may send it back for them to fix. Here's a link on it:
http://www.rollcall.com/news/-201012-1.html

 

[LittleHouseOnThePrairie]

I consider myself fairly well-educated, but these bills are really difficult to understand. However, I plowed through the whole thing and found the following statements. They seems to specifically exempt those of us who would qualify as backyard chicken enthusiasts who sell eggs. Unless you are netting more than $500,000 annually by selling the golden ones!

‘(f) Exemption for Direct Farm Marketing-

‘(1) IN GENERAL- A farm shall be exempt from the requirements under this section in a calendar year if--

‘(A) during the previous 3-year period, the average annual monetary value of the food sold by such farm directly to qualified end-users during such period exceeded
the average annual monetary value of the food sold by such farm to all other buyers during such period; and

‘(B) the average annual monetary value of all food sold during such period was less than $500,000, adjusted for inflation.

‘(4) DEFINITIONS-

‘(A) QUALIFIED END-USER- In this subsection, the term ‘qualified end-user’, with respect to a food means--

‘(i) the consumer of the food; or

‘(ii) a restaurant or retail food establishment (as those terms are defined by the Secretary for purposes of section 415) that is located--

‘(I) in the same State as the farm that produced the food; or

‘(II) not more than 275 miles from such farm.

 

[Ridgerunner]

What's the latest on the Tester Amendment? I'm hoping someone knows so I don't have to dig through and try to find it. Part of that is me being lazy and part is trying to avoid the frustration of getting anything correctly dated and actually accurate off the internet. Part of it too is understanding what is actually said the way they are written. It sounds like LittleHouseOnThePrairie's post is from the Tester Amendment since that language is different and less restrictive than the last time I read the bill.

The most restrictive measure I've seen on this exempts places that consume what they produce, so most of us won't be affected concerning what we produce. If you sell products locally, then you might be affected. The Tester Amendment was to loosen those restrictions some. If you sell interstate or internationally, then you will be affected. Part of the reason for relaxing the requirements on the little guy is that if they sell tainted food at a farmer's market, they will only sicken or kill a few people. If a big company did that, thousands would be at risk.

Part of this bill is to put some restrictions on food being imported from other countries. I personally would prefer to have some assurances that seafood imported from China, Vietnam or wherever and served in a restaurant or sold in the store was not raised in sewage water. I'd also like some assurances that seafood raised in the US is not raised in sewage water either, but I guess that is OK as long as it does not cross state lines.

 

[Damummis]

The following is on Hotair.com. Brought to the attention of the folks over on Byc sister SS site by SKR8PN.



Apparently, no one told Harry Reid to check Article I, Section 7 of the Constitution before passing S510, the food-safety bill that Democrats hailed as a major lame-duck session achievement earlier this week — and which ran afoul of their own party in the House. Section 107 of the bill raises taxes, and as any Constitutional scholar can attest — or anyone else who has actually read the document that Senators swore to uphold when taking office — only the House of Representatives has that power:
A food safety bill that has burned up precious days of the Senate’s lame-duck session appears headed back to the chamber because Democrats violated a constitutional provision requiring that tax provisions originate in the House.
By pre-empting the House’s tax-writing authority, Senate Democrats appear to have touched off a power struggle with members of their own party in the House. The Senate passed the bill Tuesday, sending it to the House, but House Democrats are expected to use a procedure known as “blue slipping” to block the bill, according to House and Senate GOP aides.
The debacle could prove to be a major embarrassment for Senate Democrats, who sought Tuesday to make the relatively unknown bill a major political issue by sending out numerous news releases trumpeting its passage.
Section 107 of the bill includes a set of fees that are classified as revenue raisers, which are technically taxes under the Constitution. According to a House GOP leadership aide, that section has ruffled the feathers of Ways and Means Committee Democrats, who are expected to use the blue slip process to block completion of the bill.
Now what? The House will either block the bill entirely or pass its own version of it. The latter option will mean that Reid will have to hold a vote to reopen debate on the bill, and will need unanimous consent to limit that debate. Otherwise, it could take the rest of the legislative calendar in the Senate to move the bill before the session ends and the bill has to be reintroduced. Even if the House cooperated, the bill could later be challenged in court as being procedurally deficient.
Reid can forget about unanimous consent. Roll Call notes that Tom Coburn won’t agree to it due to his strong opposition to the bill in any form. Meanwhile, the issue will continue to draw attention to Democrats’ continued expansion of the regulatory state while ignoring jobs and the budget.
Yesterday, Senate Democrats were crowing about this bill. Today, they’ll be eating crow.

It has 2 more steps before it is law. There is still hope, maybe.

 

[LittleHouseOnThePrairie]

The language I copied from the bill can be found at:
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=s111-510

I want to be able to grow my own veggies, produce my own eggs (okay, I'll have my hens do that for me!

), and give and sell the extras. I've always dreamed of having one of those small truck farms where people purchase a "contract" for the season and I supply them with a weekly supply of whatever comes from my garden at that time. But I also want to know that we won't have tainted formula like China produced, mass production of commercial eggs tainted with salmonella, celery that has been watered with sewage, and killer tomatoes. Here's hoping that the debate and negotiations around this bill can focus on what is good for our country and all of us as citizens and not become (yet another

) nasty and egotistical partisan battle!

 

[Dunkopf]

Quote:
That's funny the way the source turned the tables. The dems are stopping job creation. That's quite a hoot.

The House version of the bill had an exemption in it for small producers. The Senate version doesn't. Reason. Because someone in the Senate took the exemption out under pressure from large producers. I'm not sure which party that someone is in but I would be willing to bet they don't have a D in front of their name. Coburn won't agree to the bill because of his strong ties with large producers that contribute heavily to his campaign fund. This bill gives the FDA the ability to initiate recalls instead of relying on the company poisoning the people to do it voluntarily. Good reason for the big producers to spend heavily on the politicians they know will help them.

Yep that was a stupid slip up by Reid. He's probably taking money too.

 

[Moabite]

Quote:
That is the news I've been looking for! Thank you so much. Having local food produced with love should be part of each communities future!

 

[Wolfwoman]

I am not usually too worked up about politics, but this seemed worth sending out as a repost ....kind of insane!!!

Here is what I received earlier that I want to share:

Hello-

Most of you have probably heard, our United States Senate PASSED the S 510 Bill and it is now going to the House for approval. This law makes growing your own food ILLEGAL. It makes keeping your own seeds ILLEGAL. It classifies giving neighbors food that you grew as SMUGGLING. It makes the sale of food at Farmer's Markets ILLEGAL.

If you live in the United States, we need a massive movement to stop S 510. I cannot believe the Senate passed it this morning!

Here is a link that will show you how to contact the government in your state: http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/568/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=5270

This bill mentions CODEX, The World Trade Organization, and places our food control in the hands of U.S. Homeland Security.

Please help spread the word!

 

[Damummis]

And back to the senate it goes.