http://www.healthfreedomusa.org/?p=4014

SUMMARY:
In the absence of public scrutiny, the Obama administration is pushing new farm controls which will drive small and independent farmers off the land, literally leaving the field to Agribiz. More Push Back is needed for more protection for farmers, gardeners, community farming, all local food production (including yours!) and food processing.

ACTION ITEM TO PETITION SENATORS:
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/568/t/1128/campaign.jsp?campai...

UPDATE: Link to the 11/18/09 HELP Committee “mark-up meeting” –
http://help.senate.gov/Hearings/2009_11_18_E/2009_11_18_E.html

HELP Chairman Sen. Tom Harkin, mentioning “public concerns” (namely your Push Back!) and the Committee’s desire to protect family farms and organic agriculture, confirmed (about minute 58.5) that Codex Alimentarius (the so-called World Food Code) does not trump the Dietary Supplement Health and Safety Education Act of 1994 (the law that allows the USA to have the most potent nutrients and most vibrant nutrient market in the world) “DSHEA … governs the law here, not Codex standards…”

Chairmen Harkin further stated: the provision in bill that requires FDA to “make recommendations including whether to harmonize whth Codex does not signal any intent to move in a different direction on DSHEA…”

We are waiting for the “marked-up bill” to find out if it will in fact protect family farms and organic agriculture and only time will tell the value of the Senator’s promises about DSHEA.
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Natural Solutions Foundation
www.HealthFreedomUSA.org
The Voice of Global Health Freedom™

Farmers, Food and Freedom Under Attack…
Permalink: http://www.healthfreedomusa.org/?p=4014

The U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee (HELP Committee) will “mark-up” S.510, the Senate version of the (sic) “Food Safety” bill on Tuesday, November 18, 2009. This is the last step before a full Senate vote, which could happen in the next few days.

The Senate bill can be read at: http://www.thomas.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:S.510:

This bill has an even weaker Family Farm and Ranch, Community and Home Garden exemption than the bill (HR.2749) which passed the House at the end of July.

ACTION ITEM:
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/568/t/1128/campaign.jsp?campai...

NOTE: Even if you have already taken this Action Item, we encourage you, and every member of your family and circle of contacts to do so again since it has been amended to reflect the passage of HR 2749 on July 30, 2009 after two failed attempts on the previous days and recent action in the Senate. Now it is the Senate’s turn: if passed by the Senate, this Food Fascism Bill will guarantee the loss of clean, healthy food and independent farming in the US and the complete industrialization of the US food supply. Now the question is what will the Senate do?

You can email the HELP Committee here:
help_comments@help.senate.gov

(the Action Item also goes to the Committee email address, in addition to your Senators).

We did manage to get some protective exemptions into the bill for small farmers who sell food directly to consumers or to restaurants, but they are, frankly, weak and will not be enough to protect your food or our farmers. But the Senate bill has much weaker protections, just mentioning minor exemptions for restaurants once and farms twice.

We need to rally people immediately to submit this letter to the Senate and contact their Senators to demand accountable voting on this bill.

The Obama administration is pushing new farm controls which will drive small and independent farmers off the land, literally leaving the field to Agribiz, (implementing all of Codex through complete HARMonization and allowing the FDA to declare Marshal law) through Congress as fast as possible and have coordinated the bills so there will be no debate and committee meetings are closed.

Transparency, change, undoing Bush’s regulations, giving the public time to comment, grassroots anything? None are visible in the current legislative process. Our entire food system, and thus our health, is being given to the last people with any interest in quality or safety: Big Abgribiz. This is going on in the absence of public scrutiny. Those who do know what is happening, of course, have zero access to the process and to the major media. Meanwhile, the media is absent while Congress is moving at warp speed to sew this up.

There will be no direct, frontal assault on organic farming but an insidious process of “infecting” organic farming with regulations, “traceability” requirements, required practices and prohibitions enforced by truly draconian fines and prision terms for even minor offenses running to hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars and 8 years in prison for minor offenses.

Example: imagine Joel Salatin’s wonderful organic farm under the direction of the USDA, with detailed instructions on what he must feed and when, how he must medically “treat” his animals and with what, what he must “spray” and when, … you get the picture. These bills will industrialize all farms and insure the farmers are forced to buy chemicals and drugs. Organic is dead. As well as human control over the food supply. As well as health.

H.R. 2749 includes a weak exemption for farmer to consumer or restaurant sales because of the Push Back we generated. But the bill has now passed the House and it is imperative that it NOT pass the Senate. More Push Back is needed for more protection for farmers, gardeners, community farming, all local food production (including yours!) and food processing.

We’ve set up an Action Item for you to send an unmistakable message to your Senators. We must educate the Senate that you value organic farmers and small farming and do not do not want independent farmers regulated out of existence. You do not want “Big Agra” regulations applied to organic and small family farms and ranches or to natural/organic food products, including Dietary Supplements.

Our previous postings on this issue include: http://www.healthfreedomusa.org/?p=2287

We have prepared the below Petition to Congress for you to send to your Senators via the Action Item.

For Health and Freedom,

Ralph Fucetola JD
Natural Solutions Foundation Trustee
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PETITION

To Amend S.510 or Any Food Safety Modernization Act or Similar Bill
By the Addition of the
Natural and Family Food and Farming Exclusion Amendment

To: The Members of the Senate of the United States of America:

Whereas the proposed Food Safety Administration within the Department of Health and Human Services should focus its activities on the significant public administration issues involving the capacity of large scale, industrialized agriculture to threaten public safety,

Whereas organic and natural agriculture, family farms and ranches, and natural or organic food products, including dietary supplements are not a significant part of the food safety problem, and

Whereas Congress previously provided for an exemption for natural food dietary supplements from the increased agency authority granted by the FDA Modernization Act of 2007, through a rule of interpretation, added as section 1011 of that Act, and has on numerous occasions exempted small and family farms from the same level of regulation as has been deemed necessary in the case of industrialized agriculture,

The citizens ascribing to this Petition therefore hereby request that any Food Safety Modernization Act identical or similar to HR 2749 be defeated, or that it, or any substitute for it be amended to exclude organic and natural agriculture, family farms and ranches, and natural or organic food products, including dietary supplements, through a rule of interpretation, as follows:

“Rule of Interpretation

“No provision of this act shall be deemed to apply (a) to any home, home-business, homestead, home or community gardens, small farm, organic or natural agricultural activity, (b) to any family farm or ranch, or (c) to any natural or organic food product, including dietary supplements regulated under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994.”

We also note the language of the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 USC sec 203 (s) (2) which provides, “(2) Any establishment that has as its only regular employees the owner thereof or the parent, spouse, child, or other member of the immediate family of such owner shall not be considered to be an enterprise engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce or a part of such an enterprise…” Language such as this would be helpful to allay our concerns.

If the FDA Center for Food Safety is to be moved into a new Food Safety Agency, then Dietary Supplements, regulated as foods under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) should be included in such agency, with the proviso that such substances, as foods, are deemed safe when used as directed.

Furthermore, the ascribing citizens Petition the Congress of the United States to declare it the public policy of the United States that organic and natural agriculture, home and community gardens, family farms and ranches, and natural or organic food products, including dietary supplements shall be at all times free from suit, vexation, trouble, penalty, or loss of their goods, for the inestimable values they confer upon the public.

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Action Item:
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/568/t/1128/campaign.jsp?campai...

You know we need your help to defray the costs of this Action Item and to keep up the good food and freedom fight.
Please donate here: http://www.healthfreedomusa.org/?page_id=189