Within the next week, the U.S. Senate is expected to bring the long-awaited S.510, the Food Safety Modernization Act to the floor for a final vote. Last summer, the House passed their version, HR 2749, the Food Safety Enhancement Act, to address the concerns of consumer advocacy groups regarding the safety of the U.S. food system after a series of high-profile outbreaks and the resulting recalls.

While everyone agrees that ensuring a safe food supply for Americans is a must, sustainable agriculture groups have raised concerns about the proposed legislation arguing that excessive traceback and recordkeeping requirements, along with additional preventative control plan requirements are unnecessarily burdensome and harmful for small farms selling direct to consumers and institutions. These are the kinds of regulations that are necessary for larger operations but become detrimental when applied to family-scale farms and micro-enterprises involved in value-added processing and distribution.

The Community Farm Alliance has signed onto a letter submitted to all 100 U.S. Senators by the Western Organization of Resource Councils (WORC) and Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance (FARFA) urging them to support Montana Senator Jon Tester’s proposed floor amendments that would make S. 510 friendlier to direct-market farms in three ways:

1) Exempt farms (and other facilities) generated less than $500,000 in annual adjusted gross income from hazard analysis and risk-based preventive controls (HACCP; under Section 103);

2) Exempt farms (and other facilities) generated less than $500,000 in annual adjusted gross income from traceback and recordkeeping requirements (under Section 204);

3) Exempt direct market farms from new FDA produce standards (under Section 105).

In addition, the letter goes on to say that “Farmers and processors who sell directly to consumers and end users have a direct relationship with their customers that ensures quality, safety, transparency, and accountability. In addition, small-scale food producers are already regulated by local and state authorities, and the potential risk their products pose is inherently limited by their size.”

The more than 100 national and statewide organizations that signed onto the letter also expressed concern over the FDA being granted new powers to dictate growing and harvesting practices for produce. The FDA has traditionally been involved in regulating food, not crops.

It is important to note that while S. 510 still needs some work, as signified by Tester’s amendment, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition has worked closely with Senators in the nearly five month interim since it was reported out of committee to address other areas of concern before the bill hits the floor. These changes include allowing the FDA to exempt no-risk or low risk farms from regulation; reduce unnecessary paperwork and excess regulation; the addition of a competitive grants program for food safety training for farms, small processers, and wholesalers; and strip “animal encroachment” language from the bill that would have threatened wildlife near farms. These changes along with others made in November when the bill was still in committee, greatly improve S.510, and with the addition of Tester’s amendments (should they be adopted on the floor), would make it something worth supporting.

Contact

Senator Jim Bunning

Phone: 202-224-4343

Email: (web form) Click Here for a Web form

Senator Mitch McConnell

Phone: 202-224-2541

Email: (web form) Click Here for a Web Form

Below is a sample message that you can use while talking or writing your Senator. You are also encouraged to tell your story of how locally grown produce has impacted your life, whether you are a consumer or a farmer.

Sample Message:

While I support and encourage efforts to pursue a safer food supply for all Americans, I am concerned that the current Food Safety Modernization Act (S.510) before the Senate could potentially harm family-scale farmers here in Kentucky by burdening them with excessive traceback and recordkeeping requirements and by requiring them to develop a HACCP plan. I encourage you to support Senator Jon Tester’s amendment that would exempt farms generating less than a $500,000 a year from such requirements as well as exempt direct market farms from new FDA produce standards. One size does not fit all when it comes to food safety; and while these requirements are necessary for larger producers, they have the effect of hurting small farms and micro-processing enterprises that are becoming more vital to the economies of our rural communities.

Q&A: NSAC Policy Director on S. 510, II Food Safety News 04/29/10

Q&A: NSAC Policy Director on S. 510 Food Safety News 04/28/10

Farmers Gain in Senate Food Safety Battle Food Safety News 04/15/10

Sustainable Ag Perpective I Food Safety News 01/03/10

Sustainable Ag Perpective II Food Safety News 01/04/10

Sustainable Ag Perpective III Food Safety News 01/05/10

NSAC Recent Food Safety Bill Improvements National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, April 2010

FARFA Sign-on Letter Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance, April 2010

S.510: The Food Safety Modernization Act

HR. 2749: The Food Safety Enhancement Act