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Food Safety and Small Farm Justice

by Jim Goodman 04-08-2009 | 5:00pm
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HR 875 The Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009 has gotten considerable attention lately and that is a very good thing, people should be concerned about food safety and more specifically how their food is produced. One thing I have learned as a Farmers Market vendor for the past 12 years, there is nothing like a food safety scare to move people to 'know their farmer". There are currently three food safety bills under consideration in the house, HR 759, HR 875, and HR 1332. HR 875 has drawn the most attention due to rumors it would outlaw farmers markets, organic farming, local, small scale etc. Not true, 875 will not do that. Seriously, there is way too much money to be made in organic food for corporate agribusiness to let that cash cow be outlawed.

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So, what does HR 875 do and what doesn't it do that it should? Should it be supported? HR 875 is the strongest food safety bill under consideration, it addresses some, but not all, of the worst flaws in our massive food system.

  • Food processing plants must be inspected yearly, not every decade (if we are lucky)
  • Imported food must meet US safety standards, in the age of globalization this is a "no-brainer"
  • Food safety will have it's own focus, finally separated from FDA medical oversight
  • Farms will be required to have a food safety plan, but small farms could reasonably do this

These are all OK, but we need to remember that government has a penchant for doing the wrong thing in regard to food safety, backing the wrong type of food production unit and overall, the wrong food system. Corporate agribusiness has the political influence in Washington and we can bet they will not support any legislation that threatens their profit margin.

Large food processing facilities have a bad history when it comes to food safety problems, we need only look to the latest peanut butter contamination incident or any of the e-coli outbreaks over the past few years, large scale processing plants, infrequently inspected, moving too much product through the system too quickly.

This is one aspect of food safety that none of the current bills even mention, safe food processing takes time, well trained workers and the genuine desire to produce a safe product, not the genuine desire to make a profit first and foremost.

So any food safety bill must, if it is to make any dent in our broken food system, consider several things:

  • Food safety is more important than the profit margins of Dole, ConAgra, or any of the handful of multi-national corporations that own our food system.
  • Organic farmers are already highly regulated by USDA in regards to manure, composting, chemical use and animal ID, but they will be put under a "one size fits all" system that will be an unfair and a pointless burden to them.
  • Food safety legislation must address the real cause of food contamination, too many animals (and too much manure) raised in too small a space, mono-cultures of vegetables and the belief that bigger is better.
  • And finally, food safety is a community responsibility, if all the processor is concerned about is profit, food safety will suffer. If all the consumer is concerned about is cheap food, they will get cheap food, possibly contaminated food and at the expense of worker safety, compensation and dignity.

If we want a just and safe food system we must work for it. Small farmers, small processing plants local food systems are not the problem, Congress needs to know that.

Jim Goodman is an organic dairy farmer from Wisconsin and a WK Kellogg Food and Society Policy Fellow.

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by: DHFabian

05-19-2009 @ 11:58pm

Speaking from rural Wisconsin: I think the biggest worry with organic farming is the belief that this will result in significantly lower yields, and small farms are already hanging on by a thread. From the consumer perspective, every shopper has seen that foods sold as "organic" are more expensive. Compare the cost of a dozen organically-grown apples with the cost of the shipped-in, plastic-bagged apples. In our de-industrialized, post-social-safety-net nation, hunger has significantly increased. Every dollar spent on food must be stretched as far as possible.

by: nuclearferret

04-08-2009 @ 7:39pm

Enforce farm labor laws of all types as well will contribute to food safety.

by: Eric77

04-08-2009 @ 5:30pm

Food safety is definitely an important issue and I'm not expert on this bill. I've heard a lot of people expressing concerns about it, but the people over at Slow Food USA, who I trust, say that we shouldn't get too apoplectic just yet about the bill. But they do advise those who care about small farms, sustainable agriculture and farmers' markets to pay close attention to the bill. It could change from it's current form.

Also, Congress usually writes vague statutes that are interpreted by the regulators in the agencies. The regulations that result can do way more harm than Congress really intended (this is what happens when Congress cedes too much power to the executive branch because they don't want to have to make tough policy decisions themselves). The history of food regulation in this country is the history of favoring large scale, corporate producers over small farmers and ranchers. Congress may have good intentions on this one, but the regulations that follow could be awful for small farmers. As the Slow Food folks said, watch this one closely.

by: DHFabian

05-19-2009 @ 9:58pm

Speaking from rural Wisconsin: I think the biggest worry with organic farming is the belief that this will result in significantly lower yields, and small farms are already hanging on by a thread. From the consumer perspective, every shopper has seen that foods sold as "organic" are more expensive. Compare the cost of a dozen organically-grown apples with the cost of the shipped-in, plastic-bagged apples. In our de-industrialized, post-social-safety-net nation, hunger has significantly increased. Every dollar spent on food much be stretched as far as possible.

by: nuclearferret

04-08-2009 @ 7:39pm

Enforce farm labor laws of all types as well will contribute to food safety.

by: DHFabian

05-19-2009 @ 11:58pm

Speaking from rural Wisconsin: I think the biggest worry with organic farming is the belief that this will result in significantly lower yields, and small farms are already hanging on by a thread. From the consumer perspective, every shopper has seen that foods sold as "organic" are more expensive. Compare the cost of a dozen organically-grown apples with the cost of the shipped-in, plastic-bagged apples. In our de-industrialized, post-social-safety-net nation, hunger has significantly increased. Every dollar spent on food must be stretched as far as possible.

by: Eric77

04-08-2009 @ 5:30pm

Food safety is definitely an important issue and I'm not expert on this bill. I've heard a lot of people expressing concerns about it, but the people over at Slow Food USA, who I trust, say that we shouldn't get too apoplectic just yet about the bill. But they do advise those who care about small farms, sustainable agriculture and farmers' markets to pay close attention to the bill. It could change from it's current form.

Also, Congress usually writes vague statutes that are interpreted by the regulators in the agencies. The regulations that result can do way more harm than Congress really intended (this is what happens when Congress cedes too much power to the executive branch because they don't want to have to make tough policy decisions themselves). The history of food regulation in this country is the history of favoring large scale, corporate producers over small farmers and ranchers. Congress may have good intentions on this one, but the regulations that follow could be awful for small farmers. As the Slow Food folks said, watch this one closely.

by: DHFabian

05-19-2009 @ 9:58pm

Speaking from rural Wisconsin: I think the biggest worry with organic farming is the belief that this will result in significantly lower yields, and small farms are already hanging on by a thread. From the consumer perspective, every shopper has seen that foods sold as "organic" are more expensive. Compare the cost of a dozen organically-grown apples with the cost of the shipped-in, plastic-bagged apples. In our de-industrialized, post-social-safety-net nation, hunger has significantly increased. Every dollar spent on food much be stretched as far as possible.

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by: Eric77

04-08-2009 @ 5:30pm

Food safety is definitely an important issue and I'm not expert on this bill. I've heard a lot of people expressing concerns about it, but the people over at Slow Food USA, who I trust, say that we shouldn't get too apoplectic just yet about the bill. But they do advise those who care about small farms, sustainable agriculture and farmers' markets to pay close attention to the bill. It could change from it's current form.

Also, Congress usually writes vague statutes that are interpreted by the regulators in the agencies. The regulations that result can do way more harm than Congress really intended (this is what happens when Congress cedes too much power to the executive branch because they don't want to have to make tough policy decisions themselves). The history of food regulation in this country is the history of favoring large scale, corporate producers over small farmers and ranchers. Congress may have good intentions on this one, but the regulations that follow could be awful for small farmers. As the Slow Food folks said, watch this one closely.

by: Eric77

04-08-2009 @ 5:30pm

Food safety is definitely an important issue and I'm not expert on this bill. I've heard a lot of people expressing concerns about it, but the people over at Slow Food USA, who I trust, say that we shouldn't get too apoplectic just yet about the bill. But they do advise those who care about small farms, sustainable agriculture and farmers' markets to pay close attention to the bill. It could change from it's current form.

Also, Congress usually writes vague statutes that are interpreted by the regulators in the agencies. The regulations that result can do way more harm than Congress really intended (this is what happens when Congress cedes too much power to the executive branch because they don't want to have to make tough policy decisions themselves). The history of food regulation in this country is the history of favoring large scale, corporate producers over small farmers and ranchers. Congress may have good intentions on this one, but the regulations that follow could be awful for small farmers. As the Slow Food folks said, watch this one closely.

by: nuclearferret

04-08-2009 @ 7:39pm

Enforce farm labor laws of all types as well will contribute to food safety.

by: nuclearferret

04-08-2009 @ 7:39pm

Enforce farm labor laws of all types as well will contribute to food safety.

by: DHFabian

05-19-2009 @ 9:58pm

Speaking from rural Wisconsin: I think the biggest worry with organic farming is the belief that this will result in significantly lower yields, and small farms are already hanging on by a thread. From the consumer perspective, every shopper has seen that foods sold as "organic" are more expensive. Compare the cost of a dozen organically-grown apples with the cost of the shipped-in, plastic-bagged apples. In our de-industrialized, post-social-safety-net nation, hunger has significantly increased. Every dollar spent on food much be stretched as far as possible.

by: DHFabian

05-19-2009 @ 9:58pm

Speaking from rural Wisconsin: I think the biggest worry with organic farming is the belief that this will result in significantly lower yields, and small farms are already hanging on by a thread. From the consumer perspective, every shopper has seen that foods sold as "organic" are more expensive. Compare the cost of a dozen organically-grown apples with the cost of the shipped-in, plastic-bagged apples. In our de-industrialized, post-social-safety-net nation, hunger has significantly increased. Every dollar spent on food much be stretched as far as possible.

by: DHFabian

05-19-2009 @ 11:58pm

Speaking from rural Wisconsin: I think the biggest worry with organic farming is the belief that this will result in significantly lower yields, and small farms are already hanging on by a thread. From the consumer perspective, every shopper has seen that foods sold as "organic" are more expensive. Compare the cost of a dozen organically-grown apples with the cost of the shipped-in, plastic-bagged apples. In our de-industrialized, post-social-safety-net nation, hunger has significantly increased. Every dollar spent on food must be stretched as far as possible.

by: DHFabian

05-19-2009 @ 11:58pm

Speaking from rural Wisconsin: I think the biggest worry with organic farming is the belief that this will result in significantly lower yields, and small farms are already hanging on by a thread. From the consumer perspective, every shopper has seen that foods sold as "organic" are more expensive. Compare the cost of a dozen organically-grown apples with the cost of the shipped-in, plastic-bagged apples. In our de-industrialized, post-social-safety-net nation, hunger has significantly increased. Every dollar spent on food must be stretched as far as possible.