For those who would like to know more about the challenges our FDA faces in regulation the 70-80% of our food supply that falls under the FDA's responsibility to regulate, here is a link to a summary of the challenges of staying with the system as it currently exists.
http://delauro.house.gov/files/HR875_HHS.PDF It is reasonable to push for changes that clarify definitions and that are responsive to the conditions that exist in distinctly different agricultural situations. It is not reasonable to expect that a bill on food safety would rework the whole agricultural scene with one sweep of the pen. In my state, CT, the state association representing dairy farmers reports that the cost to farm in CT is significantly higher than it is in other states, and the maximum price per gallon set by the federal government does not take the difference in farming costs into account. The result is that there is a decline in regional farmers producing milk - 50 went out of business in 2007. So there's a backdrop for how some farmers may read this legislation. It would be penny wise and pound foolish to do either of two things: 1) make no regulation out of fear the farmers would go out if they were asked to operate safely, or 2) do nothing to support the farmers and create conditions where they can thrive. IMHO we both require a strong, clear fair system of food safety regulations -- AND we must be responsive to the various reasons why farmers are going out of business, not simply ask more of them in terms of regulatory requirements without doing more for them in terms of making it feasible to operate a small farm. Something in addition to new regulatory improvements must be done, but I am unfamiliar with what is happening or may have been proposed on that front. Chris Reid Stamford, Ct -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://list.communitygarden.org/pipermail/community_garden_list.communitygarden.org/attachments/20090319/15bad959/attachment.html> _______________________________________________ The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of ACGA's services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA and to find out how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org To post an e-mail to the list: [email protected] To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription: http://list.communitygarden.org/mailman/listinfo/community_garden_list.communitygarden.org
