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Old 30-03-2009, 06:28 PM posted to rec.gardens.edible
Lilah Morgan[_2_] Lilah Morgan[_2_] is offline
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First recorded activity by GardenBanter: Dec 2007
Posts: 101
Default H.R. 875 Food Safety Act

I emailed 3 of my senators/congressman(and the White House) 'bout it, but I
don't know if it will do any good. There was a town hall meeting last
weekend in town, with 3 of our state reps, and in response to a question,
they actually admitted that they don't read the bills they vote on. They
didn't even say their assistants/interns do for them. Their excuse is that
there's too many of them and it would take too long. Well what the hell are
we paying them for?! I even usually read the User Terms and Agreement things
when I sign up anywhere online, MySpace, Yahoo, Facebook, wherever. And I
have a busy schedule too...I have to do just about all the 'grunt' work on
our farm and work on the website and make flyers and do all the business
paperwork and crap, yet I make sure to find the time I don't agree to
anything I don't understand. Here's what I emailed(feel free to adapt it to
your circumstances to contact your state reps):

I am a small (organic) farmer and am very concerned about the repercussions
if H.R. 875 were to pass. We are lucky to make enough money to get by, but
having to pay licensing/inspection fees plus additional taxes would be
beyond our means. The wording 'food production facility' needs to be less
vague. By that wording, if you have a potted herb in your kitchen
windowsill, you could be considered a food production facility. If the
government wants safe food, they should A: pay for the farms to be inspected
themselves, and B: focus on the fact that the recent contaminated food
outbreaks were more often than not the fault of big companies who could have
afforded to enact safety measures. I would also like to point out that the
recent peanut butter contamination took place in the processing plant, not
where the nuts were grown. We grow enough produce not only to sell, but to
eat as well, so we make sure it's safe.

Victoria, zone 5a
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What would YOU do for a Klondike Bar?
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