Good bye to the home farmer,
as if the corporations are safer or care more for our health.
on H.R. 875: Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009
What this will do is force anyone who produces food of any kind, and then transports it to a different location for sale, to register with a new federal agency called the “Food Safety Administration.” Even growers who sell just fruit and/or vegetables at farmers markets would not only have to register, but they would be subject inspections by federal agents of their property and all records related to food production. The frequency of these inspections will be determined by the whim of the Food Safety Administration. Mandatory “safety” records would have to be kept. Anyone who fails to register and comply with all of this nonsense could be facing a fine of up to $1,000,000 per violation
In all things our government
(which is just controlled by big corporations and the rich who rule)
usurps all our individual rights – to boost their profit and control.
This is not for your benefit.
When Americans do not care
– their government sweeps away our rights.
If we do not hang (stand) together,
we will certainly hang separately.
Similarly NAIS will tag all individual small farm animals, but much less restriction on the huge corporate farms.
You must call in to report if your animal visits a neighboring field, takes you riding on a neighbors trail, mates with your neighbor’s mare. You must report all events to the government. But when the animal is killed all information ceases. It has nothing to do with safety for the consumer, it is just controls on who can create & manage food stock.
In all things - control to the few- loss of freedom, safety
Why ? Every commodity, food, water, air, money, health, is moving from freedom to central control so a few may dominate the many.
The illusion is that it is for the benefit of the many, but it clearly is not.
A friend in the WV Department of Agriculture sent this to me.
Anyone that supports small farms better read this and weep.
The U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA) has been working for over five years to force a
National Animal Identification System (NAIS) onto American animal owners. NAIS
is designed to identify and track each and every individual livestock and
poultry animal owned by family farmers, hobby farmers, homesteaders, and pet
owners across the country.
USDA claims that NAIS is a disease tracking program, but has refused to provide
any support for its claims.
In reality, NAIS will:
Create expensive and time-consuming tagging and reporting requirements for small farms. The requirements are particularly burdensome for those farmers raising sustainable livestock on pasture. Ultimately, this will reduce the availability of grass-fed meats, eggs, and milk.
Give factory confinement farms a loophole through the use of group identification, providing yet another unfair advantage for factory farms.
Not provide any information to the consumer, and does not improve food safety, because the tracking ends with the animal’s death.
Replace states' existing, well-functioning disease response and brand inspection programs with an unproven, expensive, and unreliable system;
Impose high costs and government surveillance on every farmer and animal owner for no significant benefits, and will likely force many small producers out of business.
NAIS does nothing to improve food safety for consumers or prevent animal
diseases.
This program is a one-size-fits-all program
developed by and for big
Agribusiness. NAIS will
increase consolidation of our food supply in the hands of a few large
companies and put the brakes on the growing movement toward local food systems.
The grassroots movement has already successfully stalled USDA's plans for NAIS,
which originally called for the entire program - premises registration, animal
identification, and tracking - to be mandatory by January 2009. The proposed
rule is an opportunity to get thousands of objections in the formal record, and
have an even greater impact. It is imperative that people speak up to protect
our right to farm and our food supply!