More on the food safety bill

Hey everyone!

I wanted to update you on some information I learned today about the food safety modernization act that is before the Senate.  Today I spoke with a gentleman who actually sat in on the committee meeting with the Senators who are writing the bill.  It looks like they will write--but hopefully not pass-- a "one size fits all" bill.  The current draft will charge all farms/producers a fee to join the Safe Growers Club (my words not theirs).  The smaller farms/producers will be charged a lesser fee, but it will still be substancial!  This gentleman who sat in on the meeting suggested to the committee that the bill be adjusted so that farmers/producers who do a business of less than 1 million dollars in gross sales be exempted from the program, but he was told that if this were done it would eliminate 80% of the funding needed to inspect the larger companies--so if this were to pass, the little guys would be paying for the larger companies safety inspectios!  My guess is that there would be little or no funding left to check on our operations, but by law we would have to adhere to the guidelines.  His thought was that with the healthcare issue floundering the legislatures will need to pass something--to show that they are working--Food safety was next on the list and with little public outcry, it could very well be an easy bill to pass.  Please call, write, or email our Senators!!  This could very well be a baby step towards closing your local farmers and producers.