by Katrin Themliitz
Director: Sedona, AZ Farmers Market
sedonamarket@gmail.com
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| Genetically Modified......WTF!! |
As I am trying to understand the spin of all the calls for action out there on S510 and Codex, here are some things I found interesting. This is a link I found that exposes the spin of Natural Health Solutions and Citizens for Health to mislead public about the application of CODEX -
http://www.nocodexgenocide.com/page/page/3312735.htm
Also see newsletter to kill S510 (founded by retired general from Dept.of Homeland Security).
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/568/t/0/blastContent.jsp?email_blast_KEY=1200414
I was confused by different messages by local food activists including why Michael Pollan and some other Food, Inc folks are for S510 (with small farm and manager's amendments)
Attached is the 400 something page proposed legislation called
S510 - check out page 11. It seems that the language leaves everything open for more detailed determinations after the bill is passed and after FDA and Dpt of Homeland Security are given the reigns to our food system. Specifically, farmers markets and CSAs are mentioned and defined as "retail establishments". They will be regulated, but we will not know how till a year after bill is passed into law. Yes - amendments for small farm and ranch and managers amendments are included but the language is vague and the fee structure though scaled is still undefined. I agree with Joe Sigg, our AZ Farm Bureau lobbyist, that "if this passes as is, the impact will depend a great deal upon how the rules are written.
" We won't know how the rules will be written till a year from when the bill passes as stated in S510. They propose meetings in different states to get feedback before rules are finalized. However, I remember the recent USDA sponsored public "community meetings" that were more like "token" meetings in regards to investigating anti trust violations by large seed companies like Monsanto. Results and public feedback were very poorly documented nor were they covered in the press.
Below is the newsletter by a very convincing spin machine .----------
From: Natural Solutions Foundation - Health Freedom Portal
Date: Wed, Dec 8, 2010 at 10:36 PM
Subject: Take A Deep Breath: Get Ready For the Next Food Freedom Round.
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/568/blastContent.jsp
RELATED INFORMATION:
http://foodfreedom.wordpress.com/2010/11/17/the-history-of-health-tyranny-codex-alimentarius-part-1/
http://thebovine.wordpress.com/2009/08/09/in-1999-35-million-small-family-plots-produced-90-of-russias-potatoes-77-of-vegetables-87-of-fruits-59-of-meat-49-of-milk-way-to-go-people/
http://www.natural-health-information-centre.com/codex-alimentarius.html
http://educate-yourself.org/cn/codexalimentarius15jan09.shtml
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SENATORS, Vote "NO" on Cloture for H.R. 3082 & Oppose the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act
By
a 212-206 vote on December 8, the House passed the FDA Food Safety
Modernization Act (formerly S.510) as an amendment to H.R. 3082 (the
"Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011" to fund the government
through September 2011). A food safety act should not be part of a
spending bill.
House
Democrats attached what was S.510 (as passed by the Senate on November
30) to H.R. 3082 because they were worried about Republican opposition
to it as a stand alone bill. The next step for H.R. 3082 is to go to the Senate for a vote.
As this is the Senate, the first vote on H.R. 3082 will be on a cloture motion to limit debate before there is a vote on the bill itself.
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TAKE ACTION
People need to contact their Senators now to tell them to Vote "NO" on Cloture for H.R. 3082 and Oppose the "FDA Food Safety Modernization Act" (Division D of H.R. 3082).
even if you've already used the petition this week.
STEP 2 - Call your Senators and be sure to give your zip code
Call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121; ask to be connected to your Senator's office.
OR
Go to www.congress.org;
enter your zip code on the right side under "Get Involved" and click
"Go". Click on your Senators' names then click the "Contact" tab to get
office phone number(s).
If you get voicemail, leave a brief message with your zip code. If the line is busy, keep calling until you get through.
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TALKING POINTS
The
FDA Food Safety Modernization Act is fundamentally flawed and is not in
the best interest of small farmers, especially those who produce raw
milk.
1. FDA does not respect individuals' rights to obtain healthy, quality foods of their choice. The agency has stated as a matter of public record, that:
"There is no absolute right to consume or feed children any particular food."
"Plaintiffs' assertion of a 'fundamental right to their own bodily and
physical health, which includes what foods they do and do not choose to
consume for themselves and their families' is similarly unavailing
because plaintiffs do not have a fundamental right to obtain any food
they wish."
FDA
has even participated in armed raids on small-scale co-ops and
membership organizations. This agency should not be given any additional
power.
2. FDA has adequate powers under existing law to ensure food safety and effectively deal with foodborne illness outbreaks. FDA
has power to inspect, power to detain product and can readily obtain
court orders to seize adulterated or misbranded food products or enjoin
them from being sold. The problem isn't that FDA needs more power; it's
that FDA does not effectively use the power it currently has. The agency
has power to inspect imported food yet inspects only 1% of food coming
into this country from outside our borders.
3. The Act does nothing to address many significant food safety problems in this country,
such as those resulting from confined animal feeding operations
(CAFOs), genetically modified organisms (GMOs), and various contaminants
(e.g., BPA, pesticides, herbicides, etc.).
4. FDA has used its existing power to benefit the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries at the expense of public health
(e.g., allowing the overuse of antibiotics in confined animal feeding
operations and refusing to require labeling for genetically-modified
foods). This Act does not address the fundamental problems at this ag ency in order to truly protect public health.
5. The Act will expand FDA's involvement in regulating food in intra-state commerce, further interfering with local communities.
State and local governments are more than capable of handling any
problems related to food in intrastate commerce. All the major outbreaks
of foodborne illness involve either imported food or food in
inter-state commerce.
6. The Act will hurt our ability as a nation to be self-sufficient in food production
because it has more lenient inspection requirements for foreign than
domestic producers creating an unfair advantage for food imports. Giving
an advantage to foreign producers will only increase the amount of food
imported into this country that does not meet our domestic standards.
The Act does not address food security--the ability of a country to
produce enough food to meet its own needs.
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