Defend the Carolinas’ Organic Family Farms:
Take Action on H.R. 2749
7/1/2009

Tell your U.S. House of Representatives member to fight for the Carolinas’ family farms. CFSA has sent a letter to all North and South Carolina Congress members asking for significant changes to H.R. 2749, the Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009 that will protect local, organic food for our communities.  Help us defend our farmers by contacting your Congress member with the message below. 

Dear Member of Congress,

Local organic production of fruit and vegetables is a huge opportunity for the small farms of the Carolinas, and that opportunity is threatened by some of the provisions of H.R. 2749, the Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009.  Please tell House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman that the following changes must be made in the bill before it is brought to the House Floor for a vote.

1.  Require FDA to Work with USDA and Small Farms in Developing Safety Standards for Fresh Produce and Raw Commodities   
H.R. 2749 directs FDA to develop safety standards for fresh produce and raw commodities.  The FDA lacks the agricultural knowledge to do this. Congress must require that FDA get the approval of sustainable farmers and the USDA’s experts on conservation and organic production to in developing these safety standards.

2.  Regulations Must be Appropriate to Farm Size and Type
Regulations issued under H.R. 2749 must protect the health of the public without driving small farms and local food companies out of business.  Instead of one-size-fits-all, the rules should target the critical points in the food system, including processing, that have been documented to be high risk problems, not small, local sustainable farms

Congress should make small and very small farms and food processors exempt from inspection for compliance with those rules unless there is an actual threat of serious harm to humans or animals.  And Congress must require the Administration to conduct extensive outreach programs to small farms to educate those growers on the latest practices in safe agricultural production.

3.  Make the Bill’s User Fees Equitable for Small Facilities
H.R. 2749 imposes a $500 Food and Drug Administration (FDA) registration fee on food businesses, regardless of size or product type, and this will be a financial burden for many small Carolina food processing facilities.  Instead of this one-size-fits-all approach, Congress should create a sliding scale fee structure, and eliminate duplicative fees FDA currently charges small processors to register their products.

4.  Limit Access to Small Businesses Records and Ensure Confidentiality
H.R. 2749 dramatically expands FDA’s authority to access farm and small business records, including “fishing expeditions” where there is no actual thread of a contamination incident.  To protect the livelihoods of small farms and food businesses, Congress must limit FDA access to farms’ and small food processors’ records to instances of actual contamination threats, and must ensure that FDA keeps those records confidential.

5.  Traceability Systems Should Exempt all Direct Sales, and be Market-Driven
Any food traceability systems created under H.R. 2749 must not duplicate effective systems already in operation in the marketplace that identify the source of a food item, and must protect small farms and food businesses from suffering needless costs and bureaucratic red tape.  Many small farms are already preserving the identity of the farm all the way to the consumer.  The FDA’s traceability system should recognize such efforts, avoid duplicating existing market-driven traceability systems, and exempt all food sales direct to end-users by farms and farmers market vendors.

6.  Allow Farms to Submit Paper Records
Congress has required FDA to set up a Reportable Food Registry for informing the agency of potential food contamination.  H.R. 2749 currently forces farms to make those reports electronically.  Many Carolina farms do not have reliable access to the Internet, and should also be allowed to submit incident reports using alternative reporting methods.

7.  Include Market Recovery Provisions to Compensate Farmers for Erroneous Product Recalls
Last year, many Carolina producers and packers were materially harmed due to FDA produce safety actions.  They lost sales and incurred expenses when their products were removed from store shelves, even though no Carolina firm was ever implicated as a source of the food safety incidents that triggered the FDA’s actions.  Farmers and facilities deserve protection in situations were an incorrect decision by the FDA results in the substantial financial losses.  

Thank you for your attention to these concerns and for protecting value-added and diversified farms in your district from the negative impacts of this far-reaching legislation.

take action!
> Read CFSA's letter to representatives or
> Get talking points for your letter
> Find your U.S. House Representative
> Read and track the Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009
> Join CFSA today