Carolina Farm Stewardship Association

in this section: Take Action - Hurry, the deadline for comments is July 28, 2011!
> Background information on this issue

FOOD SAFETY ACTION ALERT!

Stop Industrial Ag’s Food Safety Powergrab!

The middlemen and processors that dominate the California produce industry are still mad about the protections we won for small farms and local organic food in the Food Safety Modernization Act earlier this year. And now they are making a back-door run to impose industrial-scale food safety practices on all leafy greens growers, despite the will of Congress and the public.

Contact the US Dept. of Agriculture now to stop them!

Take Action
Here’s the message to send:
The USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) should withdraw its proposal to establish a National Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement (NLGMA), Doc. No. AMS–FV–09–0029-0150, FR 76 No. 83 p. 24292. The NLGMA would increase large and international handlers’ control over leafy greens markets and damage the competitiveness of small producers serving local and regional markets.

The agreement conflicts with the new authority of the Food and Drug Administration over on-farm food safety. In fact, it gives the USDA and large-scale industry the authority to impose industrial-scale rules on small farms, authority that Congress refused to give the FDA. By giving processors and middlemen this power, the agreement squashes the small farmers who are outcompeting industrial-scale producers in the market for local and regional foods.
AMS is supposed to help growers to organize and protect themselves from the market power of middlemen, but instead the NLGMA is biased in favor of the distributors who dominate the leafy greens market. Its governance board is dominated by processors and distributers and provides only token representation for small farmers and consumers. And because California and Arizona producers who overwhelmingly dominate the national market are already operating under similar leafy greens marketing rules, they will have a competitive advantage when growers in the rest of the country are forced to adopt those rules.
The AMS is not a food safety agency, and has no business authorizing food safety rules. The AMS has expertise is in marketing and economics, not microbiology. Yet under the NLGMA, an industry-driven board will write safety rules under the supervision of an agency with no expertise in the subject. This system does not give consumers confidence in the safety of leafy greens.

Here’s how to send it:
Ssubmit your comment on the National Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement online at
http://www.regulations.gov/#!submitComment;D=AMS-FV-09-0029-0150;

Hurry, the deadline for comments is July 28, 2011!

Background
Since 2007, the California and Arizona produce buyers and processors who dominate the national market for leafy greens—defined as everything from cilantro to cabbage—have been pushing USDA to create an industry-run board that will set ‘voluntary’ leafy greens safety rules. Those two states produce 90 percent of domestic leafy greens production, and far-reaching safety rules have already been imposed on almost all producers there. Those schemes have driven costs higher for small farms and reduced farmer participation in environmental stewardship programs. In effect, the rules would reduce big ag’s competition in the local and regional food markets by making it harder for small farmers to make a living.

Of course it’s the national-scale processors and distributors that present the greatest risk of causing foodborne illness. Analysis by the Community Alliance for Family Farms shows that 99 percent of all fresh produce contamination incidents between 1996 and 2008 came from non-farm sources, namely processing and handling facilities. The consolidation of food production and processing into the hands of fewer and larger operations has increased the chance that a single contamination incident could sicken a large number of people. Yet it is these very operations that gain a competitive advantage from the NLGMA.

Please act now, and submit your opposition to industrial-ag’s powergrab. To see CFSA’s official comment letter on the NLGMA, click here.

For CFSA’s testimony in the 2009 USDA hearing on the NLGMA proposal, click here.

To learn about CFSA’s Local Produce Safety Initiative to document an alternative to the industrial model of food safety, visit http://gapsmallfarmsnc.wordpress.com/.



	Home CFSA Member Login 2011 Sustainable Agriculture Conference Find local food Internship Referral Service Sustainable Ag Resources About Us Join CFSA! Projects Event Calendar Blog Store Contact Join us on acebook Follow us on witter	in this section: Take Action - Hurry, the deadline for comments is July 28, 2011! > Background information on this issue FOOD SAFETY ACTION ALERT! Stop Industrial Ag’s Food Safety Powergrab! The middlemen and processors that dominate the California produce industry are still mad about the protections we won for small farms and local organic food in the Food Safety Modernization Act earlier this year. And now they are making a back-door run to impose industrial-scale food safety practices on all leafy greens growers, despite the will of Congress and the public. Contact the US Dept. of Agriculture now to stop them! Take Action Here’s the message to send: The USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) should withdraw its proposal to establish a National Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement (NLGMA), Doc. No. AMS–FV–09–0029-0150, FR 76 No. 83 p. 24292. The NLGMA would increase large and international handlers’ control over leafy greens markets and damage the competitiveness of small producers serving local and regional markets. The agreement conflicts with the new authority of the Food and Drug Administration over on-farm food safety. In fact, it gives the USDA and large-scale industry the authority to impose industrial-scale rules on small farms, authority that Congress refused to give the FDA. By giving processors and middlemen this power, the agreement squashes the small farmers who are outcompeting industrial-scale producers in the market for local and regional foods. AMS is supposed to help growers to organize and protect themselves from the market power of middlemen, but instead the NLGMA is biased in favor of the distributors who dominate the leafy greens market. Its governance board is dominated by processors and distributers and provides only token representation for small farmers and consumers. And because California and Arizona producers who overwhelmingly dominate the national market are already operating under similar leafy greens marketing rules, they will have a competitive advantage when growers in the rest of the country are forced to adopt those rules. The AMS is not a food safety agency, and has no business authorizing food safety rules. The AMS has expertise is in marketing and economics, not microbiology. Yet under the NLGMA, an industry-driven board will write safety rules under the supervision of an agency with no expertise in the subject. This system does not give consumers confidence in the safety of leafy greens. Here’s how to send it: Ssubmit your comment on the National Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement online at http://www.regulations.gov/#!submitComment;D=AMS-FV-09-0029-0150; Hurry, the deadline for comments is July 28, 2011! Background Since 2007, the California and Arizona produce buyers and processors who dominate the national market for leafy greens—defined as everything from cilantro to cabbage—have been pushing USDA to create an industry-run board that will set ‘voluntary’ leafy greens safety rules. Those two states produce 90 percent of domestic leafy greens production, and far-reaching safety rules have already been imposed on almost all producers there. Those schemes have driven costs higher for small farms and reduced farmer participation in environmental stewardship programs. In effect, the rules would reduce big ag’s competition in the local and regional food markets by making it harder for small farmers to make a living. Of course it’s the national-scale processors and distributors that present the greatest risk of causing foodborne illness. Analysis by the Community Alliance for Family Farms shows that 99 percent of all fresh produce contamination incidents between 1996 and 2008 came from non-farm sources, namely processing and handling facilities. The consolidation of food production and processing into the hands of fewer and larger operations has increased the chance that a single contamination incident could sicken a large number of people. Yet it is these very operations that gain a competitive advantage from the NLGMA. Please act now, and submit your opposition to industrial-ag’s powergrab. To see CFSA’s official comment letter on the NLGMA, click here. For CFSA’s testimony in the 2009 USDA hearing on the NLGMA proposal, click here. To learn about CFSA’s Local Produce Safety Initiative to document an alternative to the industrial model of food safety, visit http://gapsmallfarmsnc.wordpress.com/.
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