Help us take action and stop bill S. 510.

Urgent Action Alert on Senate Food Safety Bill S.510
The U.S. Senate is  expected to vote on a sweeping overhaul of the food safety  laws very soon.  Push back from citizens though has continued and at this time this has stopped the bill from being passed.  As it is currently written, the bill, S.  510, would actually make our food less safe.  S. 510  would strengthen the forces that have led to the consolidation of our food supply in the hands of a few industrial food  producers, while harming small producers who give consumers  the choice to buy fresh, healthy, local  foods.
Congress needs to solve the real problems – the centralized food  distribution system and imported foods – and not regulate our  local food sources out of business.  S. 510 is a  “one-size-fits-all” approach that will unnecessarily burden both farmers and small-scale food processors, ultimately depriving consumers of the choice to buy from producers they  know and trust.
ACTION TO  TAKE
Call both of our Idaho Senators. Ask  to speak with the staffer who handles food safety  issues.
Jim Risch. (202) 224-2752.
Mike  Crapo. (202) 224-6142
Tell the staffer that you want  the Senator to AMEND OR OPPOSE S. 510.   If you get  their voice mail instead of the staff, leave the following  message:
“Hi, my  name is _____ and I live in ______.  I’m very concerned  that S.510, the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, imposes  unfair and burdensome regulations on local food sources, which  are very important to me.  The Committee version of the  bill does NOT address my concerns, and I urge the Senator to  support the Tester Amendment to exclude small facilities and  direct marketing farms from the most burdensome provisions of  the bill.  Please call me back at ____________.”
TALKING  POINTS
Weston A  Price Foundation joined with 87 other organizations to send a  letter to the Senators urging that they amend S.510 to exempt  small-scale and local producers from the more burdensome  provisions of the bill.  You can borrow some talking  points found below.
1. The  major food borne illness outbreaks and recalls have all been  caused by the large, industrial food system.  Small,  local food producers have not contributed to the highly  publicized outbreaks. Yet S. 510 subjects the small, local  food system to the same, broad federal regulatory oversight  that would apply to the industrial food system.
2. Increased regulations and  record-keeping obligations could destroy small businesses that  bring food to local communities. In particular, the reliance  on hazard analysis and risk-based preventative controls, a  concept similar to “HACCP”, will harm small food producers.   HACCP has already proven to be an overwhelming burden  for a significant number of small, regional meat processors  across the country.  Applying a HACCP-type system to  small, local foods processors could drive them out of  business, reducing consumers’ options to buy fresh, local  foods.
3. FDA does not belong on the farm.  S. 510 calls for FDA regulation of how farms grow and harvest  produce.  Given the agency’s track record, it is likely  that the regulations will discriminate against small, organic,  and diversified farms.  The House version of the bill  directs FDA to consider the impact of its rulemaking on  small-scale and diversified farms, but there are no  enforceable limits or protections for small diversified and  organic farms from inappropriate and burdensome federal rules.
4. Food safety and security both  come from a diversified, vibrant local food system.   Local foods give consumers the choice to buy from  producers they know, creating a transparent, accountable food  system without federal government oversight.  State and  local laws, which are often size-specific rather than  one-size-fits-all, are more appropriate for local food  producers.
5. FDA  regulation of local food processors is counterproductive and  unnecessary.  FDA has not used its existing authority  well.  Instead of focusing its resources on the problems  posed by imported foods and large processing facilities, FDA  has chosen to target small processors.  While approving  unlabeled GMOs to enter our food supply, it has outlawed raw  milk and interfered with the free choice of informed adults  who want access to this healthy food.  Simply giving FDA  increased authority and power will not improve the food supply  unless Congress requires the agency to focus on Agribusiness  and not small, local producers.
6. S.  510 favors foreign farms and producers over domestic. The bill  creates incentives for retailers to import more food from  other countries, because it burdens family farms and small  business and because it will be practically impossible to hold  foreign food facilities to the same standards and inspections.   The bill will create a considerable competitive  disadvantage for ALL U.S. agriculture and food production (see  analysis at http://ftcldf.org/news/news-20Oct2009-2.html