HR 2749: Totalitarian Control of the Food Supply

Related Issues: Agriculture , Health Services , Taxation , Health Care

Tags: health care , hr2749 , food

Similar Letters: Search for letters similar to this one

Friday, 06/19/2009 @ 09:59 AM

To whom it may concern:

HR 2749: Totalitarian Control of the Food Supply

A
new food safety bill is on the fast track in Congress-HR 2749, the Food
Safety Enhancement Act of 2009. The bill needs to be stopped.

HR 2749 gives FDA tremendous power while significantly diminishing
existing judicial restraints on actions taken by the agency. The bill
would impose a one-size-fits-all regulatory scheme on small farms and
local artisanal producers; and it would disproportionately impact their
operations for the worse.

The bill imposes burdensome requirements while not specifically
targeting the industrial food system and food imports, where the real
food safety problems lie.

Small farms and local food processors are part of the solution to food
safety; lessening the regulatory burden on them will improve food
safety.

The bill gives FDA much more power than it has had in the past while making the agency less accountable for its actions.

Your Constituent

sadling

Total Comments: 23

Write your own comment on this letter!

	sacarle1420, on 06/19/2009 @ 10:34 AM wrote:
		If anything we need to protect the farmers we have left in this county, there one of the last hold outs since outsorcing. What i think it comes out to is dragionian laws to force them under the thumbs on huge companys. Please keep us posting on the workins of this bill. Erich

	sadling, on 06/19/2009 @ 10:55 AM wrote:
		Sascale1420- Thanks for your responses. I wish I had added some of what you said in this letter. Protecting farmers is key. Outsourcing is horrible, but our demand as super-consumers in the US is overwhelming- I have to admit we have created a monster in corporations and their bottom lines. I take some responsibility in this. It is important that we act in our own life to show corps and the government that we MEAN BETTER BUSINESS. Whether we stop buying useless products or take care in the decision process of what we buy and where we buy it from. Ugh. The burden is heavy my friends. Brian

	The_Guru, on 06/19/2009 @ 11:29 AM wrote:
		I find it very hard to agree completely with this letter. Food from a small farm is no more or less safe than food from a large industrial food company. While we do need to protect all businesses we have left in this country (not just the farmers), what we don't have to do is give those businesses a free pass when it comes to the health and safety of the consumers we have in this country. If there are proposals which ensure both then by all means let's implement them. If not, I'd have to make the argument that government should lean towards the consumer when deciding whom to protect most. One must consider that the reason we have many laws pertaining to consumer protection is because Americans were hurt or killed as a result of the goods they purchased. The old saying "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" seems to be particularly relevant when it comes to our nation's food, don't you think?

	dkcreatto, on 06/20/2009 @ 07:48 PM wrote:
		Hey Sadling.... humm.. A bill giving FDA stronger position over current judicial system and built on one-size-fits-all!!! Hey I agree to you as well don't. I agree that it will impose a bit burden over farmer or small manufacture of food items but hey I back what The Guru said. STOP working for yourself. It seems you didn't checkout the overall impact of this bill on the nation. I don't know about Food industry a lot but if someone asks me that hey do you want a bread from certified bakery or a unverified reseller, I would pay more but get the tested bread, after all my health is not less important than anything else...

	00jules, on 06/20/2009 @ 09:55 PM wrote:
		I believe that a government agency as large as the FDA should be able to regulate small farmers/artisan growers as well as the industry's giants accordingly without resorting to a "one-size-fits-all" system that won't accomplish anything in the end except grow our government.

	sadling, on 06/20/2009 @ 11:31 PM wrote:
		Hey all- Totally off the subject, but I am new to this kind stuff... I wasn't anticipating the comment aspect of my involvement in "freedom speaks" . I have actually learned a lot from you guys, but it just feels a little weird. I hardly comment on anything even though I am a super-duper web designer 2.0 guy. Commenting usually breaks out into some sort of argument. I want to say that I am pleasantly surprised at the calm, considerate, and contemplative commenting on my letters. Double, Tripple plus to all of you. LOL. I am going to continue this sweet style of fair commenting by promising that all my comments shall be solely based on education. Not persuasion. Kudos to Jason and FreedomSpeaks for this sexy site, for drumming up powerful people and for the commenting community. Brian

	ikatowi, on 06/24/2009 @ 06:29 AM wrote:
		This is a very difficult issue - on the one hand, I concur that there are tremendous burdens on small farmers and food processors. On the other hand, I have to wonder if we truly desire to lessen regulations - how will this really improve food safety? Instead, why do we not turn to more organic means of food production to minimize the impact of potential chemical dangers on our food supply?

	Rompinhell, on 06/24/2009 @ 12:50 PM wrote:
		FDA is out of control, roughly in the same proportion that the rest of the Federal government is out of control. This is the same organization that under Bush 43 decided to list toothpaste and deodorant as "drugs".

	disco243, on 06/24/2009 @ 07:30 PM wrote:
		This letter is totally correct, something needs to be done about this issue (coming from someone who goes to a school with 90% farmers)

	florimell, on 06/24/2009 @ 10:11 PM wrote:
		Yes, yes, yes! We need to be protecting the small food producers in this country, not burdening them with unfair restrictions. I am disgusted with the government coddling giant agricorporations while smothering small farmers and processors.

	rjnaz, on 07/02/2009 @ 10:54 AM wrote:
		Unfortunately, much legislation is done after the fact...when bad things already happen, and the knee-jerk response is more government regulation. Why so much fear of government intervention? Obviously private industry is not protecting us from recurrent illness outbreaks!

	babean, on 07/02/2009 @ 11:53 AM wrote:
		This is baloney, sounds like communism to me. We definately need to vote against this! I'm sure this is going to hurt all the independent farmers if it passes.

	Lao_Tse, on 07/02/2009 @ 12:01 PM wrote:
		At this point the food production and distribution system in the United States is so out of wack that anything is progress. Local farmers are no safer and certainly not more efficient than industrial farms. Most of the problems with industrial farms fall under the jurisdiction of the EPA not the FDA. Finally I have perused the document and cannot find how it would disproportionally affect small farmers, I expect the writer did not take the time to actually read the document.

	Scoobey, on 07/02/2009 @ 01:42 PM wrote:
		You raise interesting arguments. I'm not a fan of letting free markets (or trial lawyers) enforce product or food safety. It just doesn't work. But maybe the regulations should be flexible enough to account for different kinds of producers.

	earthjiva, on 07/02/2009 @ 01:52 PM wrote:
		I agree that regulating the individual farms may paradoxically hamper the efficiency of these farms and actually cause more food safety issues. Step by step there seems to be a battle. Move by move, on the chessboard the black army of government control seems to have a choke hold on white's resistant position.

	LRush, on 07/02/2009 @ 02:08 PM wrote:
		I totally agree with your letter, sadling. I support small farms directly through membership in my local organic CSA (I know my farmers personally, and I see how my food is grown every week when I go to pick it up) and also through contacting my representatives on issues like this one. I encourage others to do the same. Small farms make sense on so many levels--ecologically, nutritionally, economically, and the list goes on. Sadly they don't have big, powerful, well funded lobbying groups to represent their interests in Congress. So it's up to us to help amplify their voices.

	Zwiggle, on 07/02/2009 @ 02:42 PM wrote:
		The food processing does need to be changed. Yet farmers markets at one time used to be cheap not now. Why is that

	bbaughman, on 07/02/2009 @ 02:55 PM wrote:
		The small farmers are the ones we should be protecting. Let the FDA focus on the corporate owned mega-farms. How much more proof do we need that they are the ones in need of massive oversight.

	princess2pagan, on 07/02/2009 @ 03:02 PM wrote:
		We don't need more oversight we need more interest in local farmers and farmer's markets. I love our local farmer's market and the organic produce available there. But i'm sure soon enough the fees that are charged for the vendors will cause us to lose more than we can ever imagine.

	choweric2005, on 07/03/2009 @ 11:19 AM wrote:
		If what the letter says is true, then I think congress should reconsider the bill. Really, the FDA is inefficient with the lack of action for the present E coli situation (a recall is happening right now as we speak) and the past tainted toys!

	tallguyryan, on 07/03/2009 @ 11:32 AM wrote:
		I don't think there is ANY proof that the FDA has done any real good for our country. They are late finding the LEAD in toys, they are slow to figure out drug warnings and cannot even ban substances that are KNOWN to be toxic in other countries! Hello, we want to give them more power?! NOT!

	IllinoisVoter24, on 07/03/2009 @ 07:53 PM wrote:
		I hope your letter manages to inspire change, but it is only a variation on the same story that has played out in this country many times before. Industry triumphs everywhere but the movies.

	mturk, on 07/05/2009 @ 07:54 AM wrote:
		I disagree. There's no reason a small farm's food would be safer and so they shouldn't be exempt from food safety laws.