By LINDA McGURK
Indiana Correspondent

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A slew of food safety bills working their way through Congress have some Internet bloggers up in arms, warning that the bills could mean the end of backyard gardening and organic farms.

The reality of the bills is far from the scenarios played out by the online rumor mill, according to two advocacy groups for family farms and consumer rights. But small producers could still have reasons to be concerned.

“We don’t object to new laws that provide safer food for the American people,” said Mark Kastel, co-founder of the Cornucopia Institute, a farm policy research group based in Wisconsin. “On the other end of this, it’s very important that family farmers are on guard when Congress is trying to solve (food safety) problems, so that the legislation doesn’t promulgate one-size-fits-all solutions.”
The public outcry has mostly focused on the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009 (House Resolution 875), but Kastel pointed out that of all the food safety bills currently before Congress, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Globalization Act of 2009 (HR 759) appears to be the one that’s most likely to be voted on, possibly with elements of the other bills incorporated.

Sponsored by Congress’ most senior member, Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.), HR 759 amends the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act to include provisions governing food safety. The bill provides for an accreditation system for food facilities, and would require written food safety plans and hazard analyses for any facilities that manufacture, process, pack, transport or hold food in the United States.

It also calls for country of origin labeling and science-based minimum standards for harvesting fruits and vegetables, as well as establishing a risk-based inspection schedule for food facilities.
Consumer-rights group Food and Water Watch supports the bill, in part because it beefs up the FDA’s authority to inspect food facilities and gives the agency mandatory recall authority. “I think something has to be done.

There’s been too many recalls,” said Tony Corbo, legislative representative for the group.

He added that the legislation – had it been in place at the time – could have prevented the deadly outbreak of salmonella caused by tainted peanuts from a Georgia processing plant earlier this year. But Corbo said there are some provisions that could potentially harm small producers.

For example, the bill would establish an electronic traceability system to improve FDA’s ability to track down the source of contaminated food. “One of the problems we see with Dingell’s bill is the requirement to keep electronic records,” he said. “Not all farmers have computers or Internet access.”

The Cornucopia Institute takes issue with some of the bill’s minimum food safety standards for harvesting of fruits and vegetables, which address manure use, water quality, employee hygiene, sanitation and animal control, temperature controls and nutrients on the farm.

The institute claims the preventative measures are designed with large-scale producers and processors in mind and “would likely put smaller and organic producers at an economic and competitive disadvantage.” Besides, organic farmers are already heavily regulated under USDA’s National Organic Program, Kastel pointed out. The proposed increased food safety inspections by the FDA would be paid for by imposing fees on food facilities, another potential sticking point for small producers, according to the Cornucopia Institute.

“If the fee is $1,000, a company like Kraft may not even blink, but if you’re a small producer who sells at a farmers’ market, it’s not going to be worth it,” said Kastel. “There needs to be a sliding scale (for fees).”

HR 759 also strengthens the FDA’s authority to inspect imported foods, a provision that’s applauded by Food and Water Watch. “Imports are a tragedy waiting to happen,” said Corbo. “The FDA has no system in place to restrict imports from a food safety standpoint.

“The FDA is only able to visually inspect about 1 percent of all imports, because of the trade deals we’ve signed. HR 759 creates a step in the right direction.”

The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) has decided to oppose HR 759, arguing that recent food safety issues in the U.S. primarily are the result of underfunding. “We believe that passage of the Food and Drug Administration Globalization Act, as written, will create broad new requirements that will not improve food safety,” said Kent Yeager, public policy director for the Indiana Farm Bureau.

AFBF instead proposes increased funding for the government’s food and feed safety and protection functions, more extensive training for inspectors and additional inspections based on a facility’s risk level. The AFBF also supports the development of scientifically-based rapid testing methods and point-of-entry inspections for imported foods, which would be funded by the importers.
Kastel expects Congress to vote on a final bill by Memorial Day and encouraged small farmers to express their concerns to their legislators.

“Whatever the final legislation looks like, it must make clear that it is the intent of Congress to ensure that ensuing regulations will not disproportionately burden small-scale family farm producers and farmstead businesses that are the backbone of the local, sustainable and organic food movement,” the Cornucopia Institute stated on its website.