food news FDA
NEW PROPOSED
SAFETYRULES A N D T H E F U T U R E O F FA R M I N G EDITED
BY
ROBIN SEYDEL
E
arlier this year, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released new proposed regulations detailing standards for food safety on produce farms and in facilities that process food for people to eat. The rules are not yet final, and FDA is seeking comments from producers, processors and stakeholders to help shape the final rules before they become law. All of these rules are part of FDA’s implementation of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), which President Obama signed into law in 2011. FSMA is the first major update of federal food safety laws since 1938, and it gives FDA broad new powers to prevent food safety problems, detect and respond to food safety issues and improve the safety of imported foods. Impacts on Farmers However, according to a just released white paper by the Cornucopia Institute, the FDA’s draft rules are so off the mark that they might economically crush the country’s safest farmers by ensnaring them in costly and burdensome regulations while ignoring the root threats to human health: production abuses that are mostly emanating from industrial-scale farms and giant agribusiness food-processing facilities. Family farm advocates and groups representing consumers interested in high-quality food, thought they had won a victory when the Tester/Hagan amendment was adopted by Congress exempting farmers doing less than $500,000 in business from the new rules. But Cornucopia’s report suggests the FDA seems more interested in a “one-size-fits-all” approach to food safety regulation and that in reality, small farms are not really exempt. The FDA proposes that the agency can, without any due process, almost immediately force small farms to comply with the same expensive testing and record-keeping requirements as factory farms. Please see the full Cornucopia White Paper report, available at www.cornucopia.org.
Public Comment Period Extended NOV. 15 DEADLINE! The FDA officially announced a final extension of the FSMA comment period, now ending November 15. National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) and Cornucopia Institute as well as other food and farm advocacy organizations urge everyone who grows or eats food (guess that’s all of us!) to become familiar with how these proposed new rules could impact food, farmers and the local food movement. For more information go to www.sustainableagriculture.net or www.cornucopia.org and get informed on these food issues then take action as a concerned consumer.
BOARD elections CALENDAR ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING: October 12: see page 1 Candidates introduce themselves to attendees. BOARD ELECTIONS: November 1 - November 14 Watch for information on the electronic voting process in upcoming Co-op Connection issues.
ACTION
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NATIONAL YOUNG FARMERS COALITION NEEDS YOU!!! Public Comment and National Day of Action October 20 COMMENT BEFORE NOVEMBER 15! The National Young Farmers Coalition (NYFC) is aware that the proposed FDA regulations will significantly impact how all farmers run their operations, no matter the size. The FDA’s draft rules currently require frequent water testing, nine months wait before planting after manure application, and other regulations that will be costly and imprudent for sustainable and organic farmers, young and old alike. NYFC wants to ensure that the FDA hears from as many beginning farmers, as well as seasoned family farmers, as possible about how these rules will affect us. The NYFC is mounting a national grassroots campaign to mobilize beginning farmers, and everyone who supports us, to submit comments to the FDA. One important thing to know is that FDA will count petitions and form letters as a single comment, so individualized comments will have a much greater influence on FDA.
WANT TO VOLUNTEER? Email Tracy Lerman at tracy@youngfarmers.org or Kate Greenberg at kate@youngfarmers.org. NYFC will provide all necessary materials and event planning guidance at www.youngfarmers.org. Or go to www.young farmers.org/fsma. After reading the NYFC Cornucopia or NSAC website send your comments to: Division of Dockets Management (HFA-305) Food and Drug Administration 5630 Fishers Lane, Room 1061 Rockville, MD 20852 All submissions received must include the following: Your Name Your Organization (if any) The appropriate docket number: For the Preventive Controls Rule Docket: FDA-2011-N-0920 and RIN 0910-AG36 For the Produce Rule Docket: FDA-2011-N-0921 and RIN 0910-AG35 If you want to comment on both rules, you can mail them together but must label them separately. NOTE: FDA states that all comments received by mail may be posted without change to www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided.
On October 20, NYFC is holding a National Day of Action. Farmers and farm allies will be hosting house parties all across the country to generate comments.
In October take
edible Santa Fe’s
LOCAL FOOD PLEDGE ROBIN SEYDEL In New Mexico we are blessed to have a vibrant regional “Local Communities” publication, edible Santa Fe. The quarterly magazine is not only beautiful, it provides all sorts of food and farming information, highlights important community events, offers a wide variety of tantalizing recipes for us all to try, and collaborates with a wide variety of regional organizations to move the local food movement forward. Not only that but I have the personal pleasure of working closely with edible editor Sarah WentzelFisher here at the Co-op on a wide variety of food and community issues. BY
ACTION ALERT: Take the PLEDGE, Eat GOOD, Eat LOCAL In celebration of World Food Month and to bring attention to the importance of the local food movement, access for all to good healthy food and the interrelationship of food to just about every environmental and health related issue imaginable; I want to encourage all Co-op Connection readers to take the Local Food Pledge this month. Please read the pledge below, go to www.ediblesantafe.com and sign the pledge, and live it this month. And while you are at it: ask your family and friends to do the same. Need help sourcing local ingredients? Ask your knowledgeable and helpful Co-op staff.
THE LOCAL FOOD PLEDGE Whereas, • The origin of our food and how it is grown is important. Food grown closer to home is fresher, tastes better, and requires fewer resources. • Food grown without chemicals is healthier, tastes better, and requires fewer resources. • Food grown from open pollinated, acclimated seeds ensures seeds and food for many generations. • Eating food when it is abundant and available helps us understand seasonal and long-term changes in the environment. • Not all foods grow everywhere; we are proud of the unique foods that grow here, and the creative ways we have
traditionally prepared them. • Growing and preparing good food requires love, craft and the human touch. • Growing your own food, or buying food a friend or neighbor grew, helps build abundance closer to home by circulating economic resources in smaller circles. • Breaking bread with family, friends and neighbors makes a stronger community. • Breaking bread with family, friends and neighbors makes us better at sharing. • Everybody has the right to access clean, healthy and affordable food. • Everybody has a right to know where their food comes from and what’s in it. • Healthy land = healthy food = healthy people I commit to taking the local food challenge during the month of October 2013 by: • Paying attention to where all of my food originates. • Buying and eating food grown as close to home as possible. • Prioritizing food grown without chemicals. • Buying food from sources where I know the profits will go directly to the farmer. • Meeting at least one farmer who has grown the food I eat. • Changing my diet to incorporate staples grown as close to home as possible. • Practicing cooking and learning how to use seasonal, local ingredients which may not be familiar. • Choosing to patronize restaurants and other food establishments that support local food. (see the Moveable Feast at www.ediblesantafe.com.) • Sharing my food with family and friends as often as possible. • Sharing my experiences of the Local Food Challenge with my family, friends and neighbors.
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