A big win for small farmers (and the eaters who love them)

[xchrom]

http://grist.org/food/a-big-win-for-small-farmers-and-the-eaters-who-love-them/

?w=470&h=264
Small farmers like Rep. Chellie Pingree have a reason to smile.

Last month, we suggested that people who like getting food from small, local farms might have an interest in speaking up about the new Food Safety Modernization Act. Many of those small farmers were worried that the law could put them out of business.

Today, Michael Taylor, the FDA official leading the process wrote, “You spoke. We heard you.”

The FDA will make “significant changes” on precisely those points that worried farmers most (see those details in my first story). In a statement, Taylor wrote:

Based on our discussions with farmers, the research community and other input we have received, we have learned a great deal, and our thinking has evolved. Everyone shares the goal of ensuring produce safety, but, as we said at the beginning of the process, the new safety standards must be flexible enough to accommodate reasonably the great diversity of the produce sector, and they must be practical to implement.

[Sienna86]

1. Good.

This is why is pays to take a few minutes and do an email or make a phone call.

[brer cat]

2. Very good point, Sienna86. nt