Goodbye farmers markets, CSAs, and roadside stands

[Joanne98]

For OpEdNews: Linn Cohen-Cole - Writer

The "food safety" bills in Congress were written by Monsanto, Cargill, Tysons, ADM, etc. All are associated with the opposite of food safety. What is this all about then?


In the simplest terms, organic food and a rebirth of farming were winning. Not in absolute numbers but in a deep and growing shift by the public toward understanding the connection between their food and their health, between good food and true social pleasures, between their own involvement in food and the improvement in their lives in general, between local food and a burgeoning local economy.

Slow Food was right - limit your food to what comes from your region and from real farmers, and slow down to cook it and linger over it with friends and family, and the world begins to change for the better.

And as we face an unprecedented economic crisis, and it is hard to be sure what has value, one thing that always does is food. Which is why the corporations are after absolute control over it. But what obstacles to a complete lock on food do they face? All the people in this country who are "banking" on organic farming and urban gardens and most of all, everyone's deepening pleasure in and increasing involvement with everything about food.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Goodbye-farmers-markets-C-by-Linn-Cohen-Cole-090303-287.html

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/568/t/1128/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=26714

[ORDagnabbit]

1. monsanto is one of those companies that need to be completely broken up and removed from the face of

the planet

[liberalla]

8. +1000

I hate Monsanto.

[salguine]

9. No kidding. Monsanto makes WalMart look fucking benevolent by comparison.

[Webster Green]

13. +1,000,000,000

They need to be stopped! They are sick, greedy fucks who won't stop till they control the entire food supply on the planet.

[The Damned]

37. x1,000,000,000,000,000

x infinity

[madrchsod]

2. that would mean southern wisconsin would leave the country...

southern wisconsin is the second largest producer of organic crops in the usa.

the madison farmers market is the largest in the country.

one can buy just about any fruit,vegetable,and other neat stuff at the market.

[FirstLight]

3. wow...helluva article

I not only read it, but I followed the link to send a message to my congress critter....

Just watched FOOD, INc. last week and I am convinced that not only are local farmers in danger of having seeds taken away from them...but maybe even folks like us who may want to have a backyard garden or share a garden with other families...

Not to mention the illnesses and funk of the meat industry (i am going vegetarian this month, for sure!)

So ya, thanks for sharing!

[Altoid_Cyclist]

14. I bought "Food Inc." a few weeks ago but haven't been in the proper frame of mind to watch it yet.

I'm still trying to switch to an all vegetarian diet, but I still haven't been able to phase out poultry a few times a week yet.

Perhaps the DVD will be the final push that I need to take the leap for good.

[FailureToCommunicate]

21. Watch it. But it won't make you feel good about stopping meat eating either: Monsanto is

apparently strangling off the age old process of 'seed saving' (it's illegal once you switch to GMO Monsanto seeds) around the world. So... going vegetarian has issues also.
There ARE hopeful parts in the film (the links, for instance) but it does pack a wallop.
Then you should take a break from gardening and bike to your local library and check out Michael Pollan's "In Defense of Food". And give "This, Not That" series a look (lots of pictures)

We are all lab rats in a huge food and ecology experiment AND we seem to be on our own...

Good luck to you!

[Altoid_Cyclist]

31. We really are becoming the playthings and test subjects of companies such as Monsanto.

My Dad was an Meat and Poultry Inspector for the USDA. I used to go with him to a few of the local poultry plants during the summer. At least back then most of the poultry was locally raised and I don't think that chemicals were used in such large quantities. Now when you see what companies like Tyson and Perdue are allowed to do, it makes me wonder if any poultry is safe to eat.

Between that and the stories that he told me about the meat processing plants, I can only imagine what it's like now. It was starting to get a lot worse when he became sick and had to retire 30 years ago.

Now that animals are raised on chemical laced diets and the GMO foods are monopolizing the plants that we eat, it isn't looking real promising for the health of the human race.

I better start loading up on safe seeds while they're still available.

[FailureToCommunicate]

32. Gee, then "Food Inc" will have EXTRA meaning for you. The human race will go on,

but perhaps not the portion in "The West" ('First World') because of our Western diet. At least that's one of the conclusions of "In Defense of Food" (Pollan's book)

(BTY I meant not offense to you when I said "bike" to the library. I say that a lot and had not actually noticed your screen name or avatar)
(I would put some appropriate emoticon here if I knew how...)

[Altoid_Cyclist]

33. No offense taken. Actually, I haven't been on my bike for a while.

I had my second heart attack in three years right before Christmas.
I have an appointment in Pittsburgh on May 18th. That will help determine if I'm allowed to resume cycling or if I'm done with that.

DU'er Elleng has already come up with my new ID if the results are less than what I'm hoping for. I will henceforth be known as Altoid_X if I have to give up cycling. Of course I'll have to change my avatar also. I might go with my Scottish ancestors tartan.


I'll have to go find the book that you mentioned. I need all of the help that I can get to avoid a third MI. I don't have the health care that Cheney does.

:hi:

[FailureToCommunicate]

34. You should keep your DU i.d. no matter the results, IMHO. Here's why:

Just having the POSSIBILITY of getting back on to ride- even if the test results discourage it- could be beneficial to your overall health. Heck, I'd suggest you find a stationary -indoor -bike to get you back in shape to ride.
There are LOTS of options as you probably know, from a stand that puts your bike wheel off the ground to spin, to regular exercise bikes (dirt cheap-from Craig's list) to one I found and bought used recently: a recumbent bike/rowing machine combination thing-ie that has been great for my getting back in shape (I am a solar builder and had fooled myself into thinking working outdoors, climbing ladders even in N.E. winters was "good enough" exercise...)

Found it -used- for less than $300: <http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000TK4GYW/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B000JBZYVA&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1CGRRQWN9QSX9ZKQAYM8>

I used to do a lot of backpacking years ago, and sometimes I was tempted to sell or pass on my camping equipment, but somehow just seeing the stuff in the closet was comforting. And then last summer we took it along on a trip to the Olympic Peninsula in the Northwest and used it all again! I was so pleased to crawl back in for a night (almost)under the stars (It helped that the Olympic rain forest was having it's driest summer in years! Global Climate Disruption to blame?)

Anyway, good luck to you in the next few weeks!

You'll be 'back in the saddle again', I'm sure.

[Altoid_Cyclist]

35. Just in case, I have a bike saved on Treks' Project One site.

Mine will be Carerra Blue, white and black though.

It will be a lot easier on my body than my old bike. My Cardiac Re-hab nurses said that I can ride now, but I'd rather wait until the next test.

My wife's against ever riding again since both of the MI's happened on the bike, but it's something that I have to do if at all possible. This makes no sense to her, but the emotional and physical rush that cycling provides me is worth the risk in my mind.

And if all else fails, I do already have an exercise bike and a trainer for my bike if I can't ride on the road anymore. As I told my Re-hab nurses, if I'm going to get beat by heart disease, I'm going to put up one heck of a fight on the way out.

Thanks for the encouragement!!!

[FailureToCommunicate]

36. Sounds like you're ready to hit the hills. So just read the Pollan book for

advice on the other big piece of the health puzzle besides staying fit: our lousy Western diet.

Bonne chance!

[proudohioan]

4. The money that is polluting our politics is absolutely vile!

I have recently discovered a hidden gem of year round farmers market close to my home. I have been buying my eggs, cheese, herbs, spices, bread, jelly, syrup and whatever produce they happen to have available since January.

Not only do I appreciate the quality of the various farmers bounty, I truly enjoy the atmosphere of the place; by now, it's like going to 'Cheer's', where everybody knows your name. Have a cup of free-trade organic coffee and visit with like minded folks and farmers. It's my new Saturday ritual and I love every minute of it!

Thanks for the OP. I signed the petition as well.

[Cherchez la Femme]

5. Planted a very large garden last year

Yield of total edible crop: 2 cucumbers & 1 squash (when I planted only zucchini, must have been a mix up regarding seeds).

This is a bit OT, but so far looks like the best place to put this.

As I always have, I went totally organic and my thumb is, as they say, 'green' ...up until last year.
Half the crops were tomatoes. None developed far enough to eat. Not even fried green tomatoes; then they rotted on the vine.
The number and size of the slugs were simply incredible, but strangely enough I didn't get any tomato bugs. Among other unhealthy bugs (saw NO bees at all), aphids were totally off the charts. Chard & greens can't be planted this year (last years looked like green bits of swiss cheese) and I won't be blowing $200- on seasonal plants such as petunias, marigolds or snapdragons as the aphids, etc. ate them all up too. The front year will look terrible and dull, but at least I'll till in a bunch of last years dead leaves into the soil to help aerate it & grow new soil for hopefully better years to come.

I spread 2 large bags of wildflower seeds around the areas not specified for planting too, along with planting sunflowers around the sheds & off the front of the property.
Not one flower bloomed, the sunflowers never even seemed to start.

The reason? The wet summer,
i.e. Global Warming.

I read a newspaper article (real newspaper, cannot give you a link) that in the entire N.E. there was not one locally grown organic tomato to be purchased!

Simply a nightmare, and judging by this years weather so far it looks the same if not worse.

This year along with my regular garden I'm going to try to hang as many of those 'Topsy-Turvey' growers as I can off my deck as a back-up. Gonna use them all for tomatoes and 3 of those blueberry plants advertised on television (Who knows? But I'll give it a try) Up on the deck they'll still get all the rain but perhaps the slugs & other bugs maybe won't get that far up and being controlled like that I'm thinking maybe fashioning little umbrellas out of tarp to drape over the tops of the containers when rain is too plentiful. I'm still going with starting heirloom seeds, I hope to goddess they make it; I don't even know what the difference anymore is between naturally grown, more resistant or hybrids vegetable strains are between what is bio-engineered and the seed packages nor the seedling stickers certainly don't tell you!. I won't touch genetically modified even with someone else's 10-foot-hoe (to be truthful, I wouldn't touch it anyways : ).
And I still think the heirlooms are much more flavorful.


So good luck to all you organic home growers -- especially in the NorthEast! If this year is anything like last, we're truly going to need all the luck we can to pull in ANY kind of harvest!


P.S. I'm thinking since I had such a hard time last year growing above-ground yield crops, this year I may try some root crops such as 'taters & beets... Never done them before (I know potatoes have to be 'hilled' but do beets? Do all/most root crops?) I also have clayey soil, which I know is anathema to onions, but what about the two I mentioned? & Yep I'm going to do research online but it's always good to get advice from those who have done it themselves, not to deride generic articles...

-- if you have any tips/advice pls send an email as I don't check here very often anymore. Thanks!

[The Wizard]

12. Monsanto

Bringing engineered crops to market with seeds that will not grow. I get my pepper seeds from peppers imported from Holland.

[zeemike]

17. Have you tried raised beds?

That has worked for me before in wet weather....and it is easy to do....just dig out a pathway between a bed about 4 feet across....this allows the soil to drain the water away.
You can then lay straw,leaves or other organic matter in the walkways to keep the weeds down and it over time will decompose, and be turned back into the bed.
And hilling is a must for potatoes but it will work for anything because it keeps the roots insulated form the heat of the sun. And it can be done easily with a hoe pulling the soil from between the rows up close to the plant while weeding.

[Ratty]

19. I have had problems with tomatoes for years and years

I have a small raised bed I used to grow tomatoes in. Cherry tomatoes were easy and grew like weeds, never had a problem with them. But any other kind simply died. The pattern was always the same, year after year. The plants would become healthy and enormous and I'd get the start of a large crop of tomatoes. But as they began to ripen the plant would start to die. It would turn brown starting at the bottom and work its way up. I'd get a few good tomatoes, maybe ten if I was lucky, before the plant died completely. I finally just gave up and haven't tried to grow any the last two years. Tried it with Early Girl, Beefsteak, Roma ... all kinds of varieties.

Probably not related to your post. I'm just bitching.

[Cherchez la Femme]

28. Last year mine turned brown too

but every other year I had tons of luck growing diff varieties, Early Girl included,
but at least half my tomato plantings have always been Beefsteaks as I eat them like apples, which some people find strange. To me, there is no better candy than a just-plucked Beefsteak (and a little salt).
Oh, and thick slices of Beefsteak on toasted bread with mayo. Yum!

From reading the replies, it seems strange this happened to you on a raised bed... esp. as that newspaper article I mentioned blamed the rot on the wet summer. :shrug:

[Dr.Phool]

29. I tried tomatoes in Topsey Turvey's last year.

I got about four Beefsteaks the size of grape tomatoes, out of 2 plants. However, the habaneros were still producing until we had a freeze in February (Florida). I have 2 tomatoes in them now. One appears to be doing great. No blossoms yet. The other is dead as a door nail.

I used to have a large garden up north every year, but the soil down here sucks. I'm going to try some earth boxes for the late season this year.

[Cherchez la Femme]

30. Shoot.

So much for promises in advertising!
Don't they have a money-back guarantee?

[earth mom]

6. Fuck Monsanto!!! They are the DEVIL!!!

:grr:

[emsimon33]

7. We need to contact Congress and stop this!

[FailureToCommunicate]

23. Good luck. Clarence Thomas worked for Monsanto before the Supreme Court. And

big agribusiness gives big money to Congress so they can pay for tee-vee ads to convince US to vote for them.

What a system!

[fasttense]

10. I posted your link at the Rural/Farm forum here on DU.

Under a topic I had started awhile back asking people to write their Congress Critters about proposed regulations for small farmers (GAP).

I provided a sample letter then was ambushed by some poster who claimed I was making it all up.

Here is a link to a similar topic with a sample letter. http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=268&topic_id=3355&mesg_id=3355

Thanks much for providing this link/info.

[ananda]

11. There's a petition link in the article.

I signed it.

[kestrel91316]

15. People also need to be sure to grow open-pollinated varieties

of vegetables in their gardens, NOT corporate-owned hybrids. And then save their own seeds.

Seed Savers Exchange is a national treasure. http://www.seedsavers.org/

[era veteran]

16. evil monsanto

[Unca Jim]

18. Help me to understand...

how farmer's markets, etc. are threatened by this bill.

I assume we're talking about the actual bill, Bill S.510, not the one defeated in March?

I didn't read all the text, but I looked it over and saw just good food safety and improvements in the inspections procedures.

What, exactly is the horrible part of the legislation? Don't get me wrong, Monsanto is pretty evil and I like buying fresh, locally-grown produce.

If we can buy guns off of a card table, I have trouble believing they can shut down small-volume sales like farmer's markets.

[fasttense]

24. They make no exemptions for small-volume producers.

One of the items mentioned are GAP regulations which require a farmer to keep wild animals away. Now how exactly do you keep all the thousand of bunny rabbits and snakes out of a 3 acre field? I have my fields fenced but rabbits, frogs, toads, blue racer lizards, snakes and rodents are continually visiting. How do you keep birds from flying by? The only way is to put out poison to kill the surrounding wildlife like Conagra does. Which seems to me to defeat the purpose of growing natural produce.

I would have to fumigate with poison to ensure no wild animal might walk by my swiss chard. Corporate farms caused unsanitary and deadly conditions to be spread and then demand that the small farmer meet the same requirements that corporations meet because corporations abused the system and turned farming into cesspool management and inhumane animal control.

I'll bet you my bottom dollar that if CEOs were required to eat the produce they sold, things would change. Well, the small farmer does just that. He eats the same produce he sells to a customer, so he makes the extra effort not to put raw horse manure on the food he eats. He makes sure he washes his hands after going to the bathroom and before he picks because it might end up on his dinner table. He avoids pumping antibiotics and hormones into his chickens and lambs because his delicate granddaughter might end up putting it in her mouth.

Small farmers live next to their animals. They don't want to hear the cries and smell the diseases of confined untended animals. They don't build huge piles of sh*t in lagoons because the small farmer doesn't want to smell it next to his house. Small farmers take better care of their animals because they interact with the creatures everyday. They don't need the added hassle of protecting themselves from roosters, ewes or cows because they don't feed the animals enough, or because they beat and torture the creatures.

There needs to be an exemption for family farmers and small growers.

[jobycom]

27. The bill does consider the size and purpose of the farm.

----------------
‘(1) IN GENERAL- Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, the Secretary, in coordination with the Secretary of Agriculture and representatives of State departments of agriculture (including with regard to the national organic program established under the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 6501 et seq.)), shall publish a notice of proposed rulemaking to establish science-based minimum standards for the safe production and harvesting of those types of fruits and vegetables that are raw agricultural commodities for which the Secretary has determined that such standards minimize the risk of serious adverse health consequences or death.

‘(3) CONTENT- The proposed rulemaking under paragraph (1) shall--

‘(A) provide sufficient flexibility to be applicable to various types of entities engaged in the production and harvesting of raw agricultural commodities, including small businesses and entities that sell directly to consumers, and be appropriate to the scale and diversity of the production and harvesting of such commodities;
----------------

That type of language--calling for adjustments and considerations based on the scale and purpose of the operation--is throughout the bill. It doesn't specifically exclude small farmers or large industry would just use that as a loophole to ignore the laws, but it requires rules to be written with factors such as size and purpose in mind.

[femrap]

20. Yep....

1984 is here....'Real food is bad food.'

Corporations must die....just like people do.

[jobycom]

22. The first article is over a year old and Snopes thinks it's silly.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/organic.asp

[Javaman]

26. Check out my post below yours.

I agree. I'm not all that concerned about it. It appears to be stuck in committee where it will die.

Much of the original bill has already been stuck out, so by the end, if it ever comes to vote, it will be completely watered down to nothing.

[Javaman]

25. After having actually read the bill...

To me it is nothing more than what is already being observed by any good organic farmer.

The essence of the section is to track any possible outbreaks of contamination. Granted, while most of the recent contaminations have been by factory outfits. however, as farmers markets grow, so will the producers and as such need to be regulated. Sadly, small time operators will fall into this group as well since they also sell at the markets, but as I stated at the top, a good organic producer pretty much follows the guidelines as stated in the bill.

Whether or not this is directly supported and lobbied by Monsanto is another thing entirely. Not defending them, but their argument probably surrounds competition and the need of various farmers who sell local to follow the same type of cleanliness practices that they observe. (that part is debatable in regards to how close Monsanto observes those same practices).

What I don't grow myself, I buy my balance at farmers markets, so this bill would directly effect me and my wife.

I have seen this email call to arms before over this bill. And after tracking the bill on govtrack.us, it appears as if the bill S.510 is stuck in committee. Updated amendments are nothing new and just shows that it is still being dealt with in committee.

If the bill ever does come up for a vote, I think it will die. Why? because there is a huge section dealing with the inspection of foreign produce and production tactilities. And I can assure you, no foreign government, especially those in the middle east (were we get our dates, pistachios and a variety of other things) will allow that. They have a pretty large lobbying group in Washington.

Much of the bill has been struck out from its original form, anyway.

However, with that, it does seem prudent to at least keep and eye on it.

Here is a summary of the bill. It appears as if point #6 is the one at issue.

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s111-510&tab=summary

S. 510: FDA Food Safety Modernization Act

FDA Food Safety Modernization Act - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) to expand the authority of the Secretary of Health and Human Services (the Secretary) to regulate food, including by authorizing the Secretary to suspend the registration of a food facility. Requires each food facility to evaluate hazards and implement preventive controls. Directs the Secretary to assess and collect fees related to: (1) food facility reinspection; (2) food recalls; and (3) the voluntary qualified importer program. Requires the Secretary and the Secretary of Agriculture to prepare the National Agriculture and Food Defense Strategy. Requires the Secretary to: (1) identify preventive programs and practices to promote the safety and security of food; (2) promulgate regulations on sanitary food transportation practices; (3) develop a policy to manage the risk of food allergy and anaphylaxis in schools and early childhood education programs; (4) allocate inspection resources based on the risk profile of food facilities or food; (5) recognize bodies that accredit food testing laboratories; and (6) improve the capacity of the Secretary to track and trace raw agricultural commodities. Requires the Secretary, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to enhance foodborne illness surveillance systems. Authorizes the Secretary to order an immediate cessation of distribution, or a recall, of food. Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to assist state, local, and tribal governments in preparing for, assessing, decontaminating, and recovering from an agriculture or food emergency. Provides for: (1) foreign supplier verification activities; (2) a voluntary qualified importer program; and (3) the inspection of foreign facilities registered to import food.