How about letting 1organicgirl cut and paste for herself, Paul Turner?

Below is from Alex Tiller. He runs a national farm management company.

"What’s more, and troubling to anyone with a memory of the history of government expansions of power, the bill puts all this authority in the hands, not of the FDA (which has handled food safety at the national level for more than a century) but in an ill-defined and shadowy ‘food czar’ working out of the White House. You don’t have to be a frothing partisan to be reluctant to put any President so directly in charge of the food supply of the country. It’s my view that, while there may be ideas of value in this bill (although in my reading thus far I haven’t found any), the bill as it stands would be a terrible idea, one that does nothing to enhance food safety but instead makes it impossible for small producers to compete with the big companies, often imposing what amounts to de facto bans on organic produce or naturally-gathered food and game. "

http://blog.alextiller.com/Blo...ID=2729&PostID=58102

Has it even REMOTELY occurred to you that you're posting & talking to yourself here - over & over & over & over again? Just REMOTELY?

You're starting to sound like the Unibomber, & once you reach that point, no one (myself included) is listening to you or reading your posts anymore.

A small farm vegetable producer in Kansas is expressing his concern about the latest food bills. Below is a letter I received from him. He has included his email address and is willing to answer any questions.

I am a vegetable producer in KS and am analyzing the food safety bills for their affect on my small business. All of these bills will drive small producers out of business via the burden of compliance. We know this via the history of the PMO and butcher regs. There is also wording which indicates they will outlaw certain organic practices.

But I am emailing you to oppose these not just for that reason, but because these will give the FDA the authority to require irradiation of vegetables. These bills need to be stopped because if that is their agenda there will be nothing we can do to stop them once they have that authority to do so via regulations.

In particular I speak with concern to HR 875 and HR 759 (sec 104).

Please help save our farms. The food safety problems all stem from our centralized food system, not decentralized family farms. Small farms and intrastate sales need to be clearly exempted in any regulation.

Pete Gasper
farmer1@gasperfarm.com

I personally feel, you need to avoid having unjust laws in the first place. On the other hand, they will charge with hefty fines that will drive us out of business and and thereby make us to sell our land in auctions.

Cutting and pasting: Easier than actual thought.

Posting graphics: Easier than cutting and pasting.

Wayne

Are you Allenwrench in drag?

quote:

Originally posted by Tom C zone 4/5:
Are you Allenwrench in drag?

Now THAT'S funny!! LOL!! Thanks for starting my morning off by nearly having me spew coffee all over the place, Tom - lol!!

After spending much time researching both sides of the latest "food safety" issues, it becomes clear it is not the small organic farms which are responsible. The latest rash of food bills will put many small farms out of business and add to the acreage of large industrialized (GMO) farms.

The implementation of the latest Food Bills in their present form would, whether by design or not, have a negative impact on small farms. What hurts the small farms will negatively affect many of us.

These latest food bills do NOT support local sustainable growers. These Bills would create a record keeping nightmare and make it cost prohibitive for all those not willing to go along with the corporate scheme of things.

I understand the issue of enforcement of unjust laws and how people will try to find ways of circumventing such laws. I also know how easily laws are selectively enforced and how the Monsantos have large legal teams and out in the field inspectors. I feel it is best to avoid having unjust laws in the first place.
Paul Turner

Good Lord - will you just SHUT UP ALREADY!!!

Your posts are so dreary & repetitive that no one is even reading them anymore. You've reduced yourself to spam.

1) You're offensive in that you seem to believe that everyone here is an ostrich & has no idea re: organic politics.

2) You'd have to be a complete idiot to not realize that you're basically talking to yourself with these constant posts, except for the occasional comic relief from others here.

3) You're wasting precious bandwidth with your rants on what is currently a free website.

Please seriously consider toning down your attacks.

FDA News - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - April 26, 2009

RAW ALFALFA SPROUTS LINKED TO SALMONELLA CONTAMINATION
This outbreak appears to be an extension of an earlier outbreak in 2009.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today recommended that consumers not eat raw alfalfa sprouts, including sprout blends containing alfalfa sprouts, until further notice because the product has been linked to Salmonella serotype Saintpaul contamination. Other types of sprouts have not been implicated at this time.

The investigation indicates that the problem may be linked to contamination of seeds for alfalfa sprouts. Because suspect lots of seeds may be sold around the country and may account for a large proportion of the alfalfa seeds currently being used by sprout growers, and cases of illness are spread across multiple states, FDA and CDC are issuing this general advisory.
http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2009/NEW02001.html

"Contaminate" is their favorite word since the public fears the deadly contamination that industry itself - not farmers - has caused. That fear is valuable. Scare the public and it is easy to get "food safety standards" set without anyone reading them. 39 progressive co-sponsors leap on, thinking this is about "food safety." But it is only about the use of "food safety," not the reality of it.
Seeds - How To Criminalize Them

This is far from "news".

Edible sprouts have been linked with contamination (E. coli, Salmonella, Listeria, etc.) for DECADES. Since the 1970's when sprout consumption was at its all-time highest. It was suggested then that folks "sprout" their own rather than buy the commercial product, & frankly it's been years since I've seen commercial sprouts available at any of my local supermarkets.

quote:

The investigation indicates that the problem may be linked to contamination of seeds for alfalfa sprouts.

I didn't see any recommendation that folks sprout their own in this latest April 26, 2009 FDA "food safety" concern.
Paul Turner

"The FDA offers the following advice to all consumers concerning sprouts:

* Cook all sprouts thoroughly before eating to significantly reduce the risk of illness.
* Sandwiches and salads purchased at restaurants and delicatessens often contain raw sprouts. Consumers who wish to reduce their risk of foodborne illness should specifically request that raw sprouts not be added to their food.
* Homegrown sprouts also present a health risk if eaten raw or lightly cooked. Many outbreaks have been attributed to contaminated seed. If pathogenic bacteria are present in or on seed, they can grow to high levels during sprouting even under clean conditions."
http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~lrd/tpsprout.html

I personally feel this is more of a scare tactic than true concern for health and I would not be posting it if I didn't believe it was related to how the latest food Bills want to list seeds as sources of contamination. Paul Turner

"Contaminate" is their favorite word since the public fears the deadly contamination that industry itself - not farmers - has caused.
Seeds - How To Criminalize Them

My favorite restaurant, which has been around since the 1970's, used to put alfalfa sprouts on almost everything. A decade or so ago, I noticed the sprouts were missing. The manager told me they stopped using them because of the risk of bacteria. There are still some restaurants that use them, though.

Only tangentially sprout-related, sorta funny sprout story: An ex-BF of mine used to sprout his own sprouts, and when a bunch of us would go out to a restaurant, he couldn't understand why the waitress wouldn't bring him salad dressing when he wasn't buying anything.

--J--

Well, it looks like the restaurants will be fine serving the sprouts if they just do as the FDA advises, "Cook all sprouts thoroughly before eating to significantly reduce the risk of illness."

The problem is, I don't know how to keep my new seedlings from spreading their bacteria when I plant them outdoors.