Gardener to Farmer: Save Small Farms and Home Gardens: HB 875, Part II

Yesterday's post on the Food Safety Modernization Act sparked some great conversation...particularly about how a food safety bill could be a bad thing. To those of you who went and read the actual bill, kudos! For those of you who haven't yet and would like to, visit this link to Open Congress and leave your feedback in the text of the bill.

Let me try to sum up two major concerns that are not apparent just by reading the text of this bill. The first is the use of the word "tracking". This term positions this bill to be a cousin for the National Animal Identification System, which creates a tracking system for each and every animal (including hobby farms and pets) in the US. The purpose of which is to be able to track the life cycle of an animal, hoping to prevent the spread of illness or disease.

The USDA has proposed a rule to require all farms and ranches where animals are raised to be registered in a federal database under the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) for existing disease control programs. The draft rule covers programs for cattle, sheep, goats, and swine. It also sets the stage for the entire NAIS program to be mandated for everyone, including anyone who owns even one livestock animal, for example, a single chicken or a horse.
http://www.farmandranchfreedom.org/

And while this seems like a good idea in concept, the cost of this level of regulation will be astounding. It will force many small farmers to stop farming. The basic economics of the process create an affordable financial impact for large agribusiness (who will spend about $7 a head for cattle) but will cost small farmers about $64 a head. If you aren't a farmer, but just have a flock of chickens, you will also be responsible to meet these regulations and absorb this cost. Which will lead to fewer people with livestock.

Though the intended consequences of this bill may not be to support industrialized agriculture, that is exactly what it will do. This will create a food paradigm monopoly, generating increased dependence on big agribusiness and the directives of the government.

Now, imagine this same regulatory system being imposed on other types of food production. Suddenly, the fear for small farms and home vegetable growers seems more rational.

And, if you are organically certified. Please note, both the NAIS and HB 875 give the government extreme latitude in telling you what feed, fertilizer, medicines and pest control methods you can use. There is no mention of organics or how this bill would affect existing organic regulation.For more information, check out Sarah Gilbert's Post on Super Eco.

We are all concerned about food safety. But tracking programs like these will reward the businesses who are actually causing the problem. Seriously, when is the last time you heard that someone became ill after purchasing food from a farmer's market or eating from their own garden? In trying to regulate these huge entities, whose behavior is absolutely appalling, we are giving them the keys to the kingdom.

Before NAIS or HB 875 are passed or implemented, some serious discussion and edits need to be made...otherwise, we will end up punishing the group that is most likely to save us from groups like Monsanto.

I don't think I can find a better way to end this post than with this:

The Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund, opposes the bill and states:, "The burdensome requirements the bill imposes on small farms and the intrusive federal control it creates over small farm operations threaten the future viability of sustainable agriculture and the local food movement."