Who’s Trying to Scuttle the Amendment that Protected Organic and Family Farms? Big Food on the Attack!
December 7, 2010
Today we reveal the thirty agribusiness front groups and industrial agriculture lobbyists that continue to fight the Tester amendment. One of the few saving graces of the Senate’s controversial FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (S. 510)—which passed the Senate last week, only to be sidelined for the moment by a constitutional error—was the amendment introduced by Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT). Small-farm and organic food advocates warned that the legislation would destroy their industry under a mountain of paperwork; the Tester amendment exempted producers with less than $500,000 a year in sales who sell most of their food locally. ANH-USA and other organizations successfully fought to get the amendment included in the final Senate bill.
The bill hit a roadblock within hours after its passage when the House Ways and Means Committee flagged provisions that would levy fees for various activities: reinspecting food facilities, mandatory recalls, registering food importers, etc. According to the Constitution, all revenue-raising provisions must arise in the House of Representatives, which means the Senate’s provisions make the bill unconstitutional.
Robert Guenther, a lobbyist for the United Fresh Produce Association, said the snag in the House could provide an opportunity for the House and Senate to go to conference on the bill and thereby remove the Tester language which exempts many small farmers and food facilities from new food safety rules.
In November, Guenther’s association—together with twenty-nine other agribusiness lobbyists and associations—openly and publicly attacked small and organic farmers. They wrote to the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, saying that the same rules ought to apply to all farms and food producers, regardless of size—knowing full well that only the giants can afford to play by these rules.
These organizations (and the companies that are their members) believe that even the smallest food sellers, like mom-and-pop roadside stands, should face the same regulatory hurdles as their own industrial-scale processed food operations. Big Food is essentially trying to use the government to quash competition from small family and organic farms.
As Dave Murphy, executive director of Food Democracy Now!, wrote in The Hill newspaper, “When legislation is made in Congress, industrial agriculture sets the rules and these minor protections are the only thing standing between the smallest family farmers and expensive new regulations that could drive them out of business.”
In their letter to the HELP Committee, these thirty groups write, “The undersigned organizations represent the vast majority of growers, producers, shippers, distributors, processors, packers, and wholesalers, and the vast majority of our members are small businesses.” While we acknowledge that many small businesses belong to these organizations, there is no doubt whatsoever that their membership is dominated by the largest food processors in the country.
You may be shocked at some of the names on this list:
American Feed Industry Association
American Frozen Food Institute
American Fruit and Vegetable Processors and Growers Coalition
American Meat Institute
American Mushroom Institute
California Grape and Tree Fruit League
Corn Refiners Association
Florida Tomato Exchange
Fresh Produce Association of the Americas
Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association
Idaho Potato Commission
International Dairy Foods Association
National Council of Farmer Cooperatives
National Chicken Council
National Grain and Feed Association
National Meat Association
National Milk Producers Federation
National Oilseed Processors Association
National Pork Producers Council
National Potato Council
National Turkey Federation
National Watermelon Association
Pet Food Institute
Produce Marketing Association
Shelf-Stable Food Processors Association
Texas Produce Association
United Egg Producers
United Fresh Produce Association
U.S. Apple Association
Western Growers Association
After the constitutional snafu invalidated the bill, thirteen of the above organizations plus ten other Big Food associations wrote to House leaders to reiterate their position and urge the Senate to go to conference on the bill.
Dave Murphy points out that “members of Congress and the elite class of agribusiness lobbyists continue to ignore the elephant in the room regarding food safety and agricultural production, which as most informed citizens know is concentration.” Murphy is referring to CAFOs, or Concentrated Animal Feedlot Operations. It’s the standard model for large-scale food-producing-animal factory farms.
Some members of Congress, like Rep. Dennis Cardoza (D-CA), who sits on the House Agriculture Committee and represents California’s factory-farm-dominated San Joaquin Valley, are glad to see the Senate bill fail because it would give them the opportunity to strip the Tester amendment from the bill. Cardoza went so far as to call the Tester amendment “an abomination” (a very strong word for something that protects family farmers) and said, “A small farm can devastate the industry as easily as a big farm.” It should be noted that Rep. Cardoza’s campaign received more than $103,000 from the “Crop Production & Basic Processing” industry—the very people who are now demanding that Tester’s modest farmer protection provisions be killed.
Murphy continued, “This fact should not be lost on anyone, because this is how industrial agriculture has not only taken over food production in the US, driving farmers off the land, fattening Americans, and contaminating our food, but it is also how corporate agribusiness has corrupted our democracy.”
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Big business yet again shutting down family and small businesses.
The very things that made this country grow and succeed.
not only is it healthier but good for prices and competition to have many small farms.
Not to mention different choices for consumers.
Farmer Joe’s apples may be a bit more crisp than Farmer John’s.
My family had a farm generations past. But they let the land go. If I had known about it us younger ones would have bought it from them and developed it into farmland.
So what do we DO about it? I’m like most of you: outraged but haven’t taken any action. Is there time left to take action? Who do we write/call? What should we say?
These companies are so off base, wrong, thinking they represent me! Are you kidding me? This kind of legislation springs from greed, narcissism, and willful ignorance lacking great compassion for feeding a nation healthfully. I buy from my neighbors and nothing will change that! No GMO. ORGANIC ONLY! RAISED WITH LOVE NOT DRUGS and NOT POISONS and picked with love, bought with love, prepared with love.
In CA is T/J on our side. How about a boycott on big farm products. If Gays can do a boycott against O/J and have the Rep. fired from the ads we should be able to do the same. So lets get those names of ass ociations and org’s.
Please formulate ‘Action Alerts ‘ with the strongest the possible language for our disgust, naming the associations and organizations lobbying our congress and government. I recommend a series of ‘Alerts’, to both houses of congress for the most impact and get the most people involved. This would send a message, that we will not tolerated attacks on our choice’s of our natural food growers and suppliers. … dez …
The problem with the big corporations is that they do not want the consumers to eat Local Organic Healthy food other wise we will be healthy. They want us to be sick so they can continue with their corruption of our society and not question what corruptions they will cause next. They themselves know their junk food is bad for us.
Where is the ‘Action Aleart’ regarding this current aspect of this issue??? The ‘Action Aleart” emails we send to our congress are so powerful…I hope one will be created asap so we can email our senators and/or reps to speak out …thank you!
This issue needs to be confronted by small family farmers and local health food grocery/stores…i spoke with several in my community and they didn’t know anything about this!!! The orgs that are now active should find a way to get this info out to as many of our health food suppliers and community stores asap so they can spread the word to their customers to get active and stop big agra from taking over our food supply…can anyone tell us if this can be done of if itr is already is being done???
If you have ever driven by a bovine feedlot – announceded by stench from 1/4 mile away you know that it is not clean food production area…how can a food inspector walk in there and allow them keep operating ?
I drove my a feedlot with a small mound in the middle of it, and there were a couple of cows standing on the top of it – trying the get away from the pool of URINE below them.
If a cow knows what is not sanitary why not the food inspectors ?
Yet I have never seen that kind of a digusting conditions in the small farming world.
Give the nasty giant food producers a 100 million kick in the butt ! Please keep after EVERYONE of your friends to keep emailing and calling – daily
The vast majority of food related illnesses are caused by food grown and processed by large agribusiness companies. True organic farmers are small and primarily sell their produce locally. Organic farming, unlike large scale production, does not put labratory produced chemicals into our food supply and water supply. Growth hormones and antibiotics are not permitted in the production of organically grown meat. Because these small farmers are not the source of the big problems in the food supply chain, they absolutely must be exempted from the requirements that absolutely must be imposed on large agribusiness companies. History demonstrates that these large corporations will not be concerned about the safety of their products unless they are required by law to be concerned and unless their failures hit their bottom line in a big way. Organic farmers, on the other hand, are in direct contact with their customers and have a vested interest in keeping them healthy and happy.
Protect organic family farms and by doing so you will protect American families.
Democracy turned upside down by greedy organizations supporting big businesses.
Shame, shame on them thinking they can destroy small and local farmers including farmers markets.
Let the LIGHT shine through their big business darkness and attitudes. I shop at a local
farmers market in Charlottesville, VA. It has tripled in popularity in five years because smart
people know LOCAL IS BETTER AND HEALTHIER. Its’ also best for the farmers and environment.
namaste’, rachel
Small family farmers must be protected in our country from large agribusiness. Who wants to be responsible for causing even more Americans to become unemployed? In addition, who wants to take the responsibility for the growing number of food poisonings which have come from less food inspections of agribusiness crops and livestock food supply? It’s time now to work together for the common good, not just working for those who line pockets with their contributions.
Small family farmers must be protected in our country from the power of large agribusinesses. Who wants to be responsible for causing even more Americans to become unemployed? In addition, who wants to take the responsibility for the growing number of food poisonings which have come from less intensive food inspections of agribusiness crops and livestock? It is time now to work together for the common good, not just working for those who line pockets with strings-attached contributions.
It is time to STOP BIG business’ of all kinds that prey for the gain of money instead of a product with integrity and safety and rightful livelihood. A person’s Job is not something to play with. Accountability is the name of the game, and our government needs to start with themselves and check out why they are not already taking action at these monopolistic inhumane juggernauts. It’s time for our Government to throw a wrench in the gears of the huge Food/Farm Companies and put them in their place. Isn’t it obvious that the Big Companies are trying to squeeze out anyone not of their game. We the People should have the right to grow food anyway we like, as we have since the first seed was planted with intention to grow for food. Non Big Business Farms certainly should not to be penalized by the GMO Bastards suing them for growing GMO seeds that were pollinated by the next-door GMO Company’s pollen that drifted and trespassed on the non GMO farm in the first place. WTF?! What a pity we even have to have this kind of conversation with the congress when they most likely know all about it… Doesn’t the Business Farm companies give money to their campaign?
STOP Bill S 510
Sorry to see there was no action alert for us to send out , this is not only going to hurt the local farmers but all of us who look forward to having organic food at a reasonable price.