Food Fight in the US Senate - S-510 Stalls - to Conservative Oppostion ?

Lots of notes on this follow up to my last posting.

Preface:

US politics has fragmented in to left/right black/white mudslinging on far too many issues.  And my considered opinion is that Canadian Conservatives are trying their wings with US style Conservative flapdoodle on the "Long Gun Registry".  When something this minor consumes all the air in the room...hold on to your wallet.
It's a diversion used to provide cover for bigger issues. And there's nothing bigger than food on the daily menu of families across the globe.

Meanwhile, so many of the conversations I have with farmers here on PEI focus on distribution.  How do we get our small farm  products into the market? Now we have to wonder, will we all have to do whatever global markets require for traceability of  local products?  

US Senate Bill S- 510

This legislative issue was first brought to my attention by the farmer pirates at "The Small Farmer's Journal".
Independent small farmers have been struggling along only to become more suspicious of the motives of big government and big business.  And the warning was dire - a direct threat to small farming.

I read the bill summary and comment and concluded that indeed there are questions unanswered in a political process too often steered toward big business and away from family farm interests. In the US, Ag. policy has been consistently bad for small farms. So let's say I am suspicious.  Who stands to gain?

Comments On the Blog:

Stephen  Jannise of  Software Advice writes for "The Distribution Blog".Stephen contacted me after reading this blog to invite me to read his post on tracking food recalls.  I did and added my comment.  I encourage you to visit this link for a fascinating look at software and supply chain management of a food recall in the big picture of industrial management.  

Friday - S 510 Comes Up For Discussion.  Google Gives a Tell?

As I mentioned to Stephen, our political world has been polarized into paralysis.  To get a clue I often look into who supports or sponsors a bill.  Who sponsors or participates in the debate?  In this case,  I found the  the water getting murky pretty fast.  This important legislation isn't as easy as guns, gays and God.

The bill was was proposed by senior Senator Dick Durbin (Democrat) of Illinois. Co-Sponsors include respected senior Democrats and Republicans Including "Liberal Lion" Ted Kennedy and Liberal leader Tom Harkin plus Conservative leaders Orrin Hatch and Michael Enzi. Weirdly enough in our political climate, this is a bi-partisan bill.  But when the bill came up for discussion Friday - it was faced with Conservative opposition including Tom Coburn of Oklahoma as reported by "PCT Media ".  PCT stands for "Pest Control Technology" and is a website sponsored by,  "Dow Agro Services, Bayer, Syngenta, BASF, DuPont and Univar".  All are big pesticide makers. Univar is the largest chemical distributor in the US. I found this report through Google.  

Supporters and Opponents

Follow the "money trail" and you find that supporters of the bill include:

• Grocery Manufacturers Association
• National Fisheries Institute
• General Mills
• National Restaurant Association
• Produce Marketing Association
• Kraft Foods North America
• Consumers Union
• American Frozen Food Institute
• Center for Science in the Public Interest
• Food Marketing Institute
• American Public Health Association
• Center for Foodborne Illness Research and Prevention
• Consumer Federation of America
• International Bottled Water Association
• United Fresh Produce Association
• National Association of Manufacturers
• National Confectioners Association
• National Consumers League
• Pew Charitable Trust
• Trust for America's Health
• Snack Food Association
• Safe Tables Our Priority (STOP)
• American Bakers Association
• American Beverage Association
• International Dairy Foods Association
• International Foodservice Distributors Association
• National Coffee Association
• American Farm Bureau

Meanwhile...

Specific Organizations Opposing S.510

• Weston A. Price Foundation
• Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund
• National Independent Consumers and Farmers Association
• Raw Milk Association of Colorado
• Farm Family Defenders
• American Grassfed Association
• Small Farms Conservancy
• National Family Farm Coalition
• Carolina Farm Stewardship Association

 (Information provided by Open Congress)

 So...why would conservatives line up in opposition, with such groups as, The Raw Milk Association of Colorado?  And why would liberals join in support of General Mills and Kraft Foods?

Senator Coburn Presents His Objections

In his detailed objection the Senator outlines the overlap over Federal agencies tasked with food safety and his belief that this bill is not "deficit neutral" -  It will cost tax payers more to implement than it takes in. All play to his Conservative principles. But there is little or nothing in his objection that addresses regulation to protect public health and safety.  Presumably these would fall under his objection to "burdensome regulations".
This comes even in the face of broad support from liberals, conservatives and business.  Opposition comes from independent farmers, small special interests and...chemical manufacturers?

Frankly, I am at a loss to explain the position of either side.

(Update)

Objectivity suggests this excerpt from Sen .Coburn should be included here:  


Burdensome New Regulations
There are 225 pages of new regulations, many of which are problematic. While some regulations are potentially onerous, but perhaps reasonable – such as requiring every facility to have a scientifically-based, but very flexible, food safety plan—others give FDA sweeping authority with potentially significant consequences.
While it is hard to pull out just 1 or 2 regulations in the bill that make the entire thing unpalatable, on the whole this bill represents a weighty new regulatory structure on the food industry that will be particularly difficult for small producers and farms to comply with (with little evidence it will make food safer).

I hope we're seeing here from Dr. Coburn a realization that regulation of flawed production models such as factory farming chicken, won't make the product safer or better.   

And Finally, Why This Debate Is Not The Real Issue

CBC Radio's, "Quirks and Quarks", the national science radio program in Canada, aired a segment today entitled,  "Empires of Food".

"... what caused the downfall of great empires throughout history, from the Mayans to Mesopotamia to Rome. Warfare? Invasions? Political infighting? Well, according to a new book by a Canadian researcher, it was famine. Dr. Evan Fraser makes the case that we are what we eat; and when the crops fail, the fields erode, or the temperature changes, that's when great civilizations fall.  He also thinks we just might be headed for such a fall ourselves."

Listen to the segment at 30:35 into the show...

What if the issues and the stakes are much bigger than big politics or big business? What if the question evolves into, "Where does food come from in an era of collapse"?

If this becomes the question,  then the answer is to make friends with your farmer.

Is Home Grown Food Subversive?

We spent the weekend selling fresh vegetables and herbs at the 70th annual Dundas Plowing Match in Eastern Kings County PEI. It's a lovely old time affair celebrating local Agri - Culture and the local traditions and skills of farming. We go there each year to sell a bit of our organic produce, meet the neighbors, watch the horse teams and plowing competitions and generally enjoy a traditional country fair.

Today, at our market table, I was slicing off samples of our just-picked cucumbers, tomatoes and fresh herbs.
I offered a taste of our finest produce followed by a dab of fresh herbs...just to give fair goers a chance to put the taste of fresh, real, whole food on their palates.

A darling young girl of about 8 years came up to the table and looked over our selection. Then she shyly asked if she could have a slice of cucumber.  I said, "of course".  She picked one up, popped it into her mouth and scampered away.

A Francophone couple from New Brunswick came to the table and I offered them tastes of our lightly flavored Mediteranian cucumbers, our orange cherry tomato, and a bit of fresh basil.  The gentleman came back a few minutes later and asked me if he could have another basil top, "Because it smell so good!"


A bit later, a couple with several young children came up.  I offered them a taste of a just-picked ripe tomato,
a bit of fresh cilantro and a taste of basil. I joked with the parents that I was "subverting their children".  I said,
"Once they learn what fresh food tastes like, they won't want anything else."

I was kidding.  Until I thought about it.

Maybe it really is subversive, an act designed to overthrow the establishment, to offer fresh, clean, naturally grown food to people.                 

Powerful forces in our economy and our governments are continuing to move against small producers. And new legislation is pending in the states that could make it impossible for homestead and market garden producers to supply their neighbors with healthy local food.

The premise of the new regulation is food safety,  as though selling a few hand raised tomatoes to a neighbor is as risky as shipping e-coli tainted hamburger to 12 states. It seems to me that the real risk is that we will continue to reduce the number of producers until no small farms are left and government has only a handful  of "too big to fail" producers to support as rural communities die. I've met senior farmers who nearly go to tears when they tell me that after 5 generations, they are retiring off the land because the kids don't want the farm. In many places today, its just too hard for our young people to make a go of it.  

 
But that all seems too grim on a day when local people stepped up to buy a few beans, some herbs, a bit of squash and to take a moment to share the news in the Farmers Market at The Dundas Plowing Match.   
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