ACTION ALERT: Northeast Ag. group says amendments a must for food safety bill

NORTHEAST SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE WORKING GROUP

ACTION ALERT

FOOD SAFETY LEGISLATION MUST
PROTECT
FAMILY FARMS, SUSTAINABLE & ORGANIC AGRICULTURE

CALL YOUR SENATORS TODAY
AND URGE THEM TO
SUPPORT THE TESTER AMENDMENT

The Food Safety Modernization Act (S. 510) could reach the Senate floor
today. NSAC has been able to win several improvements to the bill but
more changes are needed to avoid serious harm to family farm value-added
processing and the emergence of local and regional food systems.

S.510 would considerably ramp up FDA regulation on farms that even
minimally process their crops and sell them to restaurants, food co-ops,
groceries, schools and wholesalers. An amendment sponsored by Senator
Jon Tester (D-MT) would exempt small farm and small food processing
facilities as well as small and mid-sized farmers who primarily direct
market their products to consumers, stores or restaurants within their
region.

Please call your Senators today and ask them to support the Tester
Amendment.

It's easy to call:

Go to Congress.org and type in your zip code.
Click on your Senator's name, and then on the contact tab for their
phone number. You can also call the Capitol Switchboard and ask to be
directly connected to your Senator's office: 202-224-3121. Once
connected ask to speak to the legislative staff person responsible for
agriculture. If they are unavailable leave a voice mail message. Be
sure to include your name and phone number.

The message is simple. "I am a constituent of Senator __________ and I
am calling to ask him/her to support the Tester Amendment and to include
the Tester language in the Manager's Amendment to the food safety
bill. The Tester Amendment will exempt small farm and food facilities
and farmers who direct market their products to consumers, stores or
restaurants. We need a food safety bill that cracks down on corporate
bad actors without erecting new barriers to family farms and the growing
healthy food movement. Our continuing economic recovery demands that
we preserve these market opportunities for small and mid-sized family
farms.


Background information:

Most sustainable agriculture and family farm groups think the Senate
bill with changes won by NSAC is a very significant improvement over the
companion bill passed by the House of Representatives (HR 2749) last
year. The changes listed below will be included in the bill that goes
to the Senate floor for a vote. We can't support the Senate bill,
however, unless the Tester amendment is also adopted. We strongly
oppose the companion House measure, and stand ready to defend the "good
amendments" to the Senate bill when it goes to conference with the House
later this year.

The best way to ensure that the Tester provision is included with the
final bill that emerges from conference is for it to be included in the
Manager's Amendment as it goes to the floor of the Senate. The
Manager's Amendment includes all of the language that has the support of
the three Democrats and three Republicans who are sponsoring the bill.
Please call your Senator and request that the Tester language be added
to the Manager's Amendment.

The Manager's Amendment to S.510 already includes the following
important improvements to the bill that have been backed by NSAC:

For more information on the Senate Food Safety bill, read NSAC's latest
information alert here and our Food Safety Policy Brief here.