HR 875 - Outlaw Organic and Homegrown Foods?

This is another version of the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009 and is in this version HR 875 will effectively make personal gardens subject federal inspection and regulation.  The speculation on the why to this is because individual home gardens are cutting into the profit of multinational food, herbicide and pesticide producers.  This bill has many outrageous infringements and it is just another reason why people need to wake up and see what their congress is up to and change up those with these radical agendas by voting them out this November!

This bill has been quietly pushed through the processes by those in special interest groups representing the money behind manufacturing of larger farms and industry where regulation already exists.  If local and small facilities are included in this final bill and it becomes law, then those who violate it will subject to a $1,000,000 for any perceived violation.  The bill was rendered dead on March 11, 2010 but was amended and moved forward again by these big lobbyists and was sitting in committee back in April without having been read because the lobbyists are telling the congress what THEY want them to know.  Because of the outcry of people this bill is still sitting in committee and yet there have still been some modifications to it.

This bill will override states rights and cause federal regulations to be imposed on all states and local farmers.  The attack against "organic" farming is not spelled out clearly but infers that it affects anyone growing food even if they are not selling it by only consuming it.  It would also affect anyone producing meat of any kind including the processing wild game for personal consumption.  This law as now written would also allow federal authorities to seize records, products or produce as they see fit as part of the inspection process.

Section 103 is almost entirely about the administrative aspect of the legislation. It will allow the appointing of officials from the factory farming corporations and lobbyists and classify them as experts and allow them to determine and interpret the legislation.
Section 206 defines what will be considered a food production facility and what will be enforced up all food production facilities.
Section 207 requires that the state's agriculture dept act as the food police and enforce the federal requirements. This takes away the states power and is in violation of the 10th amendment. There are many more that you need to check out for yourself!  HR 875 as it is written, could mean the end of the vibrant and growing local foods movement, the demise of farmers markets, road-side farm stands and small family-run farms altogether.
Ironically, HR 875 fails miserably in promoting food safety as it pretends; on the contrary, it promotes it. Rather, than promoting true accountability and proper farming techniques that minimize the risk of introducing pathogens into the food supply, it simply will create greater barriers for our already struggling small farms and farmers markets. It will give a few huge companies total control on the food we eat, which will be their food -- food that has bio-genetically engineered and laced with toxins, carcinogens and poisons that they call pesticides. Food, seed-stocks, herbicides and pesticides that will be owned by these companies.