New Bill HR2749 Gives FDA Unheard-of Power over Small Farmers, Food and Supplement Producers

[OCNaturalDoc]

The Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009 (FSEA) is a poorly written bill, now before the US House of Representatives. Known as the Waxman-Dingell bill, it really isn't much about food safety at all. Previous food safety issues in the news were centered around large agri-corporations, but this bill places its harshest burdens on small food and supplement producers. New language is introduced along with criminal and civil penalties, including up to 10 years of jail time and fines up to $100,000 for individuals and $7.5 million for corporations, regardless of size. In other words, a family business roadside stand, if incorporated, could be fined $7.5 million!

The Food Safety Enhancement Act (FSEA):
• gives the US FDA unprecedented scope, authority and power over small farmers, food producers and supplement producers, including the power to use vague language to intimidate and threaten
• imposes unjustifiably harsh criminal and civil penalties, even for administrative violations
• places undue economic hardship on small and mid-sized farms and food facilities, organic and conventional, which could easily drive many of them out of business, and lead to monopoly of food by large corporations. (Monsanto, etc., and their GMO seeds.)

PLEASE DO NOT SUPPORT THIS BILL!

For details and a direct link to YOUR state representatives, go to:
http://lagunanaturalhealth.blogspot.com/2009/07/new-bill-hr2749-giv...

OC

[OCNaturalDoc]

hi john,
the reason why i post these news items is because i am aware of what's happening and am very passionate about sharing this information with others for the purpose of creating awareness and inspiring people to take an active role in educating others. we live in times that we've not experienced in our lifetime, and i'm very concerned about the outcome of the vote on upcoming bills. your local news will report that a bill passed (yesterday), but does not report any details about the nature of the bill and how this vote will change our lives.

this is becoming commonplace with our new administration. and generally speaking, we are so busy that we don't give it any thought, believing that our lives will go on, relatively unaffected, if at all. after all, we trust our government, right? this will not be the case much longer. there are bills tabled that, if passed, will greatly limit the freedoms we enjoy today.

we need to wake up now and pay attention to what's happening in our government. we have become a trusting nation of followers, and it's time we seriously check in on our leaders before we all wake up one day with microchips and wonder how they were implanted. if you think i'm kidding, i'm not.

off topic for just a minute--- this war isn't about 'weapons of mass destruction' or 'oil' or 'dubya finishing what daddy started' or any of the other stuff that people think. it's about the military. wars give our military the opportunity to try out new technologies -- robotics, nanotechnologies, biotechnologies, weapons, etc. they know what the minimums are for humans to survive. but i don't want to go too far down that road....this is about our food source.

please click on the link in the original posting and sign the petition to oppose this bill. we need to stop every effort....and there are many more to come in coming months.

thank you.

[Orianb]

More of the change that we all wanted.

[OCNaturalDoc]

Hi Dexter,
Many family farms across the country are, in fact, incorporated. And there are many reasons for a small business to incorporate....and some have nothing to do with the size of the business.

To your point, I posted this information to make people aware of the small, individual or family farmers and how it is important that this poorly written bill be opposed as quickly as possible. Did you click on the link and send the letter to your state reps?

We ALL need to support our local farmers!

[Dexter South]

I have been a farmer for many years... the only people who have roadside stands that are incorporated are really not "family farms"... they are too big to care about. We need more opportunities for real individual farmers to market their goods and cut out any help to any corporation, no matter how small. A corporation is just a way for someone to escape the responsibility of their actions,, there is no other reason for it.