S 510 --- Call Senators!!!

I realize everyone is likely sick of calling Congress and being ignored, but if we can move 10 Senators to halt S510, we will have defeated a major issue in establishing statute for international food control. Harry said last week, "We've got everything in place except for the Food Safety Act". Granted, he didn't say what "everything" he was referring to, but it's one of the last areas necessary to get statute for to enforce global standards in this nation....Please act. The economic effects of this bill will seriously harm independent agriculture.


Cloture Vote on S 510 Monday, November 29-


On Monday, November 29, a cloture vote on Senate Bill 510 will determine if the bill then goes immediately to the Senate floor for a final vote. Cloture requires 60 votes. If there are fewer than 60, the bill will not go forward. Let's make sure the cloture vote fails.

PLEASE CALL ALL THE SENATORS IN THE LIST LINKED BELOW AND ASK THEM TO OPPOSE CLOTURE AND OPPOSE S 510.

The votes of these "targeted" Senators could make all the difference. Even if they are not your Senators, please call them at their District Offices and, using the Talking Points below, ask them to oppose cloture and oppose S 510.

Why Senators Should Oppose S 510

S 510 threatens the existence of small, independent farms and will limit the food choices of consumers. As written - even with the proposed amendments - the bill is fundamentally flawed. S 510 will not improve food safety. Instead it will bury farmers in regulations and paperwork and consolidate agricultural production into fewer, larger industrial facilities.

The FDA has authority to inspect processing plants and imports, yet it inspects less than 1% of imports and less than 25% of the processing facilities it is authorized to. FDA claims it does not have the resources to carry out these inspections, yet it has the time and personnel to harass Amish farmers, raid food clubs, and pull over individuals who are transporting privately purchased fresh milk and make them dump it on the roadside.

S 510 would increase the cost of U.S. grown and produced food and extend the authority of international trade agreements onto small farms. Inspections and audits of farming and harvesting processes will cost farmers in upfront expenses just to exist. Even if they are not participating in direct or local sales, they will have to assume the audit and inspection costs as well as develop HACCP type plans. Larger corporations will not need to buy from domestic growers - they can import from countries with lower infrastructure costs to offset the expenses S 510 regulations will force on U.S. producers.

There are many reasons to oppose S510, but the fact that the FDA has stated in court that you have no right to consume any particular food, no right to bodily or physical health, and no right to contract is sufficient reason to not give it any more authority over your food than it already has.

Please call your Senators and the other Senators listed below and tell them you are smart enough to decide what you want to eat:

Talking Points
• S 510 will eliminate the only productive sector of our economy - small farms and local food. The Tester amendment still puts additional paperwork, record keeping and scrutiny onto direct marketers.
• The FDA fails to do the job it is charged with doing. Tell FDA to inspect the imports and the plants it has the authority to inspect and stay out of farming.
• The rules and regulations the FDA will promulgate under S510 will harm our ability to get food that we want to eat. Tell FDA instead to require truthful labeling and disclose genetically modified products on labels. This would create a safer food supply and not harm the small family farmer.
• S 510 will create even larger governmental bureaucracy, and the estimated costs don't include costs to individuals who actually produce food.
• S 510 opens the door to violations of due process including illegal search and seizure and suspension of judicial review.


ACTION:

Please call the Senators in this list - at their District offices - as well as you own two Senators, and tell them to oppose cloture and oppose S 510.


Lamar Alexander - cosponsor R-TN - 202-224-4944 (423) 752-5337 (731) 423-9344 (865) 545-4253 (901) 544-4224
Judd Gregg - co sponsor R-NH- 202-224-3324 (603) 225-7115 (603) 622-7979 (603) 431-2171 (603) 752-2604
Mike Johanns - didn't vote R-NE- 202-224-4224 (308) 236-7602 (402) 476-1400 (308) 632-6032 (402) 758-8981
Lisa Murkowski R-AK - 202-224-6665 907-456-0233 907-271-3735 907-376-7665 907-225-6880
David Vitter -cosponsor R-LA- 202-224-4623 (318) 448-0169 (318) 325-8120 (318) 861-0437 (504) 589-2753
George V. Voinovich R-OH- 202-224-3353 (216) 522-7095 (740) 441-6410 (513) 684-3265 (216) 522-7095
Scott Brown - not reliable R-MA- 202-224-4543 (617) 565-3170
Susan Collins R-ME- 202-224-2523 (207) 622-8414 (207) 945-0417 (207) 283-1101 (207) 493-7873
Olympia J. Snowe - up for reelection in 2012 R-ME- 202-224-5344 (207) 622-8292 (207) 945-0432 (207) 282-4144 (207) 874-0883
Jim Webb - up in 2012 D-VA- 202-224-4024 434-792-0976 757-518-1674 703-573-7090 804-771-2221
Jon Tester - up in 2012 D-MT- 202-224-2644 (406) 252-0550 (406) 586-4450 (406) 452-9585 (406) 723-3277
Ben Nelson D-NE- h202-224-6551 (402) 391-3411 (402) 441-4600 (308) 631-7614 (308) 293-5818
Herb Kohl D-WI- 202-224-5653 (715) 832-8424 (920) 738-1640 (414) 297-4451 (608) 264-5338
Bill Nelson cosponsor, switched from yea to nay, up for reelection 2012 D-FL 202-224-5274 407-872-7161 305-536-5999 813-225-7040 561-514-0189
Kent Conrad D-ND - 202-224-2043 (701) 852-0703 (701) 258-4648 (701) 775-9601 (701) 746-1990
Tom Carper D-DE- 202-224-2441 (302) 573-6291 (302) 674-3308 (302) 856-7690
Claire McCaskill D-MO - 202-224-6154 314-367-1364 816-421-1639 417-868-8745 573-442-7130
Robert P. Casey, Jr. - cosponsor D-PA 202-224-6324 (215) 405-9660 (412) 803-7370 (866) 461-9159 (814) 357-0314
Sherrod Brown D-OH -202-224-2315 (216) 522-7272 (513) 684-1021 (614) 469-2083 (440) 242-4100

Please join: National Independent Consumer and Farmers Association (NICFA), Campaign for Liberty (John Tate – President), Kristin Canty - Director of "Farmegeddon" the movie, and David Gumpert - author of "The Raw Milk Revolution" and www.TheCompletePatient.com, in OPPOSING cloture and OPPOSING S 510.

Stalled Food Safety??? We shall see........

So I am in throes of dissecting the "bipartisan", same as if not worse than it ever was, Senate Bill 510. There is a lot of hoopla going on about it. The people who actually think it is somehow beneficial to give the FDA USDA, CBP and DHS more power than they already have to do the job that they aren't doing are out in force. Merler is a law firm that sues on food safety issues, and he is the biggest public proponent of this legisation. He has a post on how upsetting it is that there appear to be power structure problems with pushing this bill through, and was actually good enough to post some negative comments about the bill. You can read that on his blog, Marler and weigh in if you feel inclined.

I've been spending an awful lot of time with Morningland Dairy in their effort to try to get common sense in the regulatory approach to their recall situation. At this point, the Missouri Milk Board is "recommending" that they destroy all cheese in their cooler made through June the 25th. This is a little more than a half year of work. Morningland wants to test their uncut blocks of cheese, and the Milk Board is still taking the position that they simply should destroy all of it. Seemingly, Morningland has to get permission from the Milk Board to actually test their cheese. I find this ludicrous and nonsensical. Not a single illness or complaint about their product has been levied. I am more than certain that if Kraft has an issue, they don't close them down for a month and then ask them to destroy half a year's worth of work.

What we have in Morningland is definitely a double standard from large entities to smaller entities. They want to test the actual cheese and implement "recommended" "good manufacturing practices" and wish to test every lot of cheese for several months before they will ship it out. But they are being stopped from testing what they already have. Kooky.....IF common sense is given any thought at all, but if not, then this is all perfectly logical.

I should finish my article on 510 soon. Have a great day!!