Will it Outlaw Organic Farming??!! Chill Out Chicken Little, the Sky is Not Falling…Yet
I’ve received some hysterical Chicken Little e-mails claiming, amidst many exclamation points and capitalized words, that ORGANIC FARMING WILL BE OUTLAWED!!! if bill HR-875 passes congress!!!
And that the evil empire, Monsanto, is behind it all, trying to rule the world with its genetically engineered seeds!!! And Darth Vader will sneak it onto the floor for a vote in the dark of night, before anyone knows what is happening!!!
OK, OK, the Medicare Prescription Drug Act was forced through congress by Big Pharma in the dark of night when everyone was asleep, so a little squawking is warranted, but let’s look at the facts and go from there.
Monsanto may be the evil empire, and concern over HR-875 is justified, but hysteria is not called for and it is not going to make it to the house floor anytime soon—it’s not even in committee yet, and it’s competing for attention with other similar bills. I downloaded the 117-page bill and read it… well, skimmed it. There is nothing in there directly or indirectly attacking organic farming or supporting Monsanto’s freaky genetically modified seeds.
Rep DeLauro Appears to be a Good Egg
HR-875 is titled the Food Safety Modernization Act. It’s being sponsored by Democratic Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut who’s in her tenth term of a political career that has focused on women’s and children’s health and rights. She’s also known for going after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and has proposed a moratorium on direct-to-consumer drug ads for three years after a drug’s approval. The Chicken Little e-mails claim that her husband works for Monsanto and is behind this bill. In truth, he may have been a consultant for Monsanto more than ten years ago, and DeLauro’s website says he has nothing whatsoever to do with this bill.Reinventing the FDA is a Good Thing
We’ve been warned in the past few weeks that the incompetent and underfunded FDA may be about to split into two parts: the food part and the drug/device part. Good idea, as long as we all keep a close eye on what these two new organizations morph into. This bill could go either way. It could become a wholesale grab to create a huge, unwieldy and heavy-handed government agency, the Food Safety Administration (FSA), under the department of Health and Human Services (HHS), with the power to regulate, in detail, food production and distribution. The new FSA could be created with virtually unregulated powers and an all-powerful czar at the top. The bill has a tendency towards Draconian measures, e.g. heavy punishment for small offenses, and micromanagement. That being said, the way of politics is to introduce a bill asking for the moon, and then step back while all of the special interest groups pick away at it. What comes out the other end is usually more refined.Let's Keep the Foxes Out of the Henhouse
The danger of course is that powerful agribusiness interests will start twisting congressional arms and in effect take control of the FSA in the same way that the drug companies have taken control of the FDA. Monsanto and their ilk are much too slick and sophisticated to “outlaw” organic farming—that would be crude. But they are capable of making it difficult for organic farmers to exist by weighing them down with overbearing regulations, fees and penalties. HR-875 should exempt small farms, farmer’s markets, co-ops etc. that distribute food locally—it’s not difficult to track tainted food that’s being eaten a few miles from where it was grown.HR-875 should rein in agribusiness, and give us some sense that Monsanto, ConAgra et al aren’t going to destroy the earth by unleashing dangerous genetic plant experiments on the planet—now that’s food safety!
HR-875 should focus on plant inspections in foreign countries, and getting pesticides out of our foods. Since it would exist under the HHS, a new FSA should encourage the growth of organic farming, and the growing of crops with heritage seeds. It should limit the use of antibiotics in livestock, and encourage more humane treatment of the animals that wind up on our tables. That would be healthy!
Hysteria and scare-mongering is a waste of energy. The anger and fear it generates doesn’t create constructive change, and taps out the adrenals. Let's use that energy wisely, to research the issues, contact elected officials in a calm, rational way, and support organizations that keep an eye on political and corporate shenanigans.
HR-875 isn’t the only bill floating around the halls of congress that aims to improve food safety, re-regulate our food production and distribution, and restructure the FDA. You can read more about this and about HR-875 at Food and Water Watch.
Here’s a good writeup of the issues from Slow Food Blog USA.
An article in the Huffington Post featuring an interview with Rep. DeLauro, “HR 875” Myth Sows Terror Among Organic Gardeners.
Here’s where you can find the full text of HR-875, from the Library of Congress.