Very urgent take-action alert concerning Local Food!
From: The Michigan Land Use Institute (MLUI)
Dear friend,
There are two urgent reasons to get on the phone to your U.S. Representatives and Senators, pronto. Both involve food legislation; one bill needs your enthusiastic support and the other needs a crucial change so that it doesn’t ruin the work we are doing to help small farms succeed.
First, the crucial change: The Food Safety Modernization Act (S. 510) is poised for a vote as early as tomorrow (Wednesday), Nov. 17. The Act as written will seriously damage small farmers by imposing the same regulatory burden on them that it puts on large “factory farms,” which clearly need more safety regulation.
Of course, food safety is legitimate. Large, industrial farms that routinely threaten public health need robust regulation. That is simply not true of small, non-industrialized farms, which these regulations would likely wipe out.
The bill badly needs the amendment proposed by Senator Jon Tester (D-MT). It exempts small farmers who direct-market more than 50 percent of their products. Your message can be simple:
“I am a constituent of Senator___________. I ask that he/she support the Tester Amendment to the food safety bill. The Tester Amendment will exempt the safest, small, owner-operator farms that direct-market their products to consumers, stores or restaurants. Food safety legislation should not create unnecessary, damaging regulatory barriers to family farms and the growing local food movement in the drive to crack down on corporate bad actors. Please support the Tester Amendment.
In Michigan, contact Senators Carl Levin at (202) 224-6221 and Debbie Stabenow at (202) 224-4822. If you are out of state, go here to find contact info for your senator. If you need more details before calling, look here.
And now the enthusiastic support: It’s time to act on Good Food for kids and farm-to-school opportunities for farms. The lame duck session is our last change to see Congress pass the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, Senate Bill 3307, which funds school lunch and other important nutrition programs. We’ve written about this bill before; it includes new funding so schools can serve more locally grown food from family farms. There’s been some controversy over one part of the bill, but like many farm, nutrition, and anti-hunger advocates nationwide, we believe it’s time to seize the moment and then, later, call on Congress and the White House to improve that provision. What’s needed now is for the House to act on the Senate version, the only bill that can still pass this year, with this Congress.
Find your U.S. Representative here. Or call toll-free 877-698-8228, punch in your ZIP code, and it will connect you directly to your representative’s office. Please tell them to vote for Senate Bill 3307.
Please, if possible, do this right now, while you are thinking about it. There’s a lot on the line, and there’s no better time to speak up. THANKS!
Jim Sluyter
Diane Conners
Michigan Land Use Institute
Food & Farm Program
