446 PM
July 16, 09

I want to know what the results were
of this mornings very important
HOUSE AGRICULTURE MEETING
on #usbill #HR 2749.

The Panelists gathered at 10 AM
Wed. July 16.

The list of panelists is now down.
I will request it tomorrow.
I copied only one of the names,
MR NICK MARAVELI,
the organic farmer who was on the
schedule to speak
at the open public hearing
July 16.

Praises to the House Agricultural
Members of bringing this important
issue to resolve.

I am sure we will all have our say.

Here is the PLANT YOUR BLOG BLOG
I wrote this morning.


ORGANIC FARMER ON FOOD SAFETY AG PANEL
JULY 16


A number of my photos were in the book
THE ULTIMATE GARDENER published by HCI.
CHARLIE NARDOZZI, the author, helped
MICHELLE OBAMA plant the Organic Garden
at the White House South Lawn.

I read a few days ago how on the recent
trip to Russia, the Press there was very
interested in our First Lady planting this
Garden.

I look forward to spending time with
Michelle Obama at the garden.
I sense this will happen before long.

We all have a tremendous opportunity now
to create Healthy Food Safety for our Blessed Nation.
I am glad to be playing a part in the
education of our legislators.

One of the highlights of my life was spending
a week in Sacramento thanks to my dear friend
former State Senator JOHN VASCONCELLOS.
I enjoyed meeting the governor then,
GRAY DAVIS and his delightful wife.

When I was at the Sacramento Capital
for that week, I spent time in Capital Park.
I envisoned that if the community of legislators
had a lovely organic garden and places to sit
before voting, they would make good decisions.

I am so pleased to see that MARIA SHRIVER,
the wife of our dear California Governor
recently planted the organic garden that I
had envisioned.

One of the highlights of 2008, was being
part of the press corps for BIO, the International
BIOTECHNOLOGY Conference here in San DIego.





I brought KEEP the BEET Media Star,
The World's First Talking Beet Plant with me.
This character of a talking Beet is now becoming
widely known. She has her very own column
in the International SPACE OF LOVE MAGAZINE.

I know it is in our national destiny to again
become a nation of gardeners.

So many of us have lost the beat with nature.
Through growing one local organic beet in a pot,
and as we KEEP the BEET, we regain our relationship
to the WHEEL OF HEALTH.

I am so pleased that our PRESIDENT OBAMA
does not eat beets. I look forward to sharing
my ideas with him and the family.

Leslie Goldman
Your Enchanted Gardener

LINKS on KEEP the BEET
and our work giving
each of us back the confidence
that we can grow a bit of our own food.

Growing your own produce may be simpler than you think

Rooting in the Soil of Soul-Dreams

KEEP The BEET
at HOLLYWOOD GOES GREEN

KEEP The BEET at the SAGE MOUNTAIN FARM.
A GOOD INTRO TO THIS PROJECT now sweeping
the Nation and heading toward Washington D.C.

DELICIOUS ANTI-BIOTIC FREE BEEF
was DELICIOUS

By the way, I had some of the most delicious
beef ever for lunch with my dear friend
and KEEP The BEET grower PHIL NOBLE
of SAGE MOUNTAIN FARM.

All of his beef is antibiotic free, and
organically grown. What a treat!!!!
Of course, most of the organic beef
farmers I know give their cattle
room to grow and let them graze on grass.

It will be great to host our Washington
legislators for a tour of the HILLCREST FARMERS MARKET
and a day at some of our local organic farms.

We are holding up the backbone of American Agriculture
out here in San Diego County
as our all the Family Farmers in our nation.
I am so grateful to our legislators for making sure
that all the JOE THE FARMERS, the small farmers
will be cared for carefully in the new
HEALTHY FOOD SAFETY #HR 2749 now speeding
through Congress and the Senate.
I know the final bill will either be put aside for now
due to the will of the people, or passed
with all the amendments necessary to ensure
true Food Safety.

I welcome all the legislators and new eyes of our nation
to this PLANT YOUR DREAM BLOG.

Plant a Seed!
Grow a Whole New World!
And as KEEP the Beet sez,
organic seeds are of course the best
for growing health reform.

PET PROMISE and ANTHONY ZOLEZZI






MICHAEL R. NIGGLI, Chief Operating Officer for SGD&E,
hooked up with KEEP The BEET Media Star,
The World's First Talking Beet Plant.
They had a lot to share. SDG&E has been
implementing a number of KEEP The BEET's
GREEN CONVERSION Ideas, she sez.

STAND FOR LESS RALLY
attended by KEEP The BEET Media Star:
http://www.curezone.com/blogs/fm.asp?i=1392597


All this talk about beet, brings to mind
GREEN Sustainability Expert ANTHONY ZOLEZZI.
Among this many entreprenual projects
was the creation of the PET PROMISE COMPANY.
You can read all about that in his book
HOW DOG FOOD SAVED THE WORLD.
Anthony was very involved in helping
all the cattle farmers find markets for the
"parts" that formerly went to waste.
PET PROMISE, now owned by NESTLE
Company, I believe, is anti-biotic free
pet food. Anthony's new project
is called GREENOPS, a new recycling redemption
project that will soon sweep our nation
and create thousands of jobs.

As we come out of our current economic downturn,
we will come to realize that our future is Green
and sustainably.

I am glad I have some stock in
PERF GO GREEN (PGOG) BIODEGRADABLE TRASH BAGS.
Our Future is changing so very fast.
It is good to be on the right side of what is going up,
and know the difference.



4:07 PM
July 16, 09

7/16/2009 1:20:00 PM

NPPC: Resolve Issues Before Passing Food-Safety Bill

WASHINGTON, D.C., July 16, 2009 – While a food-safety bill making its way through the U.S. House largely exempts livestock and poultry farms, U.S. pork producers still have some concerns with the legislation, the National Pork Producers Council told the House Agriculture Committee, which today held a hearing on the measure.

In a letter sent yesterday to all members of the agriculture panel, NPPC and 24 state pork producer associations urged lawmakers to resolve a number of outstanding issues before finalizing the “Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009” (H.R. 2749), including:

Insert language to better define in the bill the terms “food” and “facility.”

Clarify the scope of new and expanded power given to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to regulate the grain side of diversified farming operations. Could pig buildings be inspected, for example, if FDA were coming on a diversified farm for a grain food-safety issue?

Retain the current standard that allows FDA to come on a farm if it has a “reasonable belief” that food is adulterated and presents a threat of “serious adverse health consequences or death” to humans or animals. As written, the bill would change the standard to allow on-farm inspections if food is “thought to be adulterated, misbranded or in violation of H.R. 2749.”

Eliminate the civil penalties that farmers could be charged for errors in complying with new record-keeping requirements. Under the bill, a diversified pork producer who has a paperwork glitch could be charged up to $1 million per year.

Allow federal agencies that currently have jurisdiction over agriculture matters to retain their authority rather than have FDA usurp or duplicate it. Under the bill, for example, FDA could quarantine a geographic area where food that presents serious adverse health consequences or death to humans or animals may have originated. That very broad power far exceeds the authority currently granted to the U.S.

Department of Agriculture, which already can quarantine live animals and has a preventive inspection system to keep adulterated meat from entering the food supply.

Ensure that provisions in the bill would not invite retaliation from U.S. trading partners. (The House Ways and Means Committee has some concerns.)

The organizations also urge lawmakers to oppose any amendments that would ban certain antibiotics used in livestock production. Earlier this week, the House Rules Committee held a hearing on the

“Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act of 2009” (H.R. 1549), which would ban animal health products that are used to prevent and control diseases. Farmers only would be allowed to use animal health products that treat diseases.



SMALL FARMER SPEAKS UP

Who We Are
My name is Amy Sipes-Rediess of John’s Custom Meats in Southern Kentucky. We are small cattle producers. I run a family farm with just 42 head of cattle that run on 87 acres of farmland. We have a cow-calf operation, meaning we do not bring outside livestock onto our farm. We direct sale to the public via our other “on farm” business.

John's Custom Meats - Farm and Processing Facility
http://www.JohnsCustomMeats.com/



You can also reach us by:
Ph: (270) 563-4048
Fax: (270) 563-0068
General Information Email: johnrediess5607@msn.com

We are also generational butchers. We operate a small, but extremely modern and sophisticated USDA livestock processing facility. Typically, our annual numbers would be around 1000 head per year. This would include both “custom exempt” slaughter/processing and USDA slaughter/processing for resale. We not only process for resale for ourselves, we also provide these services to other area small family farms that are direct marketing their own meats to the local public.


http://nutritionwonderland.com/2009/07/food-safety-small-farm-perspective-hr2...



Weak Small Farmer Provisions
Window dressing has been placed in this bill that may appear to exempt small farms from some of the tracing. The wording is contained in section 107 and is as follows:
‘(4) EXEMPTIONS-
‘(A) DIRECT SALES BY FARMS- Food is exempt from the requirements of this subsection if such food is-
‘(i) produced on a farm; and
‘(ii) sold by the owner, operator, or agent in charge of such farm directly to a consumer or restaurant.
The problem with this window dressing is that the exemption would simply not exist.
#1. It is already illegal to slaughter livestock on the farm and sell direct to the public or to a restaurant. The farmer would have to take the livestock to a processor, like myself, who would then be required to have the electronic tracking on the livestock prior to slaughter occurring.
#2. If the farmer is going to take his livestock to the stockyard for sale, the stockyard would also be required to only accept livestock with the electronic tracking system.
So basically, unless the farmer intends to keep their stock on their farm and never sale it in any form, then perhaps they would be exempt. But, then what would the purpose of raising the livestock be for the farmer?
I urge you to take a close look at this bill and vote YES to all Kentucky’s family farmers by voting NO for this bill. The result of this bill’s passage would be the direct opposite of its purpose. This bill will lessen the safety of the US food supply, not enhance it. You will be placing the nation’s food supply into the hands of the “few” largest major corporations and out of the hands of the “multiple” small family farmers and processors.






 

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