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Farmers Markets in Danger?

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ladypirate

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I don''t know if any of you participate in Farmer''s Markets or CSAs, but as proponents of the slow food movement, this is really bothering us.

"We have less than two weeks to stop the take over of family farms and ranches,organic and natural foods.
H.R. 875 and S. 425 [and similar bills such a H.R. 759]
We need to rally people immediately.

The new administration is pushing new farm controls through Congress as fast as possible and have coordinated the bills so there will be no debate and the committee meetings are closed.

Transparency, change, undoing Bush''s regulations, giving the public time to comment, grassroots anything? Our entire food system and thus our health is being decided without the public knowing and those who do know have zero access and the media is absent and they are moving at warp speed to sew this up.

Would you put these out, in this order, showing the article as you do so people are more likely to read it? They are imperfect but the closest I''ve come to explaining how the game is going to be played. No direct, frontal assault on organic farming but an insidious process of "infecting" organic farming...

Example: imagine Joel Salatin''s wonderful organic farm under the direction of the USDA, with detailed instructions on what he must feed and when, how he must medically "treat" his animals and with what, what he must "spray" and when, ... you get the picture. These bills will industrialize all farms and insure the farmers are forced to buy chemicals and drugs. Organic is dead. As well as human control over the food supply. As well as health."


Petition here: http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/568/t/1128/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=26714
 

Rock_of_Love

Brilliant_Rock
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Jan 7, 2009
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Ugh! This would make me so angry! I''m with ya...I became enlightened after reading "Omnivore''s Dliemna" and then watched the movie "King Corn"...WHOA! What an eye-opener!!

Just signed the petition!
 

JulieN

Super_Ideal_Rock
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Jul 25, 2005
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13,375
ehh, I see no danger.

I was at the Santa Monica market today (well esteemed, for those who don't know) and no one was saying anything about this, no posters or anything. I bought stuff from at least five different stalls, and it was business as usual.
 

Selkie

Ideal_Rock
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Jan 11, 2006
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Thanks for posting, LP. I hadn''t heard anything about this, will have to read up some more!
 

swimmer

Ideal_Rock
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Nov 9, 2007
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Thank you for posting! It took moments to sign the petition.
ditto Selkie.
 

neatfreak

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Feb 17, 2007
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I will admit that I just skimmed the bill, but I didn't see anything that even remotely suggested that farmer's markets would be "taken over" or forced to use sprays, etc.

All it seems to mean is that if they have contaminants in their food/goods they will be forced to fix it before they can continue to sell. I don't know that it's such a bad thing...if everyone is responsible and using safe practices it shouldn't affect anyone anyway.

I just asked my mom what she thought (they run a plant/veggie nursery) and she said that none of the farmers she sells to seemed remotely concerned except one that off and on has had issues with contamination! They of course were unhappy because it means that they'll be forced to clean up their act. Is that really such a bad thing?
 

swimmer

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monarch64

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Interesting. I''m in the middle of Farmland, USA in southern IN, and haven''t heard a word about this. I doubt if there is much organic farming going on here where I live, due to the tons of advertisements I see in fields for pesticides... I know there is an organic store a bit south of here but I don''t know where exactly their merchandise comes from.
 

purrfectpear

Ideal_Rock
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Mar 31, 2008
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It would be good if people would do a little due diligence on the people who are pushing the petition before they sign it
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Click through some of the links. They are anti-anti everything, including vaccinations
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strmrdr

Super_Ideal_Rock
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Nov 1, 2003
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23,295
basically what they are doing is eroding the grey market for food by suppliers.
This shouldn''t be problem for organic producers as they know where the food came from.
As long as they come up with a clear set of record keeping rules that is easy to follow I don''t see an issue.

It also allows punishment for people who knowingly violate safe food practices and requires reporting.
I think they should establish anonymous tip lines.

Like most rules it will be ignored on the low end of the market by the small players.
 

movie zombie

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Jan 20, 2005
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11,879
Monsanto is the big backer of this bill.....which gives me the creeps.

mz
 

AmberGretchen

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Jan 6, 2005
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Date: 3/26/2009 7:47:41 AM
Author: neatfreak
I will admit that I just skimmed the bill, but I didn''t see anything that even remotely suggested that farmer''s markets would be ''taken over'' or forced to use sprays, etc.


All it seems to mean is that if they have contaminants in their food/goods they will be forced to fix it before they can continue to sell. I don''t know that it''s such a bad thing...if everyone is responsible and using safe practices it shouldn''t affect anyone anyway.


I just asked my mom what she thought (they run a plant/veggie nursery) and she said that none of the farmers she sells to seemed remotely concerned except one that off and on has had issues with contamination! They of course were unhappy because it means that they''ll be forced to clean up their act. Is that really such a bad thing?

Ditto. I feel like this is an arm of the organic/local food movement that holds a lot of positions that I, as a scientist, just can''t get behind, including being opposed to vaccinations and to GMOs - there is significant positive evidence on the former and little to no reliable negative evidence on the latter, and I think people just tend to get hysterical especially about things they don''t fully understand.

ladypirate - I don''t mean this AT ALL as an attack on you, and I''m glad you posted this, as its essential to bring things to public attention whatever your opinion on them. And in any case, I do totally agree that government should be more transparent than it has been, and that people should be involved in the legislative process if they feel strongly about things - that''s one of our duties as good citizens
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