Recent posting regarding new Food Agency

I posted this April 9th on another site, but thought it would be a great thing to put here. As much as I lean left, I am loath to paint great brush-strokes of evil on honest and good natured attempts to fix problems - and the left (my peeps) really showed their metal this time by lying outright about the bill's content.

Here goes!
Recently I saw a flurry of blog postings, videos and news items about a bill that is being pushed by CT congresswoman Delaur. The blogs and postings were sometimes a little fiery, accusatory, negative and conspiratorial. They concerned the creation of a new agency to manage food safety thus taking it out from under the wing of the FDA - which is one way to stir the pot and get some things changed. The bill may or may not be a good thing - it all depends on what happens after the agency is formed, who gets the top positions, who the experts are on the panels and who makes the decisions.

I don't think anyone can argue that we need agencies (either state or federal) that can regulate the production, packaging and distribution of food - considering the recent melamine contaminations in baby formula... sigh.

What really upset me is that the people whose side I am usually on - were lying like drunken pirates (no offense to the honest pirates of the world). This is bad - it gives the people trying to make 'the right' thing happen a bad bad name.

So - I went and read that bill today (HR875 S425- all 117 pages - http://delauro.house.gov/files/HR875_Full_Text.pdf) and can't find anything in it that suggests even remotely the control of small farms, locally produced foods, backyard gardens or organics. I'm a MAJOR fan of organic farms and foods and was immediately concerned when I saw these postings... but I can't find the word organic in the bill. The you-tube videos talked about this bill that would ban organic farming, when all I read were statements about inspections and public education and prosecution of facilities that don't handle food properly.

As a matter of fact, the bill takes most of what the FDA currently does in regards to food safety and puts it in its own organization with language that it will re-assess methods moving forward in order to improve the effectiveness of the agency. That's pretty much it. No mention at all of GM foods, no mention of organics. The most threatening language I saw was several remarks about "latest scientific methods" which, frankly could mean organic farming (since many researchers are looking at the benefits and methods behind organic farming) or it could be a nod to agribusiness and GM foods.

As for my own reaction to this bill - my gut feeling is that this is a good idea because the new agency actually might have a chance at promoting healthier foods and better, local handling of foods. No better way to get positive change than to stir the pot! The clear winner is locally grown, short transportation times, proper handling (organic or not) proper processing conditions. Rather than throw a brick wall up in front of progress we should climb on board and help to steer it! That is how we can increase the abundance of organic food and better practices in farming.

I get a little bit sensitive about lying to fight for a cause... it is ineffective and the people with the power to change laws just shake their heads and think we're all a bunch of jobless beggars, tree-huggers and hippies and that doesn't do much to further the cause. The truth is much more compelling and we don't have to lie to make our case.

Peace and health to all,