bill to outlaw organic farming

[tomato]

I cant believe it but there is a bill with rush priority to be voted on next week that would force organic farmers to use those geneticly altered seeds along with chemical pesticides. Guess whose lobbying, monsanto the chemical firm resposible for aspartame We need to call our local senators blow up the phone lines and prevent this bill from taking place or else it will take place! bill HR 875

[robert]

I heard about this last week but heard it is not being talked about a whole lot. I wonder what is up with it?

 

Any links on it?

 

I think Health Ranger Mike Adams is writing a lot about it.

[SyrLinus]

Some links to help:

 

http://www.leavemyfoodalone.org/ -- organization/petition to get the bill stopped

 

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h111-875 -- actual proposed bill

 

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Monsanto-s-dream-bill-HR-by-Linn-Cohen-Cole-090309-337.html -- news OpEd article

 

http://www.slowfoodusa.org/index.php/slow_food/blog_post/hr_875/ -- blog opEd

[DCNINJA]

Interesting bill. Thanks for sending it out. This post is going to run a little long, please forgive the length. The regulatory pendulum has swung so far out away from any regulation with awful results whether it be bad peanuts from a processing plant or bad Odwalla juice. The danger now is sweeping regulation that becomes too restrictive. A lot of the rehtoric surrounding this may be a little over-reactionary. Having practiced law for over a decade I can say one thing about regulatory schemes. Any regulation that Congress or an agency passes faces the exact same language from those regulated. They are always, "destroying the industry", "confiscatory", "makes it impossible to do business", etc. I say this not to say this is a perfect bill or even one that people should support. I say this because knee jerk reactions are usually the worst reactions possible, and the rhetoric being used is the same rhetoric that is always being used. Thoughtful and reasoned discussions about regulation is what is needed now. Let's face it the food industry has been so poorly regulated that it rivals derivative investments for poorly managed industry of the year. That said there absolutely will be more regulation. The important thing for organic farmers, produce wholesalers, and retailers is to get in front of the wave and not behind it. It is better to work with the shaping of regulation than reacting to it. We all know there need to be standards, e.g. what is an organic apple. The real problem is finding reasonable regulations that fit the myriad of food options people choose. Being a minority of consumers those of us in this community (veg and or organic) probably do need to practice a higher level of vigilance to ensure reasonable standards.

[tomato]

anyone interested in gmo's, pesticides and anything else unatural in our organics should support this bill the rest or us however should be enraged at the notion that farmers would not be allowed to make the choice on how they grow their crops. If the bill passes We only have ourselves to blame!

[tomato]

I urge all you folks from Connecticut to contact Rosa Delauro and tell her that she is a disgrace to public office. Who votes these assholes in anyway?

[evolveahimsa]

The bill has many good provisions- many of which implement harsher standards requiring slightly better treatment of farm animals and whatnot. many of the provisions should increase the public's knowledge of health (ie more mercury warnings on large fish).

 

However we all need to call our representatives and share our concern that there be some type of alternative plan/exemption for small, local, organic farmers and co-ops, as locally grown organic produce is more conducive to meeting many modern challenges (including the end of petrol) by reducing food transportation costs and reducing chemical pollution/runoff from giant, corporate farms. we must ensure that the giant, corporate farms do not become a monopoly that reduces the availability and further increases the price of organic foods.