My Thoughts on the Food Safety Modernization Act

I first heard about this bill back in early 2009 when it first came into fruition. Mostly I read about people freaking out that it would outlaw backyard gardening, it would destroy organic food and would end small farms. None of which was actually true. When I read all these rumors I decided to read the bill for myself. The Tester-Hagen Amendment to the bill made it so that farms that grossed less than $500,000 a year and sell within 400 miles and in the same state are protected from this bill. So unless you’re making over $500,000 on your backyard garden I don’t think there is anything to worry about.

Going through a lot of the literature for and against this bill I remain rather impartial about it. On one side I don’t like the impotent FDA, which has basically been taken over by agribusiness *cough* Monsanto *cough* and that wants to ban healthful foods such as raw milk, having more power over our food. But that doesn’t outweigh the fact that the government needs to have the power to force producers to recall dangerous foods. Three people that I trust about food policy, Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation), Michael Pollan (The Omnivore’s Dilemma) and Marion Nestle (Food Politics) are all in favor of this bill. I know that they have done the research and would not be supporting it if they weren’t comfortable doing so.

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