There's been a bit of discussion around these parts about HR 875. OrangeClouds115 weighs in here. Scaredhuman here and Rachel Griffiths here.
Well, now another voice is trying to be heard in the person of Dr. Joseph Mercola, leading nutritionist and New York Times bestselling author.
First, a little background. HR 875 was introduced by Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, whose husband Stanley Greenburg works for Monsanto. That should tell you all you need to know. Monsanto is the company that gave the world PCBs, DDT, dioxin, aspartame, rBGH and GMOs, all of which they have, at one time or another, proclaimed "safe" while all scientific evidence has since shown otherwise (with the possible exception of GMOs).
Nearly everyone agrees HR 875 is a flawed bill. Here are just some of the potential hazards of the bill according to Dr. Mercola:
• It includes small farmers who just sell their fruits and vegetables at farmer’s markets
• Anyone engaged in food growing, or “holding food for consumption” in the U.S. would have to register annually, and create and maintain extensive records of the foods they grow and/or store
• The definitions of who this law pertains to are so broad and loosely defined that they could potentially even include your personal backyard fruit or vegetable garden, even if you don’t sell anything but grow them for personal consumption
• It appears it could dictate how all food growers would have to grow their food, including potentially the necessity to use certain pest control measures, for example
• Authorities would have the ability to inspect any food production facility at random to make sure it’s operating in compliance with the food safety law, and again the definition of “food production facility” is so loosely defined it could apply to your personal orchard, vineyard, or vegetable garden, as long as it produces something edible
• After the enactment of this Act, the Administrator, in consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture and representatives of State departments of agriculture will promulgate regulations to establish “science-based minimum standards for the safe production of food” by food production facilities. Meaning, no one even knows what the food production standards are yet, but whatever they turn out to be will have to be followed
• It is prohibited to: fail to register; refuse to permit access to an inspector; refuse to allow copying of all records; fail to establish or maintain any record required under the law
• Should you fail to comply with any of the rules and regulations, there are both civil and criminal penalties, going as high as $1 million per violation, something that could clearly wipe out any small farmer in a blink of an eye
Though there is nothing in the bill that specifically prohibits organic farming, the onerous regulations and stiff penalties could force many small farmers to conclude that is simply isn't worth the trouble.
If you care about putting nutritious foods into your body, please write your Congressman today and tell him or her to oppose HR 875.