Monsanto's dream bill, HR 875

[fruits&nuts]

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Mon...90309-337.html

"To begin reversing GM contamination will require ending the power biotech companies such as Monsanto exert over our government and through that, over our food.

HR 875, was introduced by Rosa DeLauro whose husband Stanley Greenburg works for Monsanto.

The bill is monstrous on level after level - the power it would give to Monsanto, the criminalization of seed banking, the prison terms and confiscatory fines for farmers, the 24 hours GPS tracking of their animals, the easements on their property to allow for warrantless government entry, the stripping away of their property rights, the imposition by the filthy, greedy industrial side of anti-farming international "industrial" standards to independent farms - the only part of our food system that still works, the planned elimination of farmers through all these means.

The corporations want the land, they want more intensive industrialization, they want the end of normal animals so they can substitute patented genetically engineered ones they own, they want the end of normal seeds and thus of seed banking by farmers or individuals. They want control over all seeds, animals, water, and land.

Our farmers are good stewards. That is who is threatened by Rosa DeLauro's bill (and because of that, we all are). At a time in this country when wise stewardship and the production of anything real - especially good food - is what is most needed, it is our best stewards whom Rosa DeLauro threatens, under the cruelly false name of "food safety."

And now Monsanto wants its own employee, Michael Taylor - the man who forced genetically engineered rBGH on us (unlabeled so us, unaware) when the Clintons placed him over "food safety" in the 90s - back in government, this time to act with massive police power as a "food safety tsar" from inside the White House. HR 875 would give him immense power over what is done on every single farm in the country and massive police state power to wield over farmers and punishments to break them at will.

The following quotes show Monsanto and its biotech ilk are not "stewards" at all. Their inhuman focus on profit has led to inhuman, insane, sickening products that require intense corruption of democracy and science institutes and media, to foist them on country after country which don't want them.

It is our farmers who stand between us and this outrage which masquerades as science, as food, as normal business, as government. And it is or farmers who need not only protecting and but actual freeing from government intrusion, control and harm.

Vegetarians and vegans do not identify with farmers who raise animals but what is at stake here is critical for all of us. "First they came for the Jews" is an apt reminder of what matters in standing with each other because the overwhelming bureaucratic burdens, the recording over every single thing done on a farm, the warrantless inspections, the end of farmers markets, the criminalization of seed banking, the ten years in prison for stepping out of line in any way, will next be applied not to animals breaking out of fence onto a neighbors' farm, but for such things as not spraying pesticides on an organic farm to eradicate earthworms (now listed as an invasive species) because the government's "food safety tsar" has deemed it necessary. It is totalitarian control (and HR 875 epitomizes it) which we stand against, and now it is aimed with ferocity at farmers with animals. Stopping it now keeps all farmers safe."

[ovenbird]

I want Barbara Kingsolver to write a novel about the consequences of this in the future where Monsanto has control of all seed and the chemicals required to grow crops with their " roundup Ready Seed", and the medicines needed to treat the cancers caused by the chemicals and eating the GMO foods, etc.

[deciduousLychees]

Here's the bill. Now, maybe I missed it, where in it does it say seed saving ect. is illegal? I couldn't find that part. For something that's so horrible, they could have better citations.

I did, however, thoroughly enjoy DeLauro's wiki. I guess it really can be modified by just anyone with an agenda. The troll couldn't even spell harmful right.

DeLauro will best be known in history for turning the US into a facist state. She directly contributes to the descent of America by encouraing items like "High Fructose Corn Syrup" to be added to everthing. Due to her Americans will be forced to buy food only from corporations. This will taint the Amerian and global food supply by allowing people to consume untested genetically modifed food created with harmfull chemicals and fertilizers.

H.R. 875 will be the tipping point for American social breakdown. People will arrested for growing a tomato. This bill is similar to the British taxing the right to harvest salt from the sea in India. With the real backers of the bill Monsanto, ADM, Sodexo, Tyson, and Smithfield what can one expect.

[Ohiorganic]

Another emotional piece by Lin Cohen-Coles and this one has more mistakes than her last diatribe about this bill. The bill is a food safety bill and has zero to do with NAIS (animal tracking and easements onto property) or seed saving or home gardening or making certified organic illegal.

She also does not seem to understand that the vast majority of American farmers use Monsanto products and would not be effected by this bill. The large produce farmers will be impacted by this bill but since large farms seem to be the problem they are welcoming this legislation as it will probably save them billions of dollars in the short and long run.

The woman sure is good at writing very scary sounding stories that are not based much on fact. But why let the facts get in the way when one has an agenda to push?

*I normally would be in the anti-Monsanto camp with this woman but her rhetoric bothers me*

[American_Gardener]

Thanks for the link to the bill DL.. but, wow.. what a waste of time i spent reading that. I couldn't find one word in there that the author was complaining about. As far as i could see it's a food safety bill and it has to do with food establishments. And by the definition of establishments it means slaughterhouses, and food processing factories. Bout the only thing i saw really disturbing is the fact that any of those establishments who causes an epidemic such as our recent peanut one.. is only to be inprisoned for not more than ten years.

Now i don't put it past politicians to try and sneak things into bills behind the public's back.. but i couldn't see much if anything wrong with that bill. It was just boring as heck to read.

[Emerald]

Thats ok American Gardener, There is only about 8 more threads on this same subject to check thru! I'm sure that to make a point some one will put up another 8 instead of just reading the first 8!

[fruits&nuts]

Originally Posted by American_Gardener

Thanks for the link to the bill DL.. but, wow.. what a waste of time i spent reading that. I couldn't find one word in there that the author was complaining about. As far as i could see it's a food safety bill and it has to do with food establishments. And by the definition of establishments it means slaughterhouses, and food processing factories. Bout the only thing i saw really disturbing is the fact that any of those establishments who causes an epidemic such as our recent peanut one.. is only to be inprisoned for not more than ten years.

Now i don't put it past politicians to try and sneak things into bills behind the public's back.. but i couldn't see much if anything wrong with that bill. It was just boring as heck to read.

Here's one definition of food establishment from the bill:

"a facility owned or operated by a person located in any State that processes food or holds or stores food".

So, if you store food at your home, hold food at your home, or process food at your home, you are a food establishment.

Here's the definition of Food Production Facility:

"The term "food production facility" means any farm, ranch, orchard, vineyard, aquaculture facility, or confined animal-feeding operation."

Note the words "ANY FARM". "ANY RANCH", "ANY ORCHARD".

[fruits&nuts]

http://educate-yourself.org/cn/HR875...n13mar09.shtml

"Bills Could Reorganize Farming and Criminalize Organic Farming
Written by Megan Prusynski
Published on March 10th, 2009
11 Comments

http://planetsave.com/blog/2009/03/1...ganic-farming/

In two vague bills introduced both in the House and Senate of the US Congress, a vast reorganization of America’s agriculture system aimed at tracking and regulating foods for public safety could endanger organic farms and gardens.

The bills, S.425 and H.R.875, attempt to modernize food safety and regulate and standardize agriculture by creating an agency called the Food Safety Administration, but in the process they could threaten organic farming.

Provisions include mandatory registration and inspection for “any food establishment or foreign food establishment engaged in manufacturing, processing, packing, or holding food for consumption in the United States,” and sets standard practices such as minimums for fertilizer use.

Any food that the agency deems “unsafe, adulterated or misbranded” can be seized and the food establishment or farm fined. It’s not clear how these foods will be deemed unsafe. The bills aim to industrialize farms, standardize farming practices, require registration and inspection for any one producing food, and make practices key to organic farming illegal.

While we certainly need to improve our food safety, the problem with these bills is that they are so vague and open-ended, they could be used to justify banning organic practices such as composting and seed saving, or to put into law standard practices such as the required use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides.

The bills are speculated to have been funded by agri-business giants including Monsanto. The threat of the new standards is that only approveed seeds, fertilizers, and farming methods could be used, and if Monsanto gets their way, all farms and gardens be growing their plants and using their products. That is definitely a scary thought.

Organic farming is certainly already revolutionary, but it could be an illegal act if these bills are passed without reworking to protect organic farmers and backyard gardeners. Please contact your senators and representatives today and urge them to protect public health and safety without criminalizing organic farming. There isn’t much time to comment on this bill, so act now!

******************

Comments

[Note from Ken Adachi: Most of the reader comments posted at this article attempt to pour water on the alarm this woman is attempting to raise, but I find those disparaging comments largely flacid and unconvincing. You can read the comments yourself at the originating link, but I find the author, Megan, to offer the most cogent response herself in this comment:]

#8. Megan said on March 11th, 2009 at 8:00 pm

The quote in the article from one of the bills doesn’t seem to exclude places where food is manufactured, i.e. grown: “any food establishment or foreign food establishment engaged in manufacturing, processing, packing, or holding food for consumption in the United States.”

Farmer’s markets would definitely be affected. There is mention of standardized practices that would be required of every registered food producer (and that’s everyone, from what I understand anyone producing food for public consumption would have to be registered and inspected), and fertilizers are mentioned there - I don’t know about you, but I highly doubt that these required fertilzers would be organic.

Monsanto is the company that has been tied to this bill - they would definitely benefit directly because if everything having to do with food production is controlled and regulated, Monsanto’s seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides would provide an easy solution to standardizing farm practices. The fear that I have heard about this bill is that the regulations put in place will require all food producers to be standardized by using only “approved” (Monsanto) fertilizers and other products. So that is why there’s a bit of a scare about this.

The language of these bills is very difficult to read and very vague - so while it does not come right out and say “this bill bans organic gardening” - the danger is in how the law will be applied. There’s certainly a lot of room in the language to force certain practices and products on food producers since they’ll be required to be registered and regulated by the agency the law creates. I just see a lot of room for abuse in this bill, though you do have to read between the lines to see this.

My main concern is that with such vague language, these bills could potentially spell doom for organic food producers and sellers since they’re using “non-industry standard” practices already. While the intention is good on the surface, these bills need a lot of work before they go into law - and the window of time for debate and public comment on this bill is very narrow, so our representatives need to know that these bills are not ready to be laws until all the details are hammered out and organic farming is protected and addressed in them.

Thanks for the discussion, everyone.
# 9 Megan said on March 11th, 2009 at 9:03 pm

I found another article on these bills, and why they could threaten organic farming, if anyone is interested: http://www.appomattoxnews.com/2009/m...t-of-2009.html

# 10 Spencer said on March 11th, 2009 at 9:55 pm

Here is another one Megan, and thanks for bringing this up for discussion.
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009...dcitc=daily_nl

[reavilh]

I can not vouch for this, but I got this in an email from the sayno2nais yahoo group.

Lawmakers trash the Constitution
Nais is unconstitutional~~totally!
Posted: March 14, 2009 by Henry Lamb
1:00 am Eastern

© 2009

It appears that the lawmakers who assemble in Washington have no idea what the Constitution says, or worse, they simply don't care. The Fourth Amendment says quite clearly:

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated. …"

Connecticut Democrat Rosa DeLauro has introduced the "Food Safety and Modernization Act of 2009 (H.R. 875). Her bill will create a new Food Safety Administration
and give its administrator the authority to "conduct monitoring and surveillance of animals, plants, products or the environment" on every family farm, ranch, vineyard and fishing hole in the country. Moreover, the administrator can visit and inspect the property and demand that the owner present "papers and effects," and all records relating to food production.

There is nothing in this bill that requires the administrator show probable cause or that evidence be presented to a judge to secure a warrant for entry into the property. The Fourth Amendment explicitly prohibits government from entering private property without a warrant, "describing the place to be searched, and the persons or thing to be seized."

DeLauro and the 39 Democratic co-sponsors of this bill must have missed this very clear language when she wrote into the law authorization for the administrator to seize up to $1 million each day a violation exists. Section 405 of the bill says that "the validity and appropriateness of the order of the Administrator assessing the civil penalty shall not be subject to judicial review."

If there were no other problem with this bill, this gross violation of the Fourth Amendment should be sufficient reason for the proposal to be killed and buried by the first committee that hears it.

Food safety is a legitimate governmental pursuit; the invasion of private property is not. This bill redefines the concept of "due process" to mean that government dictates the process and private citizens must pay whatever government says is due.

This bill gives the proposed "Food Safety Administration" broad, "brown-shirt
" authority to regulate and manage every facet of the food industry. The administrator can require every backyard gardener: to register his property, submit a written production plan, admit unannounced inspectors, present copies of production records and payment of fines for any infraction declared by the brown-shirts.

H.R. 875 would include the National Animal Identification System, which the USDA has been trying to impose for several years. At a five-hour congressional hearing Wednesday, not one word was said about constitutional authority for government to mandate the registration of private property and surrender private information to the government.

Dr, John Clifford, representing the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Service, a strong advocate for the program, spoke for more than an hour. He did admit that the animal identification program was required by the World Organization for Animal Health as a prerequisite for international trade. Opponents of the measure were allowed only 10 minutes, divided between two speakers.

Witnesses and members of Congress spoke about the need to mandate a program to register every premises, tag every animal and track the movement of every animal – to protect food safety. Dr. Max Thornberry, representing R-CALF USA, one of the opponents, told the committee that existing systems fully protected food safety all the way to the slaughterhouse, and that from the slaughterhouse to the grocery store is where food safety should be improved.

Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson said that a major outbreak of a disease such as hoof and mouth disease could cost between $30 billion and $300 billion. He said that the cost of implementing a mandatory national identification system was nothing compared to the potential loss in the event of a disease outbreak. He did not mention, however, that the last outbreak of hoof and mouth disease occurred in 1929, caused by an animal imported from Argentina, and that the outbreak was contained in less than a month without NAIS, at a time when not even telephones were in common use.

Scenarios that use food safety and potential cost of a disease outbreak are smoke screens to distract attention away from the fact that for nearly 80 years there has been no major disease outbreak because existing systems make American food the safest in the world. The system proposed by the NAIS and H.R. 875 would not improve food safety, but would give the federal government absolute control over the food supply of every individual and would bring the United States into compliance with the requirements of United Nations agencies that administer global governance.

USDA officials and congressmen complain that only about one-third of the nation's livestock owners are enrolled in the NAIS (many of whom were enrolled without their knowledge), despite nearly $150 million spent over the last five years. This should be strong evidence that the people most affected by the proposed program simply do not want it. In view of this evidence, one would think that legislators who claim to represent the people would trash the NAIS and H.R. 875 and move on to another issue.

Instead, they continue to ignore the expressed will of the people, ignore the Fourth Amendment and prepare to make the NAIS mandatory through H.R. 875 or a similar bill. This is how lawmakers trash the Constitution.


Henry Lamb is the author of "The Rise of Global Governance," chairman of Sovereignty International and founder of the Environmental Conservation Organization (ECO) and Freedom21 Inc..

[Ohiorganic]

HR 825 will not include NAIS. i have read the bill and there is nothing in it about NAIS or saving seed.

NAIS is in another bill that is in committee which means soon it will be voted upon in congress and if passed signed by the president
man there is just toom hysteria about this bill and way too many people reading it with their eyes wide shut.

yes it is too broadly written but that is when we the people be come political activists and start contacting our congress people and the sponsors of the bill and demand that they change the wording of certain parts so that the bill is not so broadly written. the Author of the bill apparently has been made aware of this recently and has gone on record to say she does not intend for this bill to effect small farmers selling direct to the public. This bill will be redrafted as they always are before being voted upon. now is your chance to become an involved and active citizen by paying attention to this bill as it makes it way through congress and the executive branch of government.

That said, FYI, if you are a food handling facility you probably already need to be licensed by the county of state and have annual inspections of your facility. This bill will give teeth to the inspection process and the inspectors which we need in this country.

See my blog
http://boulderbelt.blogspot.com/2009...nd-sb-425.html