S.510 - FDA Food Safety Modernization Act ---- call to action

Little Sprouts Farm has remained silent thus far about the ongoing debate over food safety in our national government. But, alas, it is time to speak out. If you value the ability to have a choice in your family's food purchases and production, then it is time to act.

As you may know, recent "food" factory failures have caused more deaths and illnesses recently than ever before. This rightfully prompted an outcry from Americans for something to be done. Unfortunately, in true "big government style", the answer from our elected official was largely more of the same. They reacted by working to enact tougher food safety laws, which in reality are just better tracking and ability to recall the inevitable dangerous products coming from today's factory farms. These new laws do very little to decrease the occurrence of lethal contaminants within our grocery store isles, they simple make it more efficient and quicker to remove the poisons once they occur, so fewer people are affected.  In the process it creates more government, more paperwork, and higher cost to everyone. Ok, Ok, that's my interpretation, but I would challenge you the reader to dispute my claims.

The next major event that happened was the amendments. The most important one is the Tester amendment. This amendment adds the logical exemption of small traditional farms. Since small family farms are virtually immune to the problems rampant in the factory food system, it does not make any sense to subject these small farms to the overbearing regulations that are intended to help root out the bad products from the factories. Adding the regulations to small farms actually worsens the overall situation by putting more small farms out of business, thereby increasing reliance on factory foods that are inevitably poisonous. Therefore, the "fix" from the government, without the amendment, actually makes the situation worse for the consumers with increased risk of food illness and death.

The senate thankfully passed the bill with the amendment in place. Now it is up to the house.

Today, the small handful of owners (yes, incredibly small) of the factory food networks have come out in strong opposition to the amendment. They know that the amendment levels the playing field between decent food and their product. They know the new regulations will stifle small farm production of real food and protect their market share of the food dollars. They are working very hard to distort the facts and make twisted claims of logic to coerce the house into dropping the amendment. If this happens, you, the consumer, will have less opportunity to choose where you buy your food and how it is produced.

So here is our official position:
With the Tester amendment in place, we support the food safety bill because:

1. It makes recall of factory produced and tainted food faster and therefore less deadly
2. It creates more tracking, cost, and consequence for factories producing food, which ultimately raises factory food prices from their unnaturally low level, lessening the gap between this imitation food and real food.  This makes it easier for consumers to buy real food and increase their health, ultimately lowering their out of pocket expense overall due to lower health care.
3. It makes the corporations in control of our food system pay a price for their disrespectful deceitful behavior geared at only making themselves profits instead of making America healthy.

Without the Tester  amendment we oppose the food safety bill entirely because:

1.  It makes small farms pay a higher cost for the failures in the factory food system thereby increasing cost of real food and broadening the gap between real and factory produced food, thereby consumers ultimately shift towards factory food, decreasing health and increasing health care cost
2. It removes choice from the consumer since many small farms will give up instead of fighting the fight, farmers markets shrink, and supplies of decent food dwindle.
3. It rewards corporations responsible for the failures in our food system and the subsequent health crisis in America through removal of competition. Their profits increase, which encourages them to continue producing even more poisonous dangerous foods.

Don't get me wrong... I fully support everyones right to make a profit. One of our goals at Little Sprouts is to prove that it is possible to make a profit while producing decent food (which oddly the bulk of agriculture community states is impossible in America).  Nevertheless, we do not support increased profits today through methods that leave a scarred and sick land to our children, and cause a national health crisis that is touching each and every one of us today. Profits have to be balanced with responsibility to the consumers and the next generation.

For example... would you dump tons of DDT on your yard today if it gained you a few extra dollars, and then handed the scarred cancer producing land to your children and grandchildren to live on? Most people would say no. The reality is, all that has changed since the realization that DDT kills people is... the name of the chemical used. Agriculture today uses more man made chemicals than ever before, ALL of which are slowly being proven to cause health problems and are constantly being replaced with new ones. All in the name of profit for the few. Every non-organic food product purchased in the grocery store supports these chemicals. Every product bought at the grocery store instead of off-farm or farmers markets supports factory "psuedofood" and factory vs farm methods. The strongest arm we have, each of us, is our wallet and our voice. You can either be part of the problem, or part of the solution. I find it fascinating that people will change incandescent bulbs at home for fluorescent to save energy and feel "green", but buy anything presented at the grocery store without a second thought. The time is here to choose.

Bottom line here is.. if you value freedom of choice, health, and fairness, than I implore you to contact your representative and tell them that S510 should not pass unless it has the Tester amendment intact.  Do it today!

I also encourage an open debate on this topic. It is truly one that affects our families in our every day life. Through open discussion, eyes are opened and truth prevails.