Posted by LydiaScott on 06/16/09 10:17 AM   [Newer: Gangster government] [Older: If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck it must be chicken??? ]

Here we go again....................  HR 2749   http://www.thomas.gov/cgi-bin/thomas

I urge everyone to go read the legislation for yourself.    

The Farm to consumer Legal defense fund is a good resource and the following is excerpted form their site which is http://www.ftcldf.org/news/news-15june2009.htm 

HR 2749 gives FDA tremendous power while significantly diminishing existing judicial restraints on actions taken by the agency. The bill would impose a one-size-fits-all regulatory scheme on small farms and local artisanal producers; and it would disproportionately impact their operations for the worse.

HR 2749 does not address underlying causes of food safety problems such as industrial agriculture practices and the consolidation of our food supply. The industrial food system and food imports are badly in need of effective regulation, but the bill does not specifically direct regulation or resources to these areas.

* HR 2749 would impose an annual registration fee of $500 on any "facility" that holds, processes, or manufactures food. Although "farms" are exempt, the agency has defined "farm" narrowly. And people making foods such as lacto-fermented vegetables, cheeses, or breads would be required to register and pay the fee, which could drive beginning and small producers out of business during difficult economic times.

* HR 2749 would empower FDA to regulate how crops are raised and harvested. It puts the federal government right on the farm, dictating to our farmers. 

* HR 2749 would give FDA the power to order a quarantine of a geographic area, including "prohibiting or restricting the movement of food or of any vehicle being used or that has been used to transport or hold such food within the geographic area." Under this provision, farmers markets and local food sources could be shut down, even if they are not the source of the contamination. The agency can halt all movement of all food in a geographic area.

* HR 2749 would empower FDA to make random warrantless searches of the business records of small farmers and local food producers, without any evidence whatsoever that there has been a violation. Even farmers selling direct to consumers would have to provide the federal government with records on where they buy supplies, how they raise their crops, and a list of customers.

* HR 2749 charges the Secretary of Health and Human Services with establishing a tracing system for food. Each "person who produces, manufactures, processes, packs, transports, or holds such food" would have to "maintain the full pedigree of the origin and previous distribution history of the food," and "establish and maintain a system for tracing the food that is interoperable with the systems established and maintained by other such persons." The bill does not explain how far the traceback will extend or how it will be done for multi-ingredient foods. With all these ambiguities, it's far from clear how much it will cost either the farmers or the taxpayers.

* HR 2749 creates severe criminal and civil penalties, including prison terms of up to 10 years and/or fines of up to $100,000 for each violation for individuals.

I only had a few minutes to scan through the legislation and this is what I found.  Elected and appointed officials want to legislate everything we do and add a registration fee to it. So once again they are attempting to micro-manage the food production, growing, distribution and sales under the guise of consumer protection.  No where in this legislation do they address the underlying causes of food safety problems such as industrial agriculture practices and the consolidation of our food supply. The industrial food system and food imports are badly in need of effective regulation, but the bill does not specifically direct regulation or resources to these areas.

 All of the regulation is directed toward the independent and small scale food producers.  I can tell you that compared to the huge cafo's and industrial produce lots the small operation is much more hygenic and concerned about cleanliness.  The small operation actually knows the people it does business with and the huge operations do not.

I have written on the previous attempts to legislate our food and each time the bozo's come up with another even more deviant plan.  I am quickly coming to my level of tolerance or as my mom would say  " I have had it up to my eyeballs!"

If you are reading this please contact your member in the House of Representitives and express opposition to this piece of legislation.  But we need to go further.....  How far are we going to get writing letters and calling on the sham they call legislation?????  If that is the only thing we ever do then it will not be enough and deep inside you know what I am saying is truth.  We can no longer afford to be arm chair activists or occiasionally active in the affairs of government.  We must do ONE thing a day in the name of freedom, self government, lower taxes and reduced government spending.

We have to educate ourselves and that can only be done through self education.  I urge you to go to this site http://ourcaucus.com/index.html  and work your way through step 1 which consists of 8 articles.  Do one article a day and you will know much more than the average person and probably more than most of those we elect to represent us.  

We must get involved, educate our selves and stayed engaged.  Persistence and consistence will move us toward life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all.  

Posted 06/16/09 1:26 PM rightsman Las Vegas,, NV

Lydia Scott, Thank you for the post and your hard work. It is much appreciated. If I may make a suggestion: Turn off the TV and read just one article posted on this website each day. There are more than 200 members of Campaign For Liberty in Clark County, Nevada. Many of them have not yet logged on to the website. At a recent meeting, there were 22 showed up, and more than half of those were not yet members of Campaign for Liberty. I urge everyone to get a short bio up on this site, and let's get to know each other. This farm bill goes along with George Bush's law against hoarding, the big "O"s promise that we will not be able to eat what we want any more, and the promise that we will not be able to eat as much as we want any more. There is no conspiracy. Thank you, Robert Walker

Posted 06/16/09 2:17 PM BBLiberty Pekin, IL

Thanks, Lydia. Your blog posts are very helpful. I have used a lot of your information to build a health freedom flyer that I have been passing out to the public. It includes all the federal (and some state) legislation along with descriptions on why it is dangerous. I plan on going to farmer's markets and handing out my flyers there, but I need to add this piece of legislation to them or make up a whole new flyer for just this :-) Thanks again, Brooke

Posted 06/16/09 6:56 PM libertyspirit Modesto, CA

I got videos on earmarks. They were very interesting, but is this what we were supposed to be reading?. I got through three of them so far. Can't wait until they get to the solution.

Posted 06/16/09 8:13 PM LydiaScott South Bend, IN

yes, there is info on earmarks. If you go through the videos in order 1 to 8 by the time you get to the end you will have a clearer understanding of it all. They did a good job of putting so much info into an 8 segment series. Politics is not simple or easy and they have done a good job of putting together a free educational series that will bring the novice up to speed on the current crisis in DC. All this in an hour and half or so. Kind of like cliff notes version of DC demystified.

Posted 06/17/09 02:41 AM libertyspirit Modesto, CA

Ok, thanks. I just wanted to make sure I was on the right track.