Remember the last year when we alerted you about the new Food Safety Modernization Act regulations proposed by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and how they could make, local food, sustainable and organic agriculture, and farm conservation collateral damage? Well there is both good and bad news.
The good news is the FDA received tens of thousands of comments from farmers and eaters alike - and they took those comments seriously, even agreeing to re-draft several key sections of the proposed FSMA rules. The bad news is that the new draft falls short; there are major improvements but still not nearly enough. FDA still doesn't quite get what it means to be a farmer.
We need your help to tell the FDA: let a farm be a farm! Don't let the rules squash local food.
We have until December 15 to submit comments to the FDA to ensure that local food and farms can grow and thrive. There are two ways you can get informed and take action:
Farms innovate. Don't let the rules squash local food by unfairly burdening family farmers who are scaling up, growing their businesses and improving healthy food access through innovations, like working together to wash and pack produce for local schools. The rules need to ensure that local food and farms can grow and thrive.
If you don't speak out now, the new rules under FSMA could have serious impacts on sustainable and organic food production in the US. It can not be emphasized enough - food safety is critical, but if the rules don't work for farmers, they won't make our food safe.
