Attention those of you who sell produce in and around PA!

[bloogrssgrl]

I just received the following email from the president of the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture and thought I would forward it on to those of you who might be interested in this.

I am writing to confirm that an FDA produce safety listening session has been scheduled for Harrisburg, at the Farm Show Complex, on May 13 – i.e. next Thursday. The session will run from 9:00 am to about 12:00 noon, which is abbreviated as compared to other sessions that have been held. Nonetheless, we are very glad to have this opportunity for Pennsylvania produce farmers and handlers to voice their opinions – at least we’ll be getting right to those opinions, instead of filling half the day with “expert” testimony as in previous sessions. The other advantage is that it will not cost farmers a full day of commitment at such a critical time of year. Attached you will find an invitation and press release regarding the meeting, and also a copy of the request for comments that appeared in the federal register.

If you are involved with growing, packing or handling produce, please consider coming to this meeting. A show of numbers will be just as important as any particular opinion expressed that day. Please also feel free to forward this email to anyone else who you think should see it. Those who are coming are asked to pre-register with PDA’s Jared Grissinger at (717) 705-9513 or jgrissinge@state.pa.us. Walk-ins will be welcome as well, but may or may not have the same priority in terms of voicing an opinion.

Make no mistake about it, this process WILL change the way the production and marketing of produce occurs across the country. At the listening session held last month in Maryland, our new “Food Safety Czar” Michael Taylor (formerly of Monsanto) admitted, in response to a question from me, that this process is being pushed by the industry itself, which means the biggest growers and handlers in the western part of the country. They are also going through these steps in anticipation that the new food safety bill now working its way through Congress will give the FDA new powers to reign-in the safety “threats” that are out there. You need to be at this meeting if you care about how this all will end up.


I'm not going to add the itmes mentioned as attachments, but if you are interested and are able to attend, you can call the phone number to register.

[edcopp]

Come in, sign up and watch us change the world in just 3 short hours. You will be held hostage from now on by the New World Order.

No Thanks.

[bloogrssgrl]

Actually, PASA has done a remarkable job with getting the concerns of the small farm owner into the spotlight as all of this food safety legislation moves forward. In the end, who knows just what difference it will all make, but those who don't even bother to get involved and make their voices heard deserve the New World Order they get.

This link provided to me by a friend on another board shows an extremely frightening "Security Self-Assessment" regarding mushroom farms. Just gleaning over the questions, it's plain to see that, should this come to pass, you can say "Good bye" to a lot of small farms.

http://www.americanmushroom.org/foodsafety.pdf

[Patt]

Good lord that questionaire is crazy!

[Lyra]

Good luck but I honestly don't think it will make a difference. If something makes sense, then PA isn't going to do it.

[beowoulf90]

Originally Posted by Lyra

Good luck but I honestly don't think it will make a difference. If something makes sense, then PA isn't going to do it.

Do you have that right!

PA isn't known to do the smart things, they only do things to generate more taxes... Otherwise they could care less about the citizens who live here..

[bloogrssgrl]

This isn't PA legislation! This is FEDERAL food safety legislation. They just happen to be holding a hearing here. If you note, this contains guidelines that are being pushed by big producers on the west coast. The large conglomorates are the ones pushing for this.

[Mike in Ohio]

You really do want to pay attention to this issue if you are involved or thinking about being involved in growing produce on any scale.

I went to the listening session by Cleveland a few months ago. This is being pushed by the large growers out west.... google California Leafy Green Agreement.

So one of the items that made me burst out laughing..... If you have a port-a-potty you need to check it once an hour. We have one at the farm. If I was forced to do this I would look at it once an hour and go "yep, still there".

Mike