Rosa Delauro's HR 875 Will Bring Sweeping Orwellian Police Powers To Milford's Farms.

House Resolution 875, or the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009, was recently introduced by Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn. It is worth noting that DeLauro's husband, Stanley Greenburg, works for Monsanto – the world's leading producer of herbicides and genetically engineered seed.

This legislation looks like a government grab to regulate smaller agri-business at the behest of larger more powerful agri-business interests.

According to this proposed legislation, Government inspectors would be required to visit and examine food production facilities, which is defined as "any farm, ranch, orchard, vineyard, aquaculture facility, or confined animal-feeding operation". Government would review food safety records and conduct surveillance of animals, plants, products or the environment.

The Government would also "provide technical assistance to farmers and food establishments that are small business concerns (meeting the requirements of section 3(a) of the Small Business Act and the regulations promulgated thereunder) to assist with compliance with the requirements of this Act."

Michael Olson, author of "Metro Farm, said, "What the government will do is bring in industry experts to tell them how to manage all this stuff, It's industry that's telling government how to set these things up. What it always boils down to is who can afford to have the most influence over the government. It would be those companies that have sufficient economies of scale to be able to afford the influence – which is, of course, industrial agriculture."

According to the provisions of this bill, farms and other food producers would be forced to submit copies of all records to federal inspectors upon request, and refusal to register, permit inspector access or testing of food or equipment would be prohibited by law and a punishable offense.

So basically our local agricultural business, family farms and especially organic farmers and perhaps even small weekend farm-stand farmers will suffer under the weight of more government control and have to adhere to burdensome and onerous rules and regulations that are designed for bigger agri-business. In essence it is a means by which large industrial agriculture along with government will manage local agriculture.

Under this act, every food producer must have a written food safety plan and must adhere to standards related to fertilizer use, nutrients, hygiene, packaging, temperature controls, animal encroachment, and water. And guess who sets those standards?

The government is going to bring in big industry to establish the protocols which could very well help to eliminate their competition by establishing expensive reporting and other expensive associated guidelines for growing food. This could cripple small American farms.

The penalties are also stiff and each offense is considered a separate offense - "Any person that commits an act that violates the food safety law … may be assessed a civil penalty by the Administrator of not more than $1,000,000 for each such act."

Another "food safety" bill that has organic and small farmers worried is Senate Bill 425, or the Food Safety and Tracking Improvement Act, sponsored by Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio.

The government wants to establish a "food database" and to track everything grown, prepared, handled, manufactured, processed, distributed, shipped, warehoused, imported, and conveyed under the premise that they want to ensure the safety of the food. Never mind the poisonous additives and crap that the FDA already allows in most food products in American grocery stores. Now it seems more important for government to hassle organic farmers and small food growers.

As this seems to be a knee jerk reaction to recent salmonella outbreak among consumers of peanut products, and since of course no crisis should go to waste - it is a great opportunity for more government control with the help of companies like Monsanto.

Really all that is necessary to ensure food safety is to update a few outdated regulations and add some more inspectors. The peanut debacle would not have happened if inspectors would have done their job properly and saw the filth in that peanut plant to begin with.

In Conclusion A Parody Of What Delauro Finds Safe.

Rosa Delauro Introduces Bill To Destroy The Family Farm

It is also noteworthy that Rosa Delauro's husband is a Monsanto executive. The destruction of the family farm will reap big rewards for monsanto. Please Call Rosa Delauro and tell her you object to this bill.

Representative Jim Himes disagrees on at least one point and said that to his knowledge: "Rosa's husband does not currently work for Monsanto, however he will vote against Delauro's bill believing it to infact be problematic to organic and family farmers and not getting the benefits he believes are advertised."

Please contact Rosa Delauro's Connecticut office directly at (203) 562-3718.

Farmers Speak At Durham CT Fair

This evening I attended the Durham Fair up in Durham Connecticut. These types of dairy and livestock fairs have become somewhat more routine over the last few years as My step daughter is a member of the 4H club and is actively involved in competitive cow showing.

The experience has been enlightening, and my travels far as last month I found myself up at the Big E in Agawam Massachusetts. This was an opportunity for me to have several conversations with farmers, and also to learn the wisdom behind Ghandi's famous words that "Life is one indivisible whole" every action in our lives affect others and today that realization has made me even more aware than just a month ago.

While in Durham I met with some of Connecticut's top dairy farmers, and I asked them what they thought were the main concerns facing farmers in our state. One thing immediately came up, and that was that sales are down but only because of the low fat, diets that Americans have undertaken. Since the advent of video games, and our sedentary lifestyle more of us than ever have developed weigh issues that consequentially eliminate fat from our diets. This reduces the demand for our dairy farmers fatty products limiting what they are able to sell.

Another issue they mentioned was the broader economic competition from farms across America. While most farmers here in Connecticut get tax breaks on their land that equate to an average of $400.00 per acre in tax, they do not have the undocumented workers that other western farms use to gain a competitive advantage. One thing I personally know for certain, from my endeavors in trading produce at Hunts Point in NYC price and quality is everything when it comes to trading food. Connecticut just cannot compete with the rest of the country on many products, except Milk and some dairy.

The cost of gasoline is making imported products more expensive, so the less distance they travel the better the price. Many farms here in our state receive federal grants and subsidies to ensure their continued operation during difficult times.

When I asked about the food situation relative to the National economy, both these gentlemen felt that America has more than enough food to feed ourselves and other nations like China who purchase many of the high fat products we snicker at here in the states. It was their opinion that there is no cause for concern that America will run out of food anytime soon.

One question I had in particular was the use of GMO foods, or those that are genetically modified. Both these gentlemen were well aware of the debate surrounding GMO's but defended them on the grounds that they were good for our farmers. They indicated that GMO's result in more robust higher yield harvests, are more resistant to pests and deliver a good looking highly marketable product. When I asked about how the nutritional aspects of these products relative to us the consumers he did admit that little consideration was given to that as a matter of fact that was secondary to increasing profits. He also said that most farmers here in our state are receptive to the products developed by the "Big Agra's" like the Mosanto Corp.

In summary both these people felt that the overall health of the industry in our state appears to be vibrant, with lots of interest from many facets of our state including great clubs like the 4H clubs and several agribusiness/science programs. The overall feeling about farming here in our state is that their is plenty of room for improvement but for now, even though its not highly profitable, things are looking good.

Maintaining Strength and Innovation in Our Community

The cost of energy still appears to be swelling, and as such many people are being put into situations of having to decide if they should drive less, not eat out, or buy medicine. The choices are difficult but not insurmountable. The most difficult part of our rapidly changing world is the speed at which it is happening. Not years, but rather months and weeks are going by with major changes in the cost of energy.

These times call for every person in town to begin thinking "outside of the box" to make those changes that reduce not only our energy consumption but dramatically change the way we use energy. For many this will mean selling the gas guzzler and purchasing a car that has higher energy efficiency, for others it may mean renting out part of their very large homes, installing energy efficient technologies, or trading down to a more affordable smaller home.

No matter what each person ultimately decides, know that if you are not economically faring well than you must do all that you can to avert a potentially devastating situation. Hard times call for hard solutions, and often struggling to hold on to what you can no longer afford can have more dire consequences than if you reach an early epiphany.

For the first time in my memory a shocking 80% of Americans feel our country is headed in the wrong direction, and we must now take matters into our own hands and not rely on our national leaders to fix the insurmountable problems that have taken decades of bad monetary policy and poor legislation to occur. I am hopeful that these problems will be sorted out at some future point when we elect better leaders. However, I am not hopeful that this will happen fast enough to keep many people out of the "red."

This national rut the country is in should be viewed as our opportunity to reinvent ourselves into being a town that creates new opportunities locally and within our state. This is the time to start using the best tool we have our minds and passion to succeed; consequentially inventing new ways to trade locally and create basic jobs.

One thing I thought about recently is that this must be one of the greatest times to be a provider of energy conservation technologies, and local organic farming. As times change, new opportunities emerge and I challenge everyone here in town to find and embrace those opportunities. Success will bring about emulation, or in my opinion the highest form of flattery.

Nicholas Pritchard, 10, waters heirloom tomato seedlings growing... (Photo From CT Post)

Such gardening programs are available for beginners at Eisenhower Park in Milford CT, many have found this to be a fun way to grow food learn farming and save money.