When I first heard about these bills I thought they were long overdue. I was glad to know our IMPORTED food would be checked and only allowed in our country if found to be safe; but, after hearing more about it and reading the legislation, I realize there is a lot more to the bills. They could seriously affect our way of life and destroy this way of life for our children and grandchildren.

These bills have controls in place to regulate every small garden, orchard and farm in the country. It sounds impossible to enforce until you realize the enforcement would fall to your local county or parish agent. He would be the one responsible for checking the paperwork for the local flea markets, corner food sellers and small home gardens. That might be fine if you are friends but you could get hungry if your enemy ends up with the job someday.

The bills, along with the animal identification legislation, pose a real problem for the small farms and ranches and really only help the large corporations whose lobbyists are backing them. Another group of government laws to protect us from ourselves. It may be too late to do anything about them but it is worth a try by contacting our senators and representatives.

Food Safety Modernization Act
House Resolution 875, or the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009, was introduced by Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., in February. DeLauro's husband, Stanley Greenburg, works for Monsanto – the world's leading producer of herbicides and genetically engineered seed.
DeLauro's act has 39 co-sponsors and was referred to the House Agriculture Committee on Feb. 4. It calls for the creation of a Food Safety Administration to allow the government to regulate food production at all levels – and even mandates property seizure, fines of up to $1 million per offense and criminal prosecution for producers, manufacturers and distributors who fail to comply with regulations

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.
Brown's bill is backed by lobbyists for Monsanto, Archer Daniels Midland and Tyson. It was introduced in September and has been referred to the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee. Some say the legislation could also put small farmers out of business.

The blogosphere is buzzing with comments on the legislation, including the following:
· Obama and his cronies or his puppetmasters are trying to take total control – nationalize everything, disarm the populace, control food, etc. We are seeing the formation of a total police state.
· Well ... that's not very " green " of Obama. What's his real agenda?
· This is getting way out of hand! Isn't it enough the FDA already allows poisons in our foods?
· If you're starving, no number of guns will enable you to stay free. That's the whole idea behind this legislation. He who controls the food really makes the rules.
· The government is terrified of the tax loss. Imagine all the tax dollars lost if people actually grew their own vegetables! Imagine if people actually coordinated their efforts with family, friends and neighbors. People could be in no time eating for the price of their own effort. ... Oh the horror of it all! The last thing the government wants is for us to be self-sufficient.
· They want to make you dependent upon government. I say no way! already the government is giving away taxes from my great great grandchildren and now they want to take away my food, my semi-auto rifles, my right to alternative holistic medicine? We need a revolution, sheeple! Wake up! They want fascism ... can you not see that?
· The screening processes will make it very expensive for smaller farmers, where bigger agriculture corporations can foot the bill.
· If anything it just increases accountability, which is arguably a good thing. It pretty much says they'll only confiscate your property if there are questions of contamination and you don't comply with their inspections. I think the severity of this has been blown out of proportion by a lot of conjecture.
· Don't waste your time calling the criminals in D.C. and begging them to act like humans. This will end with a bloody revolt.
· The more I examine this (on the surface) seemingly innocuous bill the more I hate it. It is a coward's ploy to push out of business small farms and farmers markets without actually making them illegal because many will choose not to operate due to the compliance issue.
http://worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=92002