President Signs Food Safety Overhaul

On Tuesday, January 4th, 2011 President Obama signed the Food Safety Modernization Act into law. As signed, the bill contains amendments which protect small and mid-size organic family farms.

By Udi Lazimy
OFRF National Policy Organizer

In what is considered a sweeping overhaul of national food safety regulations, President Obama signed into law the Food Safety Modernization Act (S.510) on Tuesday, January 4th, 2011. The act gives the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) increased regulatory authority, but avoids a "one size fits all" approach that would unduly burden small and mid-sized organic farmers and stifle burgeoning local and regional food systems.

Ariane Lotti
Senior Policy Analyst

"Thanks to the calls and actions of organic farmers and supporters, the Congress and the President adopted a scale- and market-appropriate approach to food safety," said Ariane Lotti, Senior Policy Analyst for OFRF. "The bill increases food safety regulation on high-risk activities and on actors often responsible for food safety problems."

Hear Ariane discuss the Food Safety Bill on KSCO Radio.

The bill aims to increase food safety regulation and government oversight over a national food system that has suffered from outdated regulations and been subject to recalls of contaminated foods such as eggs, peanut butter, and spinach. The bill grants the FDA new powers to recall tainted foods, increase inspections, and demand accountability from large food companies.

The organic farming community is pleased that the bill includes important language to prevent certified organic operations from having to duplicate records or violate National Organic Program standards. Perhaps the most significant component of the bill for small family farmers is the amendment sponsored by Senators Jon Tester (D-MT) and Kay Hagan (D-NC), which gives very small farms and food processing facilities the option of complying with state regulation or with modified, scale-appropriate federal regulation. The bill exempts from certain requirements producers with less than $500,000 a year in sales who sell most of their food locally.

"Food safety is an issue that all consumers, food producers, and processors are concerned about. This bill focuses regulation and oversight on the players that pose the most significant threats to the health of our nation's food supply without eliminating the farms that grow fresh, local organic food," said Lotti.

Other important components in the bill, won by the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition and supported by actions of OFRF's Organic Farming Action Network, include amendments sponsored by:

• Sen. Sanders (D-VT): requiring FDA to write regulations to determine low risk on-farm processing activities that can be exempt from regulatory requirement;
• Sen. Bennet (D-CO): to reduce unnecessary paperwork and streamline requirements for farmers and small processors;
• Sen. Stabenow (D-MI): to create a USDA-delivered competitive grants program for farmer food safety training;
• Sen. Boxer (D-CA): to eliminate anti-wildlife habitat language from the bill; and
• Sen. Brown (D-OH): on traceability requirements, including exemptions for direct marketing and farm identity-preserved marketing.

If you are a constituent of any of the Senators mentioned above, please take a moment to call their office and thank them for their support for small, organic family farmers, conservation, and food safety. And make sure to join the Organic Farmers Action Network to stay informed about future opportunities to help build the organic movement.