Food Fight: ORGANIC and BACKYARD FARMING being made ILLEGAL?

by sara star | April 10, 2009 at 02:14 pm

1186 views | 87 Recommendations | 16 comments

It is not official, but the seeds have been planted. Bill 875 has been introduced to the US Congress that can outlaw Organic and Backyard Farming.

I had a feeling this would happen. When raw milk was outlawed, even to give raw milk to your family is against the law, Well, I thought... what will be next? Well here it is.

Kiss your local farmers market goodbye if HR 875, the so-called "Food Safety Modernization Act" and its companion bill, HR 759, the "National Animal Identification Act" become law. These are bills that would essentially hand control of our entire food supply over to huge corporate megaliths such as Monsanto and criminalize small, organic farmers — and even your own backyard garden or henhouse.

HR 875, was introduced by Rosa DeLauro whose husband Stanley Greenburg works for Monsanto.

A similar law is already enacted in Iraq

The bill is monstrous on level after level - the power it would give to Monsanto, the criminalization of seed banking, the prison terms and confiscatory fines for farmers, the 24 hours GPS tracking of their animals, the easements on their property to allow for warrantless government entry, the stripping away of their property rights, the imposition by the filthy, greedy industrial side of anti-farming international “industrial” standards to independent farms - the only part of our food system that still works, the planned elimination of farmers through all these means.

The Organic Consumer Association remains cautious, and has posted an alert.

For the record, Organic Consumers Association does have an alert on HR875. As OCA points out in our Action Alert, we cannot support a "food safety" bill unless it provides protection or exemptions for organic and farm-to-consumer producers and cracks down on the real corporate criminals who are tampering with and polluting our nation's food supply.

Having said that, OCA supports aspects of HR875 that call for mandatory recalls of tainted food, increased scrutiny of large slaughterhouses and food manufacturers, and hefty fines against companies that send poisonous food to market. The now discredited ultra-libertarian notion that companies or the "market" will regulate themselves is not only ludicrous, but dangerous, whether we are talking about the banking system or the food and farming sector.

So should small farms be penalized because of the neglect of Big Agri Business?

The Organic Consumers Association...are so far the only party we're aware of in the US that we feel have taken a sensible line on this bill. They rightly point out that the food-borne illness problem has been caused by the big agri-business producers. Why should the small producers and the organic producers have to pay for the sort of measures that are needed to keep the likes of Tyson and Smithfield Foods under control?

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jazzyzazzy

at 14:26 on April 10th, 2009

Am glad I grew my own organic veg in my garden and greenhouse.100 per cent organic.cant beat the taste.Straight from the earth and on to the plate yummy.

duo

at 15:15 on April 10th, 2009

Thanks for the news. I used to wonder how it could be that the world would become dependent on government-approved farming to the point of Biblical accounts of last-days starvation until now. Of course! Individual farming will be outlawed! For our own good, I am sure. Will they make everyone cut down their fruit trees, too? I have friends in California who actually grow l delicious citrus fruit in their backyards, and my daughter brought back great oranges from her in-laws' tree in Florida. I guess those people will be prosecuted on the scale of marijuana growers. That is an outlawed plant, too.

Blessings!

Mary

mtippett

at 18:12 on April 10th, 2009

This is outrageous.

Barbara McPherson

at 19:01 on April 10th, 2009

This is a hugely important story. Those two bills in the US are matched in Canada -- The Food Safety Bill. There is a strong push in Ontario to require all poultry to be kept inside buildings. The small farmers are holding them off on that one. Make no mistake, the large corporations are moving to control the food supply. If people refuse to get off their collective backsides and speak out against these controls they will wake up one morning at the mercy of the multinationals. If you are a farmer in BC and need animal feed, you have to register where you buy it so the government can keep track of where all the animals are. They are moving towards GPSing all farm animals.

albertacowpoke

at 19:53 on April 10th, 2009

This is more of Big Brother is watching. This nonsense has to stop. So are they proposing to put a chip into my animals so they can see where they are. I would be pleased if they would come and feed them during the long winter months. This is outrageous that someone in Congress can introduce a bill and everyone knows who her husband works for. So much for we the people. Barbara do you have the number for that bill in Canada? C what? This has to be opposed.

eastvanray

at 20:00 on April 10th, 2009

Land of the free, eh? Where are the patriots? I never thought my country would respect freedom and liberty more than the US. This is just one more step toward rule by elites and large corporations.

Organic (not verified)

at 20:35 on April 10th, 2009

Thanks for sharing the info, it gave me what I needed, one thing for sure being honest and giving true value, helping other's make's a better business, cause the word does get around, that's why I love what I do, helping other's

albertacowpoke

at 04:47 on April 11th, 2009

Thanks Sara, I'll be looking for that bill anc sift through it. I can.t believe that the Harper government would bite the hand that feeds it. After all it's the farmers in Alberta that give him all the rural seats in Alberta. Looks to me like they are trying to push this through the back door. Thanks for bringing this to my attention.

bettermakings (not verified)

at 10:10 on April 11th, 2009

in the words of bravehart

"FREEDOM!!!!!"

Roy C

at 12:42 on April 11th, 2009

No one has addressed why Obama and Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid have done little or nothing to oppose this.

Why is it happening at the same time in the US and Canada? Does a shiver of paranoia go up and down your spine at the thought?

The good left needs to shed their impostors or elitists of the left as they should actually be called.

sara star

at 14:25 on April 10th, 2009

First reported here....
Death of "organic" farming?

Amy Judd

at 14:57 on April 10th, 2009

Ridiculous ridiculous ridiculous - what on earth is the point of that?

sara star

at 04:04 on April 11th, 2009

NP is a great place to "get the word around".

sara star

at 12:25 on April 11th, 2009

With over regulations it is being whittled away.

Tomitheos

at 06:52 on April 13th, 2009

great title, thank you for this info

Paschen

at 07:10 on April 13th, 2009

Should this Bill pass as is and be enforced the US would loose a great many markets and may end up being boycotted Internationally.

Further this bill can not stand up to the US constitution as is and would be overturned by the Supreme Court.

If not, American will be the first Nations to be owned by Monsanto and co.

USAsoldiersmom&grandmom (not verified)

at 12:02 on April 14th, 2009

Here it is folks for the benefit of the powers that be. Greed of the ones in power....will our constitution be upheld or abandoned..???? They want control over every facet of FREEDOM. Terrified where it will end.

shamanphoenix

at 19:25 on April 28th, 2009

The only way "they" can pass these bills is if "WE THE PEOPLE" let them!!!

We must not let them! We must organize and defeat them!

The tea parties were organized, but all of us can be an even greater force...Let's join together and FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT...(peacefully of course) for our FREEDOM!!! JOIN ME!