H.R. 2751 Food Safety Bill Passed Yesterday

Another serious loss for the American people.

Unbelievable how quickly TPTB managed to get this pushed through. Mike Adams does a good job of describing how harmful this has the potential to be here.

TFN

As if it isn’t bad enough that we cannot trust either the government nor the media to relay anything remotely resembling the truth about anything whatsoever, the national groups and organizations who claim to be defending and looking out for consumers, farmers and ranchers…many times the same groups who take grant money (contracts) and avail themselves of numerous cash sources from the government in addition to their pay pal buttons, have bounded onto the net assuring everyone that the passage of S.510 is somehow now…kind of a good deal. Multiple emails from individuals who have made a living off the misery and fear of those already being targeted in advance by the FDA agricultural Gestapo are landing on the net faster than you can say…”I worked for the government all along!”

The last two weeks have seen some of the most unethical, deceptive, manipulative and outright traitorous actions by both the House and the Senate. With “Dirty Harry” Reid (D) NV leading the traitors charge, every rule was broken, every trick was used, every deception was employed to force the passage of S.510 against the will of the people, most of whom recognized this hostile takeover of agriculture for what it was.

Yup, looks like the Fed's will now get their hands on the nations food supply. In just two years they have taken over healthcare, food production and distribution, trampled on free speech, spied on us relentlessly and unlawfully. They read our emails, our snail mail, listen into our phone calls, and keep records of virtually and absolutely every single thing they can find out about each and every one of us.

From the opencongress website:
Source

The bill would increase the FDA's regulatory authority over the food production system in order to prevent contamination and food-borne illness outbreaks. It would give the FDA mandatory recall authority, require food producers to have qualifying plans in place for identifying and addressing safety risks, require importers to verify the safety of all imported foods, and more. Small farms and food facilities that do less than $500,000 in sales annually and sell most of their food locally would be exempt from most of the new regulations in the bill

How many farmers do you know do over half a million in sales annually?

The corporate spin on this is as usual, incredible.

I care not that mega corporate farms have to clean up their act.

reply to post by SaturnFX


But this would suggest a " hostile takeover " and allow for the fed's to contract with third party companies within the food industry to promote faster production of food supplies. Problem with that is the possibility of contracts with organizations like Monsanto.

Monsanto's history -- PCBs, dioxin, Agent Orange, DDT, bovine growth hormone -- is exacerbated by the company's repeated choice to preserve sales over the public health and employ its outsize influence in government to shirk full responsibility for its actions. Even more disturbing, the "new Monsanto," which has wielded its global muscle and patent prowess to try and take control over the food supply.

reply to post by TruthFreedomNow

This law has nothing to do with protecting anything but the Ag Cartels market share

True laws, those against murder, bodily harm (includes rape) and theft, including fraud and criminal trespass (poison in your well from neighboring industry) should exist and be enforced.

However those basic law have been swamped by "protectionist" laws and regulations that allow the elite to get away with murder literally. These laws and regs are not meant to PROTECT the citizen or the environment, they are meant to PROTECT the market share of the big corporations. They are just disguised to look good so the Progressives will clamor to have them enacted. This is done through the corporate owned propaganda outlet, the mass media.

The Food Borne illness used to justify this law is a great example of propaganda in action. The final act in this "play" has just been staged with the passage of S-510 the Food Safety Farce. HACCP typ red tape will now strangle the organic farming/local food movement leaving the entire food industry in the hands of the Ag Cartel. - JUST AS PLANNED

This is the first Act of the Play:
Under Pres. Clinton, Cargill and Monsanto had great influence. First Dan Amstutz, VP of Cargill and Clinton's senior trade delegate wrote the World Trade Organizations Agreement on Ag. Robert Shapiro, CEO of Monsanto, was Clinton's Senior Foreign Trade advisor... Hello WTO and NAFTA open borders and no quarrantine.

Also under Clinton, our food safety laws in the USA were replaced by HACCP in 1996. This allows Corporations to self inspect, government labs were shut and Government Inspectors were reduced to looking at paperwork and NOT looking for food borne illness. Legislators overlook serious flaw in USDA’s HACCP food-safety system—while promoting its adoption by FDA

The Second act of the Play:
The bovine fecal material (causing the food borne illness) finally hit the fan with much publicity by the news media - blaming farmers of course

In 2002, John Munsell told the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that his small meat grinding operation had been receiving E. coli-positive beef from ConAgra's massive plant in Greeley

Instead of investigating, the USDA (run by Corporate cronyism) shut down Munsell and swept everything under the rug. A reporter from a big New York paper interviewed Munsell but at the last minute the OWNER of the paper killed the story (e-mail from John)

On December 2004 Mr. Stan Painter,Chairman, National Joint Council of Food Inspection Locals, received reports from union members that SRM regulations are not uniformly enforced. Painter wrote to the Assistant FSIS Administrator for Field Operation about the enforcement problem. USDA responsed by placed Painter on disciplinary investigation status and contacts the USDA Office of Inspector General about filing criminal charges.

December 2004 Freedom of Information Act requests

August 2005 Over 1000 non-compliance reports – weighing some 16 pounds -- were turned over

"The FSIS investigation has been completed and the allegations concerning improper enforcement ofSRM regulations were not substantiated...."
(see end of post for full quote)

Apr 17, 2008 Testimony:Mr. Stan Painter, Chairman, National Joint Council of Food Inspection .

It (the recall of Hallmark/Westland Meat) highlights one of the problems that we have attempted to raise with the agency ever since 1996 when the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) inspection system was put in place. There seems to be too much reliance on an honor system for the industry to police itself. While the USDA investigation is still on going at Hallmark/Westland, a couple of facts have emerged that point to a system that can be gamed by those who want to break the law. It (HACCP) shifted the responsibility for food safety over to the companies .
domesticpolicy.oversight.house.gov...

This is a transcript of the USDA patting Stan Painter and John Munsell on the head before blowing them off: www.fsis.usda.gov...

This is the Senate hearing where Stan Painter is ripped to shreds

...Question. Is USDA’s investigation of union president Stan Painter retaliatory?
Answer. USDA’s investigation into the validity of allegations that Specified Risk
Material (SRM) regulations are not being effectively carried out or properly enforced
was conducted solely to ensure the safety of our Nation’s food supply.

Question. Stan Painter, the president of the food inspectors union, set forth a se-
ries of concerns about SRM removal in a letter to the agency in early December.
I understand that FSIS has responded to the letter by launching a personal inves-
tigation of Mr. Painter. In January, for example, FSIS flew Mr. Painter to Wash-
ington DC and questioned him for 3 hours, to try to get him to divulge the sources
of his information. However, FSIS has a database of non-compliance reports, which
should document instances in which inspectors have reported non-compliance with
SRM removal.

Why has FSIS chosen to investigate Mr. Painter personally instead of addressing
the questions and concerns raised by his letter?

Answer. In a December 8, 2004, letter, the chairman of the National Joint Council
of Food Inspection Locals made unsubstantiated and non-specific allegations that
FSIS is not properly enforcing regulations requiring the removal of Specified Risk
Materials (SRMs) from beef products. Because of the serious nature of the allega-
tions contained in Mr. Painter’s Letter, FSIS immediately initiated an inquiry into
those allegations which included an informal interview of the union chairman. Dur-
ing that interview, Mr. Painter refused to provide specific information to support the
letter’s allegations. That inquiry subsequently resulted in a formal investigation by
FSIS to determine the validity of the allegations. As part of that investigation, Mr.
Painter was formally interviewed on two occasions in January. The FSIS investiga-
tion has been completed and the allegations concerning improper enforcement of
SRM regulations were not substantiated.....
www.access.gpo.gov...

There has been a number of threads over time about this. Ultimately the conspiracys never originate from anything in the bill. People are so anti-government that they have become pro-corporatism (like there is a difference. heh).

Anyhow, its passed..let me know when the world ends. At least we can move past the "federal agents are going to remove your home garden" conspiracy.

Pity no conspiracy theorists actually read the bill..they rely completely on corporate propaganda to get their information...oh well.

And yes, I have read the bill (well, the breakdown summery anyhow section by section). If you have an issue with GM foods, I suggest you write your congressman to try and get some controls over that...

and if he does, watch ATS explode with conspiracys on how congress is trying to starve the people or some such with the new bill introduced

reply to post by crimvelvet


Thats alot of words...it must be true if there are that many words...

My God, I KNEW somehow this was Clintons fault! -shakes fist at sky-

reply to post by SaturnFX


I think the simplest problem that arises from this is the overhead this causes farmers to stay in compliance.

Farmers farm. They don't do paperwork.

The government has interests that do not serve the people and this is one of them.

reply to post by Whereweheaded

Yup, looks like the Fed's will now get their hands on the nations food supply.

I am hoping and praying that farmers do what I am planning to do. Take a vacation. DO NOT PLANT A THING! Perhaps a veggie garden to sell locally, with books on canning. If you grow grain sell locally to the guys with livestock. If you have livestock see about selling to a co-op and cut out the middleman entirely. With planning we can do this. The Tester Amendment gave us that out.
The USA grows 25% of the worlds grain and thanks to the bio-fuel idiocy there are no more grain stores. They got used up in 2008.

When the supermarket predators see their food prices sky rocket and empty shelves there will be a back lash... A BIG back lash.

However this will ONLY work if farmers stand together and DO NOT SELLOUT!

I understand Monsanto is busy trying to buy up organic farms.

NOW you know why the housing prices plummeted

The TEA PARTY gives us a vehicle to get the word out. I do not care if you are a Progressive Atheist, a Religious Conservative, or an Anarchist if we do not stand together against the Bankster/Corporate cartel that controls the Federal government than we will wake-up as virtual slaves someday very soon.

reply to post by SaturnFX

Thats alot of words...it must be true if there are that many words...

And you just proved you do not read.

CONGRESSIONAL HEARING: domesticpolicy.oversight.house.gov...

SENATE HEARING: www.access.gpo.gov...

THAT is what I was quoting!

reply to post by SaturnFX


If with sarcasm your suggesting that Clinton was innocent with regards to the Gov.t take over, think again.
Clinton impact on the Federal Government added more than 500,000 new employees to the payroll. The federal budget was bigger jumping to 250 billion in 92, then increasing to 400 billion in 2000.
That was a clear case of invention ....inventing new ways to fatten the the gov.t payroll.
His true legacy holds the all time record for having the greatest number of associates who have, resigned under fire, pleaded the Fifth, fled the country, gone to jail, or died mysteriously.
Clinton was the First President to be disbarred from the practice of law, was the first to pay 800,000 USD to settle a sexual harassment case, was the first to have a credible witness accuse him of rape.
This is the true legacy of Clinton.

He sold most of our nuclear technology to the Chinese for campaign contributions and allowed our Los Alamos Nuclear Facility to suffer well documented security breaches which included the loss of hard drives.

The point is, he's just as corrupt, and very much a puppet as the they all are.

reply to post by Whereweheaded


I fail to see how any of that has to do with H.R. 2751.
Ya, I get it...your not a democrat...big whoop..the topic is how fema agents just shot my tomato plant or some such...

meh, I am bored of this topic actually..enjoy your fearfest.

Originally posted by crimvelvet
I am hoping and praying that farmers do what I am planning to do. Take a vacation. DO NOT PLANT A THING!

Interesting...so your suggesting that all small and mid sized farms simply go bankrupt and hand everything over to superfarms.

which side do you play for again?

Originally posted by zroth
reply to post by SaturnFX

 

I think the simplest problem that arises from this is the overhead this causes farmers to stay in compliance.

Farmers farm. They don't do paperwork.

The government has interests that do not serve the people and this is one of them.

If your doing business that nets you half a mill in sales a year, you better be keeping track of something, or hire someone who will.

This isn't some guy with a few acres making a living...this is big business...you honestly think these corporations are just a bunch of sad poor farmers out there picking weeds out of their little hobby gardens? heh...no, this is big stuff that ends up on the dinner plates of the nation and world..so ya...time to stop storing the freaking bug spray chemicals right next to the canning machines or whatnot...and if you tainted the peanut butter with ebola...the fed has the authority to recall now verses hope you decide to.

Saturn,

When it usually takes ages to get a bill passed this one managed to do so in less that a week AND in the week right before Xmas. That doesn't seem a bit suspect to you?

With this bill local farming will become so expensive that it will put farmers out of business.

Not to mention that the public won't be able to afford to buy local produce anymore so sales of imported produce will sky-rocket. And we know that imported produce is often grown with chemicals/pesticides/herbicides/etc that are banned in the US.

You don't see a problem with all that?

TFN

Originally posted by TruthFreedomNow
Saturn,

When it usually takes ages to get a bill passed this one managed to do so in less that a week AND in the week right before Xmas. That doesn't seem a bit suspect to you?

introduced 6/8/2009

and by a week, you mean a year and a half.

sorry...but your completely fooled by corporate spin.

No, from one stage to another. But you knew that. Your response was just a way to get away from answering the real points so I will repeat them for you AGAIN.....

With this bill local farming will become so expensive that it will put farmers out of business.

Not to mention that the public won't be able to afford to buy local produce anymore so sales of imported produce will sky-rocket. And we know that imported produce is often grown with chemicals/pesticides/herbicides/etc that are banned in the US. You don't see a problem with that?

Obviously you do see the problem otherwise you would have addressed these points the first time they were brought up.

Makes me wonder who you really are and what your motives are.

reply to post by SaturnFX

'....Small farms and food facilities that do less than $500,000 in sales annually and sell most of their food locally would be exempt from most of the new regulations in the bill...."

How many farmers do you know do over half a million in sales annually?
The corporate spin on this is as usual, incredible.
I care not that mega corporate farms have to clean up their act.

The key word is MOST

Sure as heck looks like ALL farmers are now subject to HACCP regs. They are quote exempted unquote BUT they have to do the documentation, they have to do the preventative measures and they have to documentation those preventative measures to show "implementing the preventive controls to address the hazards" is sucessfull and they have to do the testing showing the preventative measures are successful.

So how the heck is that exempted from the F@#%%$#$ regulations. All I see is a slightly DIFFERENT set of regs Lots of government control and a lot of red tape.

tester.senate.gov...

‘‘(2) EXEMPTION.—A qualified facility—

‘‘(A) shall not be subject to the requirements under subsections (a) through (i) and

subsection (n) in an applicable calendar year;
and


‘‘(B) shall submit to the Secretary—

‘‘(i)(I) documentation that demonstrates that the owner, operator, or agent in charge of the facility has identified potential hazards associated with the food being produced, is implementing preventive controls to address the hazards, and is monitoring the preventive controls to ensure that such controls are effective;


or


‘‘(II) documentation (which may include licenses, inspection reports, certificates, permits, credentials, certification by an appropriate agency (such as a State department of agriculture), or other evidence
of oversight), as specified by the Secretary, that the facility is in compliance with State, local, county, or other applicable non-Federal food safety law; and


‘‘(ii) documentation, as specified by the Secretary in a guidance document issued not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this section, that the facility is a qualified facility under paragraph (1)(B) or (1)(C).


‘‘(3) WITHDRAWAL; RULE OF
CONSTRUCTION.—

‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the event of an active investigation of a foodborne illness out-break that is directly linked to a qualified facility subject to an exemption under this sub-
section, or if the Secretary determines that it is
necessary to protect the public health and prevent or mitigate a foodborne illness outbreak
based on conduct or conditions associated with
a qualified facility that are material to the safety of the food manufactured, processed, packed,
or held at such facility, the Secretary may with-
draw the exemption provided to such facility
under this subsection.


‘‘(B) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing
in this subsection shall be construed to expand
or limit the inspection authority of the Secretary.