Story about new Organic Farming laws

[sylvie]

Weirdest of all is that Monsanto as a company subsidizes their employee's memberships in CSAs around here So, create GMO, but please eat organic.

Looks like they are attempting to fuzz the lines between organic and GMO's.

Baker Creek Seeds first educated me on GMOs which compelled me to write to the Agricultural Secretary Glickman in protest of allowing GMO products to go forward. I believe they had been secretly operating the program for some time under the guise of feasibility studies but when I wrote they were seeking to be officially legitimized.

 

[Big Daddy]

Big Daddy, here is the exemption for 'small operations'. There aren't any. If you found them in your reading, please tell me what page they are on.
.

Thank you for answering my unasked and un-thought of question. I remember seeing an exemption when Conrad was explaining the bill. There was a line giving a specific number of carcasses.

I would like an answer to the questions I asked above. We would like to sell Turkey and the above questions have always bothered me.

BD--The folks I know around here protect themselves with a $1 million liability policy. It's not huge, but it's pretty standard for small growers.

Of course, when you're selling a few items to a few people, it's hard to create a chain of evidence from a sick person back to you. I have a feeling that's where this bill is coming from. With things clearly "labeled" in this huge food system we have, outbreaks could be tracked much more quickly.

This hasn't come up yet on here, but it certainly comes up on opinion blogs: Organic is not inherently safer than nonorganic. The only thing safer about organic is there are no chemicals. The E. coli problems are caused by fecal material, which is just as--possibly more--likely to enter the organic food chain (think composted manure, not quite hot enough, long enough).

I think it's really important to be moderate enough in our thinking on this so organic and small producers don't come off as protecting their territory at the risk of consumers.

It's also important to think about what the odds of getting sick actually are. In a recent session I took on food safety, the instructor told us that we were more likely to get hit by lightning than to become ill from a foodborne pathogen.

For the record: I personally think it's good for our immune systems to be exposed to germs. I'd much rather fight off a germ than have irradiated food. And, I personally try to develop a relationship with my customers, show them where their eggs are laid, require them to help on the farm during CSA season so they SEE how THEIR food is being grown. But, most of our food system is not built on this relationship and people are getting sick and dying. Not many, but I guess when it's your kid, it's one person too many.

Just some thoughts...

Thanks

I've never worried about getting sick myself, but I have worried about selling to somebody and then having them either claim to have gotten sick or gotten sick. As my DW points out, people get sick from e-coli all the time. Most people don't die from it. We have a few places here in the areas surrounding Denver that sell turkeys ready to butcher. Of course we have some farmers markets. It would be a shame if the small farmers had to pay the price for some of the recent outbreaks.

GMO crops. Interesting stuff. i can see wanting to modify seeds for higher crop yield, disease resistance, flavor, heartiness and all that stuff, but sounds like a slippery slope. Attack of the killer tomatoes.

 

[k0xxx]

The article has some good points in the beginning but then goes downhill from there. I mean...."The government is terrified of the tax loss. Imagine all the tax dollars lost if people actually grew their own vegetables!" What?? Since when is food taxed? Never has been here in WI during my lifetime.

Maybe not in WI, but in some other states it certainly is and the rates vary greatly from state to state. Locally, sales tax on non-food items is 8.5%, but food is taxed at 5.5%. However, there is no Federal sales tax so at least that doesn't come into play as far as this bill is concerned.

Regarding this bill, I just came across this thread and I haven't read it yet, so please don't take this as me being for it or against it (or even indifferent, for that matter). I am only pointing out that food is definitely taxed, at least in some location.

 

[Big Daddy]

No food tax in Co. either, unless it is prepared food.

 

[Tallman]

I would be willing to bet that when Monsanto started bringing their GMO seed to the farmers, there was somebody pointing out that this would lead to the problems that farmers are having with Monsanto today. With that in mind, I would also be willing to bet that there were those on the sideline calling the ones bring this early information about Monsanto to light paranoid and labeling them as conspiracy nuts.

 

[Beekissed]

I would be willing to bet that when Monsanto started bringing their GMO seed to the farmers, there was somebody pointing out that this would lead to the problems that farmers are having with Monsanto today. With that in mind, I would also be willing to bet that there were those on the sideline calling the ones bring this early information about Monsanto to light paranoid and labeling them as conspiracy nuts.

Hear, hear!

We have a food tax in our state.

 

[me&thegals]

I would be willing to bet that when Monsanto started bringing their GMO seed to the farmers, there was somebody pointing out that this would lead to the problems that farmers are having with Monsanto today. With that in mind, I would also be willing to bet that there were those on the sideline calling the ones bring this early information about Monsanto to light paranoid and labeling them as conspiracy nuts.

Very true. I will have to be gentler with conspiracists Maybe we have gov't conspiracy theorists and corporate conspiracy theorists. I fit into the latter category since it seems corporations have a better reason (to them, anyway: money) to get all devious on us.

I actually doubt even Monsanto has a plan to take over the food supply. Economics in America is based on growth for the shareholders. I imagine Monsanto is trying to grow their business every year to do well on Wallstreet, and it just so happens one part of their business is developing patented seeds. I just see Monsanto as so stinkin' stuck on the bottom line of making money that they don't see how completely out of line ethically they are. Plus, when you mess with people's ability to grow their own food, their own way, you take away generations of crop genetics, adaptability, resistance to local disease and drought, people's way of life and culture.

 

[Beekissed]

I actually doubt even Monsanto has a plan to take over the food supply

..... until you discover that Monsanto and the Merck pharm company are hand in hand and both participated actively in their lobbying of the government for NAIS and GM seeds. Both of these corps were part of the development of the NAIS regs, helping the gov. develop this fine program. Kind of like letting the fox inspect the henhouse.
Merck, BTW, holds the patent on the microchips and readers for this particular endeavor.

The corps that sat on that committee were like a Who's Who of Agribiz and Big Pharm....of course, merely there to show their complete sincerity in keeping our food supplies safe!

 

[me&thegals]

(me red, Monsanto blue)

 

[VT-Chicklit]

me&thegals wrote:
Very true. I will have to be gentler with conspiracists Maybe we have gov't conspiracy theorists and corporate conspiracy theorists. I fit into the latter category since it seems corporations have a better reason (to them, anyway: money) to get all devious on us.

Both those in business and those in politics have the same reason for their conspiricies. The reason is money. Some in business want to pile up as much money as they can and some in politics do as well. The people in business use the politicians to enact laws that give them an advantage in creating their pile and the politicians use the lobbiests representing businesses to create their pile. When this happens. . . We Get Piled On! Many times these conspiracies go both ways.