Big Agriculture shows true colors by suddenly opposing S510 bill

Congress recently has been pushing through legislation to put more regulations on agriculture in America.  These regulations would be a death-knell to small farms and ranchers, and would remove consumer choice in where and how they purchase food.

For Big Agriculture corporations such as ConAgra, Monstanto, Archer Daniels, Cargill, and Tyson Foods, this bill would have been a huge thrust towards total control over the food supply in the long run.  They have the means and the revenue to absorb the new costs tied to the regulations, but would have profited when thousands of smaller farms were forced out of business.

Fortunately, Congress has heard the pleas of the small farmer and yesterday passed the Tester-Hagan amendment in the bill (S510) which will exempt small-scale direct-marketing producers from some of the most burdensome provisions.

Immediately, Big Agriculture showed their true colors and in a mass exodus, removed their support of S510 completely.

Twenty Agribusiness trade organizations fired off a letter stating that they would now oppose the bill.

The letter from the Agribusiness groups states: “[b]y incorporating the Tester amendment in the bill, consumers will be left vulnerable to the gaping holes and uneven application of the law created by these exemptions. In addition, it sets an unfortunate precedent for future action on food safety policy by Congress that science and risk based standards can be ignored.”

What science and risk? No one has produced any data or evidence of any widespread problems caused by local producers and marketed directly to consumers. All of the major foodborne illness outbreaks have been caused by products that went through the long supply chains of Agribusinesss.

Agribusiness’s real concern about the Tester-Hagan amendment isn’t food safety, but the precedent set by having Congress recognize that small, direct-marketing producers are different, and should be regulated differently, from the large Agribusinesses.

Agribusiness is trying to convince the Senators to pull the Tester-Hagan amendment back out. While the amendment is currently part of the “Managers’ Package” – the amended version of the bill agreed upon by six bipartisan sponsors – nothing is certain until the actual vote. - Farm and Ranch Freedom

As Congress has taken over control of your healthcare system, the push to control food growing and distribution by a limited amount of companies is also on the agenda.  Fortunately, a small but strong lobby of farmers have halted the accomplishment of this, but the people now need to speak up to their legislators and ensure we still have the rights in the future to plant, grow, and eat what we want to, and not be limited to the choices of a few mega-corporations.