Will Food Bill S510 stop you from growing your own garden?

This article explains who will oversee this future government agency of "food safety" (former Monsanto attorney, Michael Taylor), what will be the "new" food standard for food safety (industrialized practices, GMO, hormones, antibiotics, etc) and how the new program will overwhelm small-scale, sustainble farmers with fees and strict mandates:

Will Food Bill S510 stop you from growing your own garden?

by Nancy Piscatello


NY Healthy Food Examiner
December 1st, 2010 11:43 am ET.

 
Food Bill S510 certainly has made a lot of people very nervous. Blogs and websites abound with a kind of hysteria unprecedented by a food bill. This one comes with good reason, folks: S510 gives a future government agency (not yet created, but to be overseen by former attorney for Monsanto, Michael Taylor, who implemented rBGH and unregulated genetically modified organisms) unlimited control and power over all US seed, food supplements, food and farming.

This new agency, under the rule of the Homeland Security Agency, will impose strict mandates for all farms to be industrialized, implementing GMO's, antibiotics, hormones, pesticides and the like to become the standard of operation. This goes against the safe and healthful practices of small, organic farmers, who do not use any of those substances.

NAIS, an animal traceability program, threatens small farmers and ranchers raising heritage breeds of animals and plants. The government would now have the power to simply wipe out entire fields or herds due to "rumors" of disease, with no need for proof. The elimination of biodiversity, for both plant and animal, benefits companies like Monsanto, that hold patents for genetically engineered substitutes. This practice has devastating potential for our food supply, but the monetary interests seem to overrule commonsense on this issue.

The Tester-Hagan Amendment gives hope to some that it will protect the small farmer from this bill; however, loopholes, rules and massive paperwork threaten to overwhelm small farmers. Without adequate funds to support a workforce, designated for the sole purpose of dealing with these new details, small farmers simply will not be able to compete.

So does S510 affect your right to farm at home; sell or trade to your neighbor; or buy at the *farmer's market? The bill, as written, gives the power to do just that. Time will tell how this issue will evolve. Perhaps a better question may be: has this kind of intervention ever proven positive before?


*Our farmer's markets in both Riverhead and Greenport could become a thing of the past, if this bill passes. Co ops that bring raw milk, pastured meats and eggs to consumers would be shut down. Healthy foods would become illegal contraband and citizens would be robbed of their right to health. Contact your senators opposing this bill. There's still time. For now.

http://www.examiner.com/healthy-food-in-new-york/will-food-bill-s510-stop-you-from-growing-your-own-garden