Will Food Safety Reform Hurt Small Farmers?

The much-debated (and long-awaited) food safety reform bill, the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (S.510), will finally go before the Senate for a vote today. Senators will be voting on cloture, a measure that would set a time limit for debate and a vote on this bill. While most experts think Senators will agree on cloture, what's less clear is how the pending legislation may impact small farmers and the locavore movement.

It's currently unclear whether the Tester-Hagan Amendment, an addition to the bill that exempts small farmers from certain S. 510 measures, will make it into the legislation. If S.510 gets enacted into law, food producers and processors would be subject to more frequent inspections and required to meet certain safety and sanitation regulations. While billion-dollar food producers can easily take measures to meet these requirements, some argue that this legislation puts an unfair burden on resource-strapped small producers. That's where the Tester-Hagan Amendment comes in.

The Tester-Hagan Amendment, which was introduced by Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) and Sen. Kay Hagan (D-NC), would exempt some small farmers and producers from meeting more regimented safety and sanitation requirements. Operations earning fewer than $500,000 a year, selling within a 400-mile radius, or classified by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a "very small business" wouldn't have to follow the same rules as giant manufacturers like Wright County Egg and Hillendale Farms. These small-scale operations — many of which sell their wares at roadside stands and farmers' markets — simply don't have the resources that mega-farms and processors do. Making them abide by the same rules could put many small-scale producers out of business, Tester and Hagan argue.

Tester also makes a solid point in highlighting the fact that small-scale farmers aren't the ones producing these massive, food-contamination outbreaks like this summer's salmonella scandal. Therefore, they shouldn't be penalized for industrial production's gross negligence. The Los Angeles Times quoted Tester as saying that "'food-borne illnesses don't come from family agriculture,' but from corporate producers." If S. 510 passes without the Tester-Hagan Amendment, it runs the risk of putting smaller farmers out of business — a move that may be the death knell for the growing locavore movement.

While the Tester-Hagan Amendment may seem like a logical safeguard for small farmers, it's quite controversial. Even within the sustainable food space, many folks are for the amendment, while others believe it would provide a dangerous loophole. Grist recently ran an ongoing debate about the Tester-Hagan Amendment through it's food fight series. While some notable sustainable foodies strongly favored the amendment, others weren't so sure.

With the countless food recalls and contamination outbreaks that occurred in just the past year alone, it's clear that America is in desperate need of food safety reform. But let's look at where most of those recalls and outbreaks came from — industrial-scale mega-producers and processors, not family farmers selling at the local farmers' market. Let's not place unnecessary burdens on the food producers that actually care about consumers' safety. Sign Oregon Rural Action's petition and tell Congress to include the Tester-Hagan Amendment in the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act.

Photo credit: NatalieMaynor via Flickr