Fascism On The Farm: H.R. 2749 – The Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009

hr-2749On July 30th, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 2749 – The Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009. This bill, the centerpiece of big agriculture’s war on organic farming in the United States, gives the U.S. government such unprecedented control over independent and organic farmers that some are calling this proposed law “fascism on the farm”.

H.R. 2749 has been given this very deceptive name: “The Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009”, but the reality is that it has very little to do with food safety. Instead, concerns about food safety are being manipulated by big agriculture to push through a law that will devastate their smaller competitors.

You see, every major case of food contamination in recent U.S. history has come from large-scale industrial agriculture – not from small farms.

But who will this new law hurt the most?

Small independent and organic farmers.

In fact, these proposed new regulations are so overwhelming and so draconian that they will even discourage people from growing family gardens in their own backyards.

The reality is that this bill is an effort by the big agricultural corporations who control 90% of the food production in the United States to crush their remaining competition. The losers in all of this will be the American consumers who will have fewer and less healthy food choices.

You can find the full text of the bill here:

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h111-2749

The following are just a few of the ridiculous provisions in H.R. 2749…..

-H.R. 2749 mandates that an annual registration fee of 500 dollars be imposed on any “facility” that holds, processes, or manufactures food.  For the major corporations this is nothing, but on a smaller farmer this is a very substantial charge.

-H.R. 2749 gives the FDA absolute power to regulate how crops are raised and harvested.  In other words, even our small and organic farmers will now be forced to farm exactly how the federal government tells them to.  So under this bill many organic farming methods will be banned as “unsafe”, farmers may be forced to use GMO animal feed, they may have to shoot their animals up with unsafe drugs and hormones, and they may be forced to use petrochemical fertilizers and pesticides.  It will all depend on what the federal government defines as “safe” farming. 

-H.R. 2749 will give FDA the power to impose a quarantine on a specific geographic area.  This would even include “prohibiting or restricting the movement of food or of any vehicle being used or that has been used to transport or hold such food within the geographic area.”  Stopping the movement of all food basically means imposing martial law.  Should the FDA have the power to impose martial law?

-H.R. 2749 would even give the FDA the power to conduct warrantless searches of the business records of small independent and organic farmers, even if there has been no evidence at all that a law has been broken.  Of course nobody in Congress even reads the bills they pass anymore, so they probably don’t even know that this law violates the United States Constitution.

-H.R. 2749 also would impose draconian criminal and civil penalties.  How draconian?  Prison terms of up to 10 years and/or fines of up to $100,000 for each violation.  So just one could destroy a small farmer and put him or her out of business forever.

In addition, this new bill would impose on small farmers massive amounts of paperwork and administrative burdens that the big corporations can handle but they can’t.

You see, that is how you put a horde of small competitors out of business – you get the government to pile on the rules and burdens and regulations until they collapse.

That is why Monsanto desperately wants this bill to become law. They hate the small farms and they want to take them out of the picture.

Why in the world do you THINK Monsanto is so in favor of this bill?

Why would Monsanto WANT more regulations placed on them?

Why?

Because it would give them a radical competitive advantage.

This bill would be another huge step towards corporations such as Monsanto gaining a stranglehold on the food supply of the United States.

This bill is a direct assault on the independence and security of American family farms and small organic growers.

Any member of Congress that supports this bill should be voted out of office in the next election.

No exceptions.

Please contact your Senators and tell them that you DO NOT support this bill.  If this bill is not stopped it will change farming in America forever.

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