An Exercise in Scare Tactics - The Food Safety Modernization Act

[Yeggo]

There's a legitimately debatable bill before the Senate right now - the Food Safety Modernization Act. There are folks on both sides of the spectrum that are concerned about what the regulations proposed in the name of keeping our food supply safe would do to small farmers, and Senators like John Tester and Kay Hagan are working on an amendment that should ease passage of legislation that could dramatically reduce the number of deaths in this country due to tainted food.

But instead of a reasoned argument about food safety, the right is portraying the bill as "outlawing gardening" and "making the transportation of organic food illegal." The envision "union thugs" breaking into your homes, Obama telling you what to eat, the whole 9 yards. They call it "the most dangerous bill in the history of the country." This is why we can't talk about anything reasonably anymore.

http://conversation101.squarespace.com/food-safety/2010/11/18/walk-in-their-shoes-fda-food-safety-modernization-act.html#entry9520096

[kcks]

1. How

many people in the U.S. have died from from tainted food in say the last the ten years? Then what was the source of the food large supplier/ processor or small operation, farmers market or self produced, processed?

[superduperfarleft]

2. K&R.

It's about time there was an effort to counter the John Birch/NaturalNews hysterical nonsense that gets posted here several times a day.

[Recursion]

3. Every single small organic farmer I know is opposed to this bill

And that's dozens. I'm trusting them on this.

[sfwriter]

5. me too...but I can't verify a thing they say.

Believe me. I've tried.

[Yeggo]

7. Not every one

John Tester's an organic farmer.

[Recursion]

8. But I've never met him

So he's not among the small organic farmers I know. Here's to his amendment...

[Bluenorthwest]

4. Well said, this bill should have honest discussion not Birchist

ravings around it. The other day some one I know wanted to talk about the bill 'to end home gardens' and I said I would right after he paid me the $100 dollars he owed me. He'd forgotten that he'd bet me that all the ammo was going to be gone from the shelves in a year, two years ago. It is the same crowd, the same source of hysteria.
And it sucks because as you say, legitimate debate is what is needed.

[Lance_Boyle]

6. Not just the right - there have been a few screaming ninny threads on DU about it. n/t