Submitted by Drew Kaplan on June 1, 2010 – 11:47 am
E. coli is a major problem for the food industry and a risk to public
health. Now, lawmakers are considering passing a law that would ramp up
FDA oversight of food safety. The regulations are still in the works,
but already strong opposition is building among local farmers. “Their
argument is it’s nice to have small farms but food safety comes first,”
said Ron Smolowitz of Coonamessett Farm in Falmouth. “I’m asking the
public to think about that.”
Smolowitz said food safety is already a priority and proposed FDA
regulations would require a reconfiguration of his 20-acre farm.
“I clearly think they’ll put us out of business,” Smolowitz said.
“People come to the farm, for example, to see the animals. The proposed
regulations would not allow us to have animals in the same area that we
have crops.”
Other proposed regulations include more inspections, food tracking
systems as well as regular testing and monitoring.
Richard Bonanno, president of the Massachusetts Farm Bureau Federation,
said there’s another expensive and time-consuming part of this.
“Hours and hours of paperwork,” Bonanno said. “Pretty much every time
you wash a knife, every time you go to the bathroom, every time you load
a truck, there’s a paper trail that has to follow that.”
Bonanno said he fears many of the state’s 8,000 farms would be crushed
under the weight of all the new rules.
“The average gross income of those farms is less than $10,000 a year,”
Bonanno said. “To comply with regulations the FDA is looking to propose
the cost is almost $10,000 a year.”
Since March 1, more than 26 people in five states have been sickened
from romaine lettuce. In 2006, there were three deaths and 276 illnesses
after E. coli outbreaks linked to fresh spinach and iceberg lettuce. In
2009, two people died, dozens sickened after an E. coli outbreak linked
to ground beef distributed on the East Coast. E. coli is a potentially
deadly bacteria that can cause bloody diarrhea and dehydration.
Proponents like U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, of Connecticut, said the
government has to act.
“When you go to the grocery store, you want to know that you are picking
up a product and taking it home and your kids, and you, and your family
are going to be safe,” said DeLauro.
But local farmers said the one size fits all approach isn’t fair.
“It’s a knee jerk reaction,” Bonanno said. “A lot of the issues that
have come from the west come from very large scale operations where the
farmers are not as connected to what’s going on in the fields. In New
England we’re talking about family farms. The farmers are there all the
time.”
Bonanno said lawmakers should exempt small farms or put the focus on
education instead of regulation.
Congresswoman DeLauro said she supports small farmers and believes the
final legislation will take some of their concerns into account. “When
you are taking a look at the safety of our food no one should be
exempt,” said DeLauro.
“I believe farms can do a good job of assuring the public that they have
a safe and high quality crop for consumers without putting on
regulations that will then put them out of business,” Bonanno said.
And local farmers said if these proposals go through, they fear higher
costs could drive stores and wholesalers to start importing lettuce from
overseas where the regulations ironically are not as strict.
http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/23701264/detail.html