Bozeman News

Legislation

Tester Getting Props for Food Safety Amendment Exempting Smaller Farmers, Ranchers

By Jule Banville, 11-18-10

Sen. Tester on an October tour of Mountain View Orchards in Corvallis.

Sen. Jon Tester’s (D-Mont.) office today announced the inclusion in the Food Safety Bill of an amendment that exempts many of the nation’s smaller farmers and ranchers from meeting some strict food-safety regulations.

Tester co-sponsored the amendment with North Carolina Democrat Sen. Kay Hagan and has been fighting this week on the Senate floor for its inclusion. The Senate voted 74 to 25 to begin debate on the bill, implying strong bipartisan support and good prospects for passage, according to the Washington Post.

Locavore bigwigs Michael Pollan, author of “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” and “In Defense of Food,” and Eric Schlosser, author of “Fast Food Nation,” sent a letter of support, calling the bill “the most important food safety legislation in a generation. The Tester amendment will make it even more effective, strengthening food safety rules while protecting small farmers and producers. We both think this is the right thing to do.”

The Northern Plains Council, a Billings-based organization that lobbies for family-owned farms, also applauded Tester.

“Northern Plains members wrote letters, made phone calls, sent e-mails, met with congressional staff and submitted letters to the editor urging Senator Tester to introduce his amendment and calling for its passage,” the group wrote in a press release. 

“The amendment as accepted is a huge win for small businesses and family agriculture,” said Jeanne Charter, a rancher and Northern Plains member in Shepherd, Mont. Tester, she said, is “probably the only person in the Senate with the background to accomplish what he has.”

Although Tester is himself a family-scale grain farmer, his farm doesn’t qualify under the amendment because he does not sell grain directly to consumers.

The amendment (read a summary here) exempts food producers who do sell their goods directly to consumers and have less than $500,000 in annual sales from the bill’s new requirements designed for industrial-scale food producers.  Family-scale producers would, however, continue to be overseen by local and state food safety and health agencies.

Negotiators have agreed on the following minor revisions to include Tester’s amendment in the Food Safety Bill:

* New language that gives U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s authority to withdraw an exemption from a farm or facility that has been associated with a food-borne illness outbreak.
* The distance from a facility or farm that is eligible to be a local “qualified end-user” has been reduced from 400 miles to 275 miles, or within the same state.

The larger goal for the bill, also called the Food Safety Modernization Act, is to strengthen the Food and Drug Administration’s ability to prevent food-borne illness. The bill would give the FDA power to mandate recalls and would require better records, testing and tracking from food producers of all sizes.

Critics of the amendment argue there should be no exemptions when it comes to food safety, especially in light of drastic recalls, including this year’s egg scare.

“Small and local food operations have been associated with a number of food safety incidents and recalls over the last decade and are not immune based on size of operation, distance of geography or commodity,” Robert Guenther, senior vice president at United Fresh Produce Association, told the Washington Post.

Tester’s take:

We deal with consolidation in our energy sector, we deal with consolidation in our banking sector,” Tester said.  “We have consolidation in our food industry too. The fact is we need to not encourage that consolidation.  I think if we can get more locally grown food—if we can get producers to connect up the consumers eyeball to eyeball—that’s a positive thing.  And I don’t want to diminish their ability to do this.

Meanwhile, Politico has listed Tester as No. 2 on the GOP’s political hit list. Late last week, Steve Daines, a Republican businessman from Bozeman, announced his anticipated run against Montana’s junior senator.

Like this story? Get more! Sign up for our free newsletters.