HR 875/ S425 will make Organic gardeners Felons

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Permalink Reply by Penelope on March 23, 2009 at 2:51pm

How about more information, please?

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Permalink Reply by Jayme on March 23, 2009 at 3:21pm

Here's some details on HR 875, the bill intorduced to the House of Representatives. Its counterpart in the Senate is S 425. Hope this info encourages you to research these bills further, and take action! Time is of the essence!

Attachments:

• NAIS info.docx, 12 KB

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Permalink Reply by Elisabeth Winkler on September 25, 2009 at 1:49am

Hi

Many thanks for posting the HR 875 bill

I do think it has the potential to be a bureaucratic nightmare at some point...

Does anyone know what stage the bill is at?

Elisabeth, Bristol, UK

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Permalink Reply by Penelope on March 24, 2009 at 8:12am

i've thought a lot about congress and these bills the past few days, and i've decided not to become alarmist. if congress is stupid enough to make gardeners felons, then we're screwed. we can write them from the prison garden.

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Permalink Reply by Jennifer on March 24, 2009 at 8:28am

Where are you getting the information regarding the penalty for having heirloom seeds? It isn't in the bill, is it?

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Permalink Reply by Jayme on March 24, 2009 at 11:56am

The bill outlaws heirloom seed production, sales, and possession. It will only allow for the sale and reproduction of patented seeds (most likely hybridized and/or gmo). This bill is supported by Monsanto.

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Permalink Reply by Penelope on March 24, 2009 at 3:54pm

Then that makes Michelle Obama a felon if it's passed since I believe she's planting heirloom varieties at the White House. ????? And we'll have to arrest every plant and weed on the planet for having the audacity to grow and reproduce without human permission . . . .

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Permalink Reply by Penelope on March 25, 2009 at 12:42am

I was being facetious, you know.

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Permalink Reply by Jacques Seronde on March 24, 2009 at 10:30pm

hey friends --

as per this link -- http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/F?c111:1:./temp/~c1116d88OM:e5014:

-- the bill (a) is actually named the H.R.875 Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009 (Introduced in House)

and has nothing to do with seeds; and

(b) here is the key portion relating to farms and gardens, which in the interest of some kind of accountability for food safety seems OK -- and says ZERO about prohibiting organic gardening ...

SEC. 206. FOOD PRODUCTION FACILITIES.
(a) Authorities- In carrying out the duties of the Administrator and the purposes of this Act, the Administrator shall have the authority, with respect to food production facilities, to--
(1) visit and inspect food production facilities in the United States and in foreign countries to determine if they are operating in compliance with the requirements of the food safety law;
(2) review food safety records as required to be kept by the Administrator under section 210 and for other food safety purposes;
(3) set good practice standards to protect the public and animal health and promote food safety;
(4) conduct monitoring and surveillance of animals, plants, products, or the environment, as appropriate; and
(5) collect and maintain information relevant to public health and farm practices.
(b) Inspection of Records- A food production facility shall permit the Administrator upon presentation of appropriate credentials and at reasonable times and in a reasonable manner, to have access to and ability to copy all records maintained by or on behalf of such food production establishment in any format (including paper or electronic) and at any location, that are necessary to assist the Administrator--
(1) to determine whether the food is contaminated, adulterated, or otherwise not in compliance with the food safety law; or
(2) to track the food in commerce.

* * * *
so where is the fear coming from ??

and why ??

read for yourselves ...

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Permalink Reply by Joy Williams on March 24, 2009 at 10:48pm

Because people haven't really READ the bill. It's something that conspiracy groups are making alarmist blog posts about, just cuz they want to scare people and get them to be against the new administration. As you showed, there's no threat to our gardening.

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Permalink Reply by Jacques Seronde on March 24, 2009 at 11:27pm

here's a link that should work better to the bill text...

note that among the sponsors are Rep Grijalva from our very own AZ, and he is not in any Monsanto pocket...
and Rep Pingree from Maine, who is definitely pro-organic farming ...



http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h875/text

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Permalink Reply by Maggie Fry on March 25, 2009 at 7:00am

Hi. I just discovered this group through an article on Alternet. NAIS was started as a marketing tool for the beef and pork industry and makes some sense for large producers, but expanding it to the general population is a nightmare. It requires small-scale livestock owners (backyard homesteaders/farmers) to tag all their animals and buy expensive readers. It has 4-H groups across the country going nuts trying to figure out how to tag animals that have not traditionally been tagged before (goats, horses, chickens and others).

It also requires you to keep mountains of paper work and to inform the government whenever an animal leaves your farm. The first phase has already started with "voluntary" farm registration. I think it's not a bad idea for large, commercial producers, but it will kill small farms or make us outlaws.

I was not aware there was a section pertaining to vegetables. I will definitely check this out. Monsanto is a nasty adversary. They sued a Canadian canola oil seed producer a while back because their patented seed had cross-pollinated with some of his heirloom variety (which he spent many years developing) and he was convicted of patent infringement. I can't remember his name right off (and I have to leave for work soon), but I'll find it and post later. Percy something.

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