While the Boaz ItsHaky Campaign crew was scattered across the globe this summer, visiting family, looking up old friends, and enjoying a little R&R, the 111th U.S. Congress fast-tracked Rep. John Dingell’s H.R. 2749, which we called the “Fear of Food Act.” It passed the House 283 to 142 (Roll Call no. 680) with a good number of Republicans joining on the third vote.

Now, Rep. Rosa DeLauro had warned us that “sometimes the dangers that threaten the safety and health of American families … lurk in our fridges and on our kitchen tables.” The Congresswoman adds, “And yet, for too long, the cornerstone of our food safety system – the FDA – has had only ancient tools and an outdated mandate at its disposal.”

By this, Rep. DeLauro means the FDA could not hand out higher fines, and didn’t have a mandate to target local family and organic farms. Until now. Because that’s who will be targeted by the newly empowered FDA inspectors. It’s typical Washington irony that Reps. DeLauro and Dingell proposed legislation in response to a deadly salmonella outbreak in a large food production facility, and yet the legislation effectively exempts largest producers by virtue of their ability to comply. (That’s not a misstatement, but the harsh reality of this legislation: it gives the big PAC donors a pass while putting the screws on the small operations.)

Anyway, its the opinion of some obvservers that FDA did have enough inspectors and tools to spot salmonella threats, but still failed to do so!

Much like the IRS, whose auditors famously target thousands of small businesses for every corporation, the FDA inspectors will go after the local and family-owned organic farms while strategically avoiding large production facilities and international agro-corporations. Its a matter of laziness: small targets rarely have a cadre of lawyers at hand like the large facilities. And yet, our fridges and dinner tables are likely to have products from the large corporate farms.

Worst of all, small family-owned farms and organic producers are expected to pay astronomical permits to pay for the FDA’s expansion, which will create fields of paperwork and auditing. For example, an annual registration fee of $500 is imposed on any “facility” that handles food. But for what? To pay for FDA paperwork handling? In addition, warrantless searches of business records, directives on farming methods, widespread quarantine powers, excessive penalties are all part of the new American farming experience.

Frankly, H.R. 2749 incorporates the very worst of Rep. DeLauro’s much-maligned H.R. 875. The only real difference between Rep. Dingell’s bill and Rep. DeLauro’s is that the Congresswoman’s splits the FDA, creating the Food Safety Administration to handle the excessive bureaucracy that will arise from the new regulations. No doubt, Rep. DeLauro will have to strip H.R. 875 of redundant passages should H.R. 2749 be signed into law.

For the sake of our farmers, let’s hope it doesn’t.

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