Crystal Montoya 2475 B Street San Diego, CA 92102-2017 |
| December 4, 2009 |
| The Honorable Susan A. Davis House of Representatives 1526 Longworth House Office Building Washington, DC 20515-0553 |
| Re: Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009 |
| Dear Representative Davis: |
I am writing in regards to the Food Safety Modernization Act. I agree with the Pew Food Safety Initiative, which supports the bill, that: "The FSMA contains key improvements that will enable federal authorities to better ensure the safety of the food supply by requiring food companies to implement preventive plans and meet performance standards for contaminants in food; creating a system for certifying the safety of imported foods; establishing a strong risk-based inspection regime for food companies; and granting the government explicit authority over all food-production facilities. The legislation also provides essential enforcement tools such as mandatory recall and civil penalties." However, I share the concerns of the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund which opposes the bill because it could be interpreted to impose onerous regulations on small farms, especially raw milk producers who are already unfairly targeted by state food-safety regulators. The bill should be amended to protect local and organic producers from burdensome one-size-fits-all legislation. We need a food safety system that is scale-appropriate and compatible with organic system plans. Organic and local food advocates like the Northeast Organic Farming Association's Leafy Greens Working Group and the Community Alliance with Family Farm's Family Farm Food Safety Campaign should have a seat at the table whenever food safety issues are discussed. Hopefully, this bill will enhance the public debate over why the industrial food production system is so unsafe. The number one thing we could do to increase food safety among large-scale producers is to stop the factory farming of animals: 1. Animals should never be fed blood, manure or slaughterhouse waste. 2. Cows need to eat grass. 3. Animals need to be spread out on enough land to absorb their waste. The dangers to food safety of factory farms, also known as Confined Animal Feeding Operations, are well documented by the Organic Consumers Association, the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production, the Union of Concerned Scientists, and Food & Water Watch. I am also deeply concerned about whether supplements will fall under food as they should or under drugs which would have a devastating impact on my health. As a person who survived cancer 5 years ago because of supplements, I fear my health and the health of many Americans would continue to deteriorate if we have to rely on nutritionally challenged doctors to "prescribe" vitamins. I am a clinical nutritionist in the state of California. I am deeply connected to my food and the healthiest food is that which is grown in harmony with nature. I believe I have a much better understanding of the specific supplements I will benefit from and in what dosages than my family doctor will ever have.
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The biggest problem with our food and our health for that matter is not the random outbreaks of E. Coli - It is the High Fructose Corn Syrup, the artificial sweeteners, the dyes, the preservatives, the antibiotics, the pesticides, and the corrosion of our soil because of synthetic fertilizer and mass produced mono crops rather than diverse natural farms.
If any of you really cared about our actual health, these would be the issues you would be addressing. The so called food safety industry and all of their cronies have been packaging and selling the American people and people worldwide nothing but cheap poison. It's killing us and you are focused on providing more disease management while claiming it is health care rather than outlawing the poison that you allow them to claim is perfectly safe.
Think about red dye - is that really something you think God intended for us to fuel our body with? Aspartame? Really? You must know that aspartame should have never been allowed on the market.
Vote No on HR 875 and start over with a logical, working with nature approach to food. E. Coli kills way less people than the cancers, diabetes, heart disease, and other health obstacles that people are inflicted with because of the horrific nutritional education you have allowed the food companies to provide us. I do not want to fuel my body with artificial foods and unnecessary chemicals and it is nearly impossible to buy even basic foods such as yogurt or soup without these components.
I would rather take my chances with E. Coli than see a bill passed that could potentially increase the amount of poison I am subjected to in the name of keeping me safe. I would rather take my chances with choosing my own vitamin supplementation and overdosing on vitamin C than have to rely on a doctor who have no real education or understanding of nutrition. Please do not allow this step towards taking away my right to eat clean, natural foods and supplement with as much vitamin C as I want.
Thank you for your attention to the important matter of food safety.
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