Chemical agribusiness interests have launched an expensive all-out campaign to silence EWG and deny you information you need to make healthy choices. Just last year, nearly $200,000 of taxpayers’ money was used to support a misinformation campaign run by the Alliance for Food and Farming, a pro-agricultural chemicals lobby dedicated to combating pesticide critics like EWG.

Chemical agribusiness interests want to suppress the truth about pesticides. We can’t let them get away with it. USDA officials need to hear that you want the truth, all of it and nothing but. Please join the more than 36,000 people who have called on USDA to not cave in to industry.

Click here to sign our petition that tells USDA officials to not cave to industry pressure and to stop funding industry’s disinformation campaigns!

The evidence linking pesticides to health problems — such as increased risk of cancer — is overwhelming. New studies show that pesticide exposure may lead to developmental delays and lower IQs in children. Last year, the President’s Cancer Panel recommended that consumers avoid foods with pesticide residues.

Instead of kowtowing to industry groups like the Alliance for Food and Farming, the USDA and other federal agencies should compile and analyze more information about pesticides. Industry spin should not drive disclosure of critical information about pesticides in our food. If you want to know whether your kids’ lunch boxes contain fruits and veggies high in pesticide residues, take action today!

Click here to sign our petition today. It’s unpalatable that your tax dollars fund disinformation about pesticides in food.

Thank you for standing with EWG against the pesticide lobby.

Sincerely,

Ken Cook
President, Environmental Working Group

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Ken Cook and the Environmental Working Group have sent Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and several other USDA employees the signatures of nearly 55,000 EWG supporters demanding that tax dollars not get spent on disinformation campaigns about pesticides on food.

This is one of the strongest responses EWG has ever seen from our online activists. Thank you so much.

If you didn’t get a chance last week, it’s not too late for you to add your name and ask your friends and family to add theirs as well. The USDA has not yet released this year’s data on pesticide residues on produce. Pesticide companies and big agribusiness interests have cranked up their pressure on the USDA to spin the upcoming release of government pesticide tests and downplay risks.

Click here to sign our petition today. It’s unacceptable for your tax dollars to fund disinformation about pesticides on food.

Thank you for taking action,

Ken Cook
President, Environmental Working Group

Call Your Senators Today
To Defend Family Farm Value Added – Processing and Local and Regional Food Systems

Debate and voting on The Food Safety Modernization Act (S. 510) is set to begin on the Senate floor TODAY! The bill takes important steps to improve food safety rules that affect large food corporations. NSAC has fought hard to ensure that as we ramp up food safety protections we don’t inadvertently do harm to family farm value- added processing and the growing investments in local and regional food systems by imposing expensive, one-size-fits- all rules.

As a result of grassroots mobilization and much negotiation this bill now provides scale-appropriate food safety rules for small farms and mid-sized farms and local processors that sell to restaurants, food coops, groceries, wholesalers and at farm stands and farmers markets. All of these negotiated amendments are now part of what is called the “Manager’s amendment” that will be voted on tonight.

Please call your Senators and ask them to Vote for the Manager’s Amendment

It’s easy to call: Go to Congress.org and type in your zip code. Click on your Senator’s name, and then on the contact tab for their phone number. You can also call the Capitol Switchboard and ask to be directly connected to your Senator’s office: 202-224-3121.

The message is simple: “I am a constituent of Senator___________ and I am calling to ask him/her to vote for the Manager’s Amendment to the Food Safety Modernization Act. We need a food safety bill that cracks down on corporate bad actors without erecting new barriers to more local and regional food sourcing. Size and practice appropriate food safety regulation for small and mid-sized farms and processors is vital to economic recovery, public health, and nutritional wellbeing. “

Background:

Read our latest report: A Sustainable Agriculture Perspective on Food Safety.

What’s in the Manager’s Amendment?

The Manager’s Amendment incorporates a wide variety of changes to the bill that have been added since the measure was approved by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee late last year. All of these changes have been approved by both the Democratic and Republican sponsors of the bill. Among the changes are a number of very important items for farmers, including the Tester-Hagan amendment that would improve food safety outcomes by creating size-appropriate requirements and less costly compliance alternatives. The Manager’s Amendment will:

(1) Clarify existing law which says that farmers who direct market more than 50% of their product to the consumer at the farm or at a retail location off the farm such as a farm stand or farmer’s market need not register with FDA. This clarification is especially important for off-farm retail locations such as farmers markets.

(2) Provides a size appropriate and less costly alternative to Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Plans (HACCP) for farmers who:

Direct market more than 50% of their products directly to consumers, stores or restaurants, and
Have gross sales (direct and non-direct combined) of less than $500,000, and
Sell to consumers, stores, or restaurants that are in-state or within 400 miles.
Farmers who qualify must provide documentation that the farm is in compliance with state regulations. Documentation may include licenses, inspection reports, or other evidence that the farm is in compliance with State, local, county, or other applicable non-Federal food safety law. The farm must also prominently and conspicuously display the name and address of farm/facility on its label. For foods without a label then by poster, sign, or placard, at the point of purchase or, in the case of Internet sales, in an electronic notice, or in the case of sales to stores and restaurants, on the invoice.

If there are no state regulations or if the farmer prefers a different option, the farmer must provide FDA with documentation that potential hazards have been identified and that preventive controls have been implemented and are being monitored for effectiveness.

(3) Provides alternatives to the produce standards for farms that:

Direct market more than 50% of their products directly to consumers, stores or restaurants, and
Have gross sales (direct and non-direct combined) of less than $500,000, and
Sell to consumers, stores, or restaurants that are in-state or within 400 miles.
The farm must prominently and conspicuously display the name and address of farm/facility on its label. For foods without a label then by poster, sign, or placard, at the point of purchase or, in the case of Internet sales, in an electronic notice, or in the case of sales to stores and restaurants, on the invoice.

(4) An amendment sponsored by Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) to provide for a USDA-delivered competitive grants program for food safety training for farmers, small processors and wholesalers. The training projects will prioritize small and mid-scale farms, beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers, and small food processors and wholesalers. The grant program will be administered by USDA’s National Institute for Food and Agriculture.

(5) An amendment sponsored by Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO) to reduce unnecessary paperwork and excess regulation required under the preventative control plan and the produce standards sections of the bill. FDA is instructed to provide flexibility for small processors including on-farm processing, to minimize the burden of compliance with regulations, and to minimize the number of different standards that apply to separate foods. FDA will also be prohibited from requiring farms and other food facilities to hire consultants to write food safety plans. The Bennet amendment applies to all small farms and processors, not just those who direct market within 400 miles of their farms.

(6) An amendment sponsored by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) for farms that engage in value-added processing or that co-mingle product from several farms gives the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the authority to either exempt farms engaged in low or no risk processing or co-mingling activities from new regulatory requirements or to modify particular regulatory requirements for such farming operations.

(7) An amendment championed by Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) to strip the bill of wildlife-threatening enforcement against “animal encroachment” of farms is also in the manager’s package. It will require FDA to apply sound science to any requirements that might impact wildlife and wildlife habitat on farms.

(8) An amendment proposed by Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) will not require small farmers to meet extensive traceability and recordkeeping if they sell food directly to consumers or to grocery stores and allows labeling that preserves the identity of the farm to satisfy traceability requirements. The amendment also prevents FDA from requiring any farm from needing to keep records beyond the first point of sale when the product leaves the farm, except in the case of farms that co-mingle product from multiple farms, in which case they must also keep records one step back as well as one step forward.

We welcome everyone (A-Z), full and half share members, for our first week of harvest on Wednesday, 3-6 p.m. orSaturday, 12-4 p.m.  Just let us know which day you will be here and we will have your share ready for pick up. E-MAIL PREFERRED! pmsnursery@aol.com
Full Share members  - We welcome you to come every week on Wednesday or Saturday. Again—let us know which day you prefer.
Half Share members - Beginning this week, 11/24 and 11/27, we will break into our A or B week schedule for half members (see chart below). The A/B week schedule allows us to harvest evenly throughout the season instead of all half members coming every two weeks. It is still very flexible and we will not be concerned if you need to make a change occasionally. Half-share members will be divided into Group A Week, serving A-L and Group B Week serving M-Z. Harvest will continue to June until the farmer is ready to plow the fields and plant cover crops.
One additional change this year: Please let us know if you will pick up on Wednesday or Saturday each week. We want to harvest for just the correct number of members each pick up to avoid anything going to waste as the garden matures. It has been so very dry that the garden is growing at a slow pace but things look good now that it has started to cool off in the evenings. So, let me know if you will prefer Wednesday or Saturday pick up and we will plan accordingly. Please be flexible as we perfect this system! As always, we will harvest right before your pick up time so everything will be as fresh as possible! Bring your own bag! Download 2010-2011 SCHEDULE

“Progressive Lettuce Keeper”: Keep fruits and vegetables fresh two times longer than usual. The adjustable air vent feature on this lettuce keeper regulates air circulation and moisture. An extra divider is included for storing different types of produce. Container also doubles as a colander. Dishwasher safe.

It’s official! We are founding members of SLOW FOOD TAMPA BAY – the newest chapter of SLOW FOOD USA! There are now 10 chapters in Florida. Our first event is planned for tomorrow, July 8. 7-9 at Studio@620 in St.Pete. Check out the website – www. slowfoodtampabay.org for more details. $10 per person for the tasting. Food donated by Whole Foods, Dunedin Brewery, Johnson Brothers Wine, Rolling Pin Chef Dave West will prepare the samplings, board members will be on hand to discuss Slow Food mission and what we hope to accomplish to support good, clean, fair food in Tampa Bay.

Restaurants and Chefs are encouraged to use local foods as their source if possible, including some vegetarian fare if possible.

BONUS: We will also be having a silent auction for farm memberships, gift certificates, and so forth. Tickets limited to the first 200 folks!