ACTION: Oppose Federalization of the Agricultural Industry

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There is a bill in the House that would place federal control on much of the food industry.

Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) introduced the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009 (H.R. 875) on February 4, 2009. The bill, which currently carries 40 cosponsors, would effectively transfer all state control over food regulation to the Food Safety Administration (FSA), a newly established federal bureaucracy to be created within the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). It would very likely contribute to the eventual abandonment of all independent, family farms as well as all organic farming operations due to the high probability of overbearing federal regulations arbitrarily determined by FSA in favor of corporate factory farms.

H.R. 875 would violate the Tenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution by delegating what should be state-level authority to the federal government. The burdensome record keeping that would be required by the FSA would threaten the success of small agricultural businesses and family-owned farms who may not be able to comply with new federal restrictions.

While all Americans should be concerned about yet another power grab at the hands of the federal government, family farm and other small agricultural businesses should be especially cautious of H.R. 875 as it threatens their own businesses and way of living.

Please take a few moments of your time and urge your representative to oppose the passage of H.R. 875 and support the future success of family farms and small agricultural businesses.