Sarah Foster of the Farm Freedom Group, writing for NewsWithViews.com reports:
"H.R. 2749, the Food Safety Enhancement Act (FSEA) of 2009 'would impose extensive fees and regulation on anyone processing food, including those selling at farmers markets and other local venues,' the Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance warns. 'H.R. 2749 also directs the Food and Drug Administration to regulate how crops are raised and harvested, putting the agency directly on the farm.' Introduced early last month by Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., the FSEA is similar to the Food Safety Modernization Act (H.R. 875) and six others on the same subject that created a huge furor among bloggers on the Internet this past March. Supporters said that some kind of measure was needed to protect consumers from food-borne illnesses, but critics claimed it would saddle farmers and small food producers with unnecessary and costly paperwork and put the federal government in charge of American farming practices and food production, without making food any safer... 'There's even language about harmonizing standards, so while there's nothing that specifically mentions Codex [Codex Alimentarius - a United Nations body that develops food safety guidelines with a bias against free choice by the individual], when you're talking about harmonization of standards -- that sounds like the Codex to me.'"
Already there are new regulations hurting people. I read a local story about some kids that didn't show animals at the county fair this year, even though they won ribbons last year, because they would have had to register with the government as a farm. It wasn't worth it for them just to raise some show animals.
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If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated contest of freedom, go from us in peace. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen! - Samuel Adams
