Monday, March 30, 2009

More on HR 875, the "Kill Small Farmers" Bill

Earlier, we made a glancing reference to HR 875 (at the bottom of the post.)

Here's a bit more.

Basically, HR 875 sets up a MASSIVE new government bureaucracy called the Food Safety Administration, and compels anything known as a "food establishment" to register with the federal government (paying registration fees of course) and to submit to inspections that are at different intervals depending on the type of "food establishment" you are.

The (formerly) ubiquitous summer roadside vegetable stand appears to be both Category 3 and 5 "food establishments" since they sells "fresh produce in ready-to-eat raw form" and "stores, holds, or transports food products prior to delivery for retail sale".

The explicit exclusions in Section 3 (13)(B) do not exclude roadside vegetable stands.
Section 3 (14) explicitly declares "any farm" (no matter what the size) to be a "FOOD PRODUCTION FACILITY".


Section 406 is a real doozy which places the burden of proof on the small farmer or roadside stand operator to demonstrate that none of their goods were participants in interstate commerce (the basis for this whole thing appears to be the Commerce Clause)

...but if you CANNOT prove that your green beans are NOT going to be eaten in another State...

[you]would risk the potential $1,000,000 fine. (Sec 405(a)(1)(A)

The Government is our Friend.

War is Peace.

The irony is that the organic-farmer crowd is going to be hit with this sledgehammer--and THEY are the tofu-eaters who voted for the (D) criminal-class who is sponsoring the bill.

Eat THOSE lotuses, wackos!

HT: Ace of Spades

3 comments:

Beer, Bicycles and the VRWC said...

You would be amazed at what the Interstate Commerce Clause and the "Promote the general welfare" clause are used for.

But when you have no standards and no sense of historical context, you can make all kinds of sh** up.

This, lie everything else the Democrats do is geared to one thing. Reduce the population. That seems to be the common thread in all their actions. At least one can point that way.

VSO said...

These nanny-state stalinists never cease to amaze me. THEY"RE the good guys?! Whatever

Display Name said...

Once upon a time, thrift and self-sufficiency were traditional, conservative values. Who changed that and opened it to ridicule?