Small farms and consumer group oppose federal marketing agreement
Small farms and consumer group oppose federal marketing agreement
WASHINGTON -- Some small- and medium-sized farm operations are protesting the government's recent move to consider adopting California's leafy greens marketing agreement nationwide in the shape of a federal marketing program.
In comments sent to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, groups such as the Community Alliance with Family Farmers and the Cornucopia Institute said that the metrics applied under California's marketing agreement suit large- scale farms that cater to fresh-cut processors rather than smaller growers of whole-leaf vegetables.
"Such one-size-fits-all requirements, while unproven in terms of their impact on food safety, would be disastrous for wildlife, biodiversity and for the family-scale farmers who are producing some of the nation's highest-quality produce," said Charlotte Vallaeys, farm and food policy analyst at The Cornucopia Institute, a Wisconsin-based farm policy group. "If regulations dictate uniform growing practices and food-safety measures, which might be appropriate for large-scale 'factory farms' but onerous and unnecessary for diverse family farms, we risk losing the very farms that grow leafy greens in a healthy and environmentally sustainable way."
Organic farmers complained about the California rules, asserting that farmers are told to destroy non-crop vegetation around farms that provides habitat for beneficial wildlife and reduces flooding, and they are discouraged from developing healthy microbial life in soil. Farmers already are contending with demands from large corporate buyers to not use certain organic fertilizers, said Ms. Vallaeys.
Spurred by industry trade groups, the USDA is gathering comments until Dec. 3 on its proposal to allow packers, processors, shippers and marketers to use a federal marketing agreement that could require handlers to certify that their leafy greens are handled under certain safety rules. Those handlers then could brand their products with a special certification mark. The comments are likely to read as a referendum on California's program.
The Community Alliance with Family Farmers, a group of organic farmers, urged members to write the USDA opposing the marketing order. The group organized opposition to an amendment later withdrawn by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) that would have adopted the federal marketing order approach on the now-stalled farm bill.
Federal marketing agreements and orders would "allow a small board of processors and handlers to set the rules for all farms in the nation who wish to sell their vegetables to processors," said David Molstad of Molstad Enterprises. He reiterated other comments sent to the USDA that asserted that contamination issues have centered on pre-washed, pre-cut bags of greens and that the government should focus its attention on these businesses.
Another unidentified grower that signed onto the California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement told the USDA that there was no reason for an additional layer of bureaucracy. Adding more paperwork would add to the cost but not guarantee a higher level of safety, she said.
Thomas Nunes Jr., president of the Nunes Co. and a member of the Marketing Agreement Advisory Board, voiced his strong support for a mandatory national marketing order regulating handlers of leafy greens. The marketing order should include Iceberg lettuce, red leaf lettuce, butter lettuce, baby leaf lettuce, escarole, endive, spring mix, spinach, cabbage, kale, arugula and chard, he said.
"With the proliferation of regional leafy greens processing facilities and increased production in many growing areas, a national order ensures uniform participation and a level playing field, eliminates customer confusion and best protects the consuming public, and builds confidence in leafy green products," said Mr. Nunes.
The standards should be uniform and flexible enough to respond to changes and complement existing state safety regulations, Mr. Nunes said.
But consumer advocate Elisa Odabashian of Consumers Union said that the industry-crafted California agreement did not allow for public comment, so it would be a mistake to rubber stamp it with a federal marketing order.
"I like a public process combined with an unbiased government agency as a watchdog," she said. Further, she noted, using a certification mark to attest that the food is safe begs the question, "Shouldn't all the food be equally safe?"
The Michigan Farm Bureau said that it supports only voluntary food-safety guidelines, not mandates, to prevent microbial contamination. The guidelines must be flexible, generic, not result in commodity-specific directions and not impair export opportunities, said the group.
But one produce wholesaler told the USDA to focus on another point in the fresh produce handling chain. With more than 40 years in the fresh produce foodservice distribution, Lloyd Ligier of California-based Pro-Act said that his company employs third-party inspections and HACCP plans and follows thorough steps to keep products refrigerated.
While there are regulations in place to safeguard produce from the field to the shipping point, fresh produce moving through the distribution chain is often overlooked.
"Time and again, we see product being delivered to foodservice customers in unrefrigerated trucks or worse, open-bed trucks, from facilities that have little or inadequate refrigeration, have no pest control program, are not third- party inspected, and do not have HACCP or any food-safety programs in place," he said. "This does not bode well for food safety, and is, or soon will be, a major problem in controlling and handling safe source product."
He recommended a new set of guidelines -- Good Distribution Practices -- through which a distributor would be certified after establishing third-party inspections, HACCP programs and other components, he said. "This is a vast undertaking but may not be as daunting as it sounds," he added.
"A consultant to the industry is drafting alternative metrics," said David Runsten, executive director of Community Alliance with Family Farmers. "We're going to ask that a simple set of metrics be in place for non-fresh- cut."
Those metrics would be an addition to California's Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement's metrics, Mr. Runsten said, adding that the industry would "still have a Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement in California and Arizona."
(Brian Gaylord contributed to this story.)
In comments sent to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, groups such as the Community Alliance with Family Farmers and the Cornucopia Institute said that the metrics applied under California's marketing agreement suit large- scale farms that cater to fresh-cut processors rather than smaller growers of whole-leaf vegetables.
"Such one-size-fits-all requirements, while unproven in terms of their impact on food safety, would be disastrous for wildlife, biodiversity and for the family-scale farmers who are producing some of the nation's highest-quality produce," said Charlotte Vallaeys, farm and food policy analyst at The Cornucopia Institute, a Wisconsin-based farm policy group. "If regulations dictate uniform growing practices and food-safety measures, which might be appropriate for large-scale 'factory farms' but onerous and unnecessary for diverse family farms, we risk losing the very farms that grow leafy greens in a healthy and environmentally sustainable way."
Organic farmers complained about the California rules, asserting that farmers are told to destroy non-crop vegetation around farms that provides habitat for beneficial wildlife and reduces flooding, and they are discouraged from developing healthy microbial life in soil. Farmers already are contending with demands from large corporate buyers to not use certain organic fertilizers, said Ms. Vallaeys.
Spurred by industry trade groups, the USDA is gathering comments until Dec. 3 on its proposal to allow packers, processors, shippers and marketers to use a federal marketing agreement that could require handlers to certify that their leafy greens are handled under certain safety rules. Those handlers then could brand their products with a special certification mark. The comments are likely to read as a referendum on California's program.
The Community Alliance with Family Farmers, a group of organic farmers, urged members to write the USDA opposing the marketing order. The group organized opposition to an amendment later withdrawn by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) that would have adopted the federal marketing order approach on the now-stalled farm bill.
Federal marketing agreements and orders would "allow a small board of processors and handlers to set the rules for all farms in the nation who wish to sell their vegetables to processors," said David Molstad of Molstad Enterprises. He reiterated other comments sent to the USDA that asserted that contamination issues have centered on pre-washed, pre-cut bags of greens and that the government should focus its attention on these businesses.
Another unidentified grower that signed onto the California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement told the USDA that there was no reason for an additional layer of bureaucracy. Adding more paperwork would add to the cost but not guarantee a higher level of safety, she said.
Thomas Nunes Jr., president of the Nunes Co. and a member of the Marketing Agreement Advisory Board, voiced his strong support for a mandatory national marketing order regulating handlers of leafy greens. The marketing order should include Iceberg lettuce, red leaf lettuce, butter lettuce, baby leaf lettuce, escarole, endive, spring mix, spinach, cabbage, kale, arugula and chard, he said.
"With the proliferation of regional leafy greens processing facilities and increased production in many growing areas, a national order ensures uniform participation and a level playing field, eliminates customer confusion and best protects the consuming public, and builds confidence in leafy green products," said Mr. Nunes.
The standards should be uniform and flexible enough to respond to changes and complement existing state safety regulations, Mr. Nunes said.
But consumer advocate Elisa Odabashian of Consumers Union said that the industry-crafted California agreement did not allow for public comment, so it would be a mistake to rubber stamp it with a federal marketing order.
"I like a public process combined with an unbiased government agency as a watchdog," she said. Further, she noted, using a certification mark to attest that the food is safe begs the question, "Shouldn't all the food be equally safe?"
The Michigan Farm Bureau said that it supports only voluntary food-safety guidelines, not mandates, to prevent microbial contamination. The guidelines must be flexible, generic, not result in commodity-specific directions and not impair export opportunities, said the group.
But one produce wholesaler told the USDA to focus on another point in the fresh produce handling chain. With more than 40 years in the fresh produce foodservice distribution, Lloyd Ligier of California-based Pro-Act said that his company employs third-party inspections and HACCP plans and follows thorough steps to keep products refrigerated.
While there are regulations in place to safeguard produce from the field to the shipping point, fresh produce moving through the distribution chain is often overlooked.
"Time and again, we see product being delivered to foodservice customers in unrefrigerated trucks or worse, open-bed trucks, from facilities that have little or inadequate refrigeration, have no pest control program, are not third- party inspected, and do not have HACCP or any food-safety programs in place," he said. "This does not bode well for food safety, and is, or soon will be, a major problem in controlling and handling safe source product."
He recommended a new set of guidelines -- Good Distribution Practices -- through which a distributor would be certified after establishing third-party inspections, HACCP programs and other components, he said. "This is a vast undertaking but may not be as daunting as it sounds," he added.
"A consultant to the industry is drafting alternative metrics," said David Runsten, executive director of Community Alliance with Family Farmers. "We're going to ask that a simple set of metrics be in place for non-fresh- cut."
Those metrics would be an addition to California's Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement's metrics, Mr. Runsten said, adding that the industry would "still have a Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement in California and Arizona."
(Brian Gaylord contributed to this story.)
