Monsanto's Dream Bill -- HR 875

re: Monsanto's Dream Bill -- HR 875

Charmer — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 02:42:01 GMT

I only read half way into the Bill HR875, and that first half sounds good, and beneficial for keeping our food supply healthy. However, half way down it started getting dicey, and stating stuff like whistle-blowers were protected, except for restaurant workers, etc. Well, maybe I'll go back and try to sort it out. I sure hope it isn't as bad as all that, but we should keep watch over such legislation, just in case there are some strangely worded clauses there that we do not understand, and would be detrimental to small farmers, organic growers, and home gardening, etc.

re: Monsanto's Dream Bill -- HR 875

Angie_Totten — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 00:53:20 GMT

I really like Dr. Mercola, but he really should have read the content of the bill before issuing an opinion. Snopes just posted on this. A lot of the basic info is incorrect (not necesarily about the evil of Monsanto, but about other stuff in the bill). Here's the link: www.snopes.com/.../organic.asp

re: Monsanto's Dream Bill -- HR 875

LOlsen — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 15:23:47 GMT

I have not taken the time to read this particular bill, so I cannot attest to this commentary's accuracy. I thought I would put this opinion out here.

www.factcheck.org/.../would_a_new_bill_in_congress_make.html

re: Monsanto's Dream Bill -- HR 875

readthis — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 22:48:20 GMT

Here's the link for HR 875: www.govtrack.us/.../billtext.xpd

re: Monsanto's Dream Bill -- HR 875

readthis — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 22:47:45 GMT

I read the HR 875, and I don't see anything about outlawing small organic farms. On the other hand, I am not an attorney, so I could have missed it.

re: Monsanto's Dream Bill -- HR 875

Moonifa — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 15:15:56 GMT

I urge everyone who hasn't already done so, to start adding their voices NOW. There are several great patriot groups online who are banding together, getting organized, and starting to make a real difference. I can mention http://resistnet.com, http://campaignforliberty.org. and http://restoretherepublic.com for starters. Usually you can find the email and phone and fax links to your local officials as well as state and national. As Steve Vaus says in one of his patriotic songs, "I WANT MY COUNTRY BACK!" And yes, these patriotic groups are very aware of the food bills. Anything and everything that threatens our freedoms and way of life.

For those who may not be aware of just what we are losing and have lost in freedoms over the years, I urge you to go to You Tube, find Michael Badnerik, and start watching his videos on a class he did on the Constitution. Each video is only about 15 minutes long. This was an 8 hour class, so there are 42 videos in all. But I guarantee that after watching about 3 or 4 your mouth will be hanging open. You will want to learn more, and it should do the trick in getting you fired up. I can only pray so anyway!

re: Monsanto's Dream Bill -- HR 875

120herb — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 14:29:44 GMT

It seems to me that Congress is rushing to kill the people. Our freedoms are being violated.

Big business is explolting the people freedoms. America was always looked upon as

the land of the FREE and the Brave. Well they sure are giving away to others and not to the

citizens who have supported the country. This is an out rage!

re: Monsanto's Dream Bill -- HR 875

deedge — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 11:50:20 GMT

I just read the billo HR 875. It doesn't look bad at all. I saw nothing that said farmers would be required to use chemicals on their produce. In fact, If someone had the time and money, you could actually attack Monsanto with this bill. "No food for interstate commerce may be adulterated". If you could get the angle that GMOs are adulterated, Monsanto would be fined.

This bill is mainly aimed at protecting us from the big companies, the way I read it. We have had so many food poison scares recently because there was no accountability or record keeping by many of the companies that sell our food. This bill would give someone responsibility and power to make sure that food production is as safe as possible. Theoretically, we could get the administrator of this proposed organization on our side and then we could fight mercury in our corn syrup, pesitcides in our veggies, hormones in our meats, GMO self-destruct corn seeds. This is a great opportuinity for people to lobby to get our side heard.

You should go read the bill, rather than taking the word of some mystery lady on you-tube, one who never states her name or affiliation.

re: Monsanto's Dream Bill -- HR 875

anthrob — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 11:30:06 GMT

b) (www.organicconsumers.org/.../OrganicBytes165.pdf)

"This week, we received numerous calls and emails from OCA supporters who came across alarming YouTube videos and emails circulating on the internet that claimed a new food safety bill (HR 875) introduced in Congress would make "organic farming illegal." Although the Bill certainly has its shortcomings, it is an exaggeration to say that is a secret plot by Monsanto and the USDA to destroy the nation's alternative food and farming system. In actuality, HR 875, the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009, is a limited-vision attempt by moderate Democrats and Republicans to craft food safety legislation to address the out-of-control filth and contamination that are inherent in our industrialized, now globalized, "profit-at-any-cost" food system. This being said, OCA does not support HR 875 in its present form, given the fact that, if the bill's regulations were applied in a one-size-fits-all manner to certified organic and farm-to-consumer operations, it could have a devastating impact on small farmers, especially raw milk producers who are already unfairly targeted by state food-safety regulators.

c) (www.organicconsumers.org/.../article_17355.cfm)

HR 875 Update: The Biotech Companies are Destroying Traditional Farming (Just Not in this Bill)

" ... Of course, Monsanto and large corporate agribusiness are out to destroy traditional farming. Unfortunately, while many people have been distracted by HR 875, the biotech companies have been hard at work pushing their agenda (see below) ..."

re: Monsanto's Dream Bill -- HR 875

anthrob — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 11:29:02 GMT

Not to disputer a lot of the general points being made, but particular facts matter (in cyberspace rumors quickly assume the shape of facts).

1) Unless someone can refute the statement below, it isn't accurate to say, "HR 875 was introduced by Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, whose husband Stanley Greenburg works for Monsanto".

(www.lvrj.com/.../41560737.html)

An editorial in the March 18 Las Vegas Review-Journal stated Stanley Greenberg ... “is a leading Democratic political strategist and consultant with clients including pesticide and fertilizer giant Monsanto.” Both DeLauro’s office and a spokesman for Greenberg’s firm said Thursday that Monsanto has not been a client of Greenberg’s for more than 10 years.

2) Here are some quotes from 2 sources I respect: Conrnucopia Institute & Organic Consumers Association. Neither says it's a bill they especially support, but they don't see it as a Monsanto conspiracy either.

a) (www.cornucopia.org/.../action-alert-critical-pending-food-safety-legislation)

"There is no question that our increasingly industrialized and concentrated food production system needs a new regulatory focus. Contamination of spinach, lettuce, tomatoes, peanuts and other foods are an indictment of a food safety system that is out of control and has become dominated by corporate agribusiness and powerful insider lobbyists. Regulators at the FDA, USDA and other agencies have fallen short in their public safety responsibilities.

The public outcry over this situation has finally led some in Congress to propose remedies - and we should support strict oversight of the runaway industrial farming and food production system that is responsible for illnesses and deaths among our citizenry.

Although stakeholders in the organic community need to be on-guard, the flurry of e-mails and Internet postings suggesting that HR 875 will end organic farming as we know it seem to grossly exaggerate the risks.

(continued, next post)

re: Monsanto's Dream Bill -- HR 875

paulhueper — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 08:02:34 GMT

I started to prepare to act and thought I better do some research myself. I actually READ most of the bill and definately did NOT find any of the specific things that were being claimed. So I looked further and found this below... see what you think. Bad legislation definately happens but I don't think that this is going to be one of them...

This is an except from "Monsanto and HR 875, Take Two" By nonny mouse Thursday Mar 26, 2009 5:00pm

"The other day, I wrote a post on the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009: HR 875 being introduced to Congress by Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D –CT), in which I made the erroneous statement that her husband, Stanley Greenberg, worked for Monsanto. I also included in this post extracts from emails sent to me by Jill Richardson, an intelligent and passionate campaigner for organic farming. To her credit, when she read my post, she immediately sent me an urgent email, warning me that there was a great deal of misinformation buzzing around the Internet, which I had unwittingly included in my post. She herself pointed out that (1) the bill has nothing to do with Monsanto, (2) Rep. DeLauro’s husband is a pollster for a company that once had Monsanto as a customer a decade ago, but he in no way ‘works’ for Monsanto, (3) HR 875 as it currently stands is very unlikely to even pass, and (4) the group behind disseminating this trumped-up propaganda is NICA... This organization has been aided by the support of a woman named Linn Cohen-Cole, whose unsubstantiated and exaggerated claims in an obsessive crusade against Monsanto, Hillary Clinton, Obama and anyone else in an imagined government ‘plot’ to nationalize farming..." for more on this including a response from a top Monsanto executive go to crooksandliars.com/.../monsanto-and-hr-875-take-two... and decide if this relly is a bill to get worked up about or not.

Hats off to Mercola for stating up front that he didn't have enough infor to post an opinion! -Marilyn

re: Monsanto's Dream Bill -- HR 875

farzhan — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 07:39:17 GMT

"From farm to fork, our food system is vast and complicated. Building an effective traceability system is not easy, but with our public health at stake – it is essential." quote from DeLauro, the bill's author. It's all about control and streamlining food in the USA. They want all food to be thought of as a national or international product subject to national regulation. They want to eliminate all small-scale operations. They want to eliminate the element of spontaneity from life itself if you get down to it.

re: Monsanto's Dream Bill -- HR 875

lgreen — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 04:28:14 GMT

Monsanto is a company I would not trust in or around Food, or health related products, In my opinion they are a sleeze company who works in ways that are not in the best interest to anybody . Agent Orange in the 1970s, Nutri sweet - still isn't banned but in my opinion a dangerous product

I hope everything they do, or attempt to do, is scrutinized by the public and by the FDA - but don't count on the FDA (our government to protect our food and drugs. They cannot even see how our Medicare is getting screwed into paying high prices for generic drugs through our Medicare part D program when you can go buy the same drug at Walmart, Cosco, Target, Walgreens, Pick and Save for 4.00 for a month supply and 10.00 for 3 month supply.

Somebody should set up a Blog to report things that are known about this company. They don't deserve to be trusted.

re: Monsanto's Dream Bill -- HR 875

KarlieCole — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 03:39:48 GMT

Thanks for your concern - here is a counterpoint: www.thedailygreen.com/.../organic-gardening-44040203. Maybe we could actually use this law to get rid of Monsanto since there practices are clearly harmful to our food supply!

re: Monsanto's Dream Bill -- HR 875

hilly7 — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 02:28:05 GMT

It is time to take a stand, actually almost too late.