A Call to Action, and other notes

I have about 5 minutes to write, while my spaghetti is cooking, but thought I would jot down some quick notes while I have time.

My inbox is full today of "Call to Action" notes regarding H.R. 4167 - a bill going through Congress calling for "National Uniformity for Food."  I have some links for you so that you can make up your own mind about it.  But the gist is that the law, if passed, will only allow states to require food safety warnings and labeling rules that are in line with FDA standards. 

For example, California passed Proposition 65 in 1986 which requires consumer notification about contaminants known to cause cancer or birth defects.  If the California required this notice on a food that isn't considered a carcinogen by the FDA, then the FDA law would rule and there would not be a labelling requirement.  The biggest importance, in my mind is what this holds for the future.  What if California passed a law requiring labelling of GMO's, but the FDA didn't recognize GMO's as something worth labelling?  By my understanding of the law, the FDA would rule and food companies selling within California be held to labelling standards.

For more info, read:

Reuters
NY Times
Washington Post
NRDC Call to Action
Center for Food Safety Call to Action
Accidental Hedonist's commentary

Update 3/9/2006:  This bill passed in the House of Representatives yesterday, and is headed for the Senate.  More here.

 

So, where have I been lately, you ask?  Well, mostly working. 

Last night, however, I spent an hour doing something that I'd like to encourage you all to do.  Since the beginning of the year, I have collected all catalogs that we receive.  Last night, I went to the website of each and every catalog and wrote them a note asking to be removed from their catalog lists.  I am giddy with the idea that I am going to be saving that much mail from coming to our house.  You can do the same.  Just write a note like the one below, and be sure to include all information from the mailing label and a viable email address I used one of my "junk" addresses so that I can correspond with them but don't get bothered by any possible spam.

The note: 

Please remove me from your catalog list.  I am interested in your company, but am trying to cut down on the amount of mail that I receive.  Please help me save trees!  I will continue to read your website.

Thank you.

Also, I have been working with the Locavores on the May Eat Local Challenge.  Though the challenge last year was in August, the Locavores changed it to May in order to give everyone a chance to try eating local during a different season.  I am excited about some news I will have about that in the next couple weeks!

Well, the spaghetti is cooked and already eaten (olive oil, Vegesal, pepper, and parmesan - hit the spot, but not enough protein).  I hope you will forgive me for such quick snippets but it's back to work for this blogger.

Oh - if you are going to the Food Politics seminar today, look for me and say hi - I will be there.

Comments

[Steve]

About the uniform labeling bill. My thoughts: (1) It would in fact actually raise standards in some states, which is not a bad thing. (2) National and multi-regional food manufacturers now must comply with the patchwork labeling laws of 50 different states of color and allowable food additives. This bill doesn’t bar state action to ensure foods are safe, but instead prevents states from bottlenecking interstate commerce of food products, including dietary supplements, by heaping on unnecessary and burdensome warning requirements. If it passes, production costs will be reduced (by not having to label products differently for different states), and retailers then able to pass these savings onto customers.
And as for your dinner--what, no vegetables?

[Steve]

Okay, one more thing, the food labeling bill would use the same standard used in other federally-regulated areas of food and medicine, including meat, poultry, eggs, nutrition labeling, health claims, pesticide residues and drugs and medical devices. Is that so bad, really?

[Jennifer]

Hi Jen--back here in Syracuse we are waiting with bated breath to hear about the May Eat Local Challenge--there are tons of folks gearing up to participate. I'll look forward to your news.

Standardization just makes me think uniformity and less diversity of food choices. Maine allows the sale of raw milk, and has some nice small dairies and artisan cheese makers. I'm concerned that if the Feds deem raw milk unacceptable that we could be out of luck.

Any thoughts on the impact of small farmers and the NAIS (Nat'l Animal ID System)?

Finally... ELC in May? Ugh. It is so incredibly hard to eat seasonally in Maine in May. Our last frost isn't until the middle of the month and the put up food is dwindling. But we'll do our best, of course.

[Liz]

p.s. The above was me. :)

[rache]

good post. i've done the same thing with my catalog mailings. all the companies i've contacted have been totally cooperative. you can take it a step further to eliminate all the junk mail you receive by visiting the direct marketing association and requesting your name be added to the "do-not-mail" list. i have had excellent results and my mail is much lighter. i also asked my letter carrier how to rid myself of all the megastore coupons and bulk mail i receive, but he wasn't sure and said that it may have something to do with the fact that we aren't newspaper subscribers. (huh?) he also said that some people (older people mostly) bark when they don't receive them. maybe i can donate mine to those folks? of course, there is always that case of the postal worker that was fired for not delivering bulk mail and i don't want to get him into any trouble. it's like a black hole. i still get some solicitations, which i am tempted to refuse. i found it curious that it's so hard to find out how to refuse mail on the usps site. i suppose i just write "refused?" it's amazing how much work it can take to live "spam-free."

[Steve]

Already under current federal law, all milk shipped interstate to be sold at retail stores must be pasteurized. Maine can still manufacture and sell its raw milk intastate. In any event, drinking raw milk sounds healthier than it is. It's really more like playing Russian roulette. Raw milk can contain a host of disease-causing organisms, like E Coli bacteria and salmonella. Some of these are particularly dangerous to children and thse with lowered immune systems. Pasteurization was started decades ago for a good reason: contaminated raw milk was linked to typhoid and scarlet fevers, dysentery, diptheria, and a host of other foodborne illnesses. And other diseases, like tuberculosis, can be transmitted to people by raw milk from diseased animals. Pasteurization kills these bacterium.

[Jamie]

May, eh? I'm in! I recognize that it'll be a much more challenging month for some people, but I think it will be fascinating to see the differences from last year.

I hope we can get a TON of people to do this. I'm going to take it on as a personal challenge to see how many folks I can get on board.

[Suzanne]

We're gearing up for May in Davis. So far there's been interest in publicizing it in the Davis Food Coop's newsletter. I'm also trying to convince the Davis Food Coop to label its bulk items so that we can minimize packaging *and* eat locally.

I think we need states to set their own labeling requirements. The benefits outweigh the burden on businesses given public policy concerns about safe food. It's more easy to follow various laws that it may seem. Usually a company publishs a book outlining the various state laws and updates it yearly. Businesses do this all the time without heartburn. Sweepstakes are a good example.

Federal regulators are at the mercy of national political winds. I guess I just don't trust the Federal regulatory agencies on this issue given how poorly they've handled GMOs (in my opinion).

[farmgirl]

Thanks for all the great information and the links about HR4167. And the "no more catalogs" email is a fabulous idea.

[Jeff]

great idea jen. thank you.

[Jasmin]

I just discovered your blog and I just wanted to say hi and let you know I've added you to my RSS feed list :)