Call your Senators TODAY — Urge their support for the Tester Amendment
We have learned that the Food Safety Modernization Act (S. 510) may be voted on in the Senate on Thursday, September 16.
This bill, as we have noted before, would impose extremely burdensome and unnecessary requirements on the thousands of small farmers and food processors who are producing safe, nutrient-dense foods for their local communities – it may force some of these producers out of business.
A key amendment sponsored by Senator Jon Tester (D-MT) would exempt small farm and small food processing facilities as well as small and mid-sized farmers who primarily direct market their products to consumers, stores or restaurants within their region from the most burdensome and onerous paperwork and reporting requirements.
Please call your Senators today and ask them to support the Tester Amendment on the Food Safety bill.
It’s easy to call. Go to Congress.org and type in your zip code in the box in the upper right hand corner. Click on your Senator’s name, and then on the contact tab for their phone number. You can also call the Capitol Switchboard and ask to be directly connected to your Senator’s office: 202-224-3121. Once connected ask to speak to the legislative staff person responsible for agriculture. If they are unavailable leave a voice mail message. Be sure to include your name and phone number.
The message is simple:
- “I am a constituent of Senator___________ and I am calling to ask him/her to support the Tester Amendment to the food safety bill. The Tester Amendment will exempt small farm and food facilities and farmers who direct market their products to consumers, stores or restaurants. We need a food safety bill that cracks down on corporate bad actors without erecting new barriers to family farms and the growing healthy food movement. Our continuing economic recovery demands that we preserve these market opportunities for small and mid-sized family farms, and small food processing facilities.”
Thank you for your help and support for those producing some of the nation’s safest and most nutritious food.
Prepared by Cornucopia staff and the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition
