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The wars in the middle east are bad, however the wars, yes wars...for  
control of the seed and animals by govenment and companies for profit  
is a war of more dire consequences.  We all lose with the war for  
control of our food supply.

Don Dunklee


On Mar 26, 2009, at 12:18 PM, Ben Brown wrote:

> I know basically nothing about the HR 875 and am learning here at  
> the last moments... I do know if legal language is "broad" it  
> generally serves those with the most power.
>
> In the past 5 years we've had similar broad language written and  
> that was just the case.  When we voted against gay marriage, our  
> attorney general said the law also applied to civil unions, which  
> we did not vote on.  Broad laws favor those who stand to profit  
> from control.
>
>
>
>
>
> Ben Brown
>
> Date: Wed, 25 Mar 2009 19:50:40 -0400
> From: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: More information sites - HR 875
> To: [log in to unmask]
>
> Well said and thank you, John. I agree about the direct sales  
> exemption. We have a history of small business exemptions and I  
> hope it holds true here
>
> Let's stay on top of this, keep sharing info, because the worst  
> case scenarios are truly frightening
>
> Take care
>
> David
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Michigan organic growers seeking and offering information and  
> ideas on behalf of Dutcher Farms
> Sent: Wed 3/25/2009 7:27 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: More information sites - HR 875
>
> Hello All,
>     First off I want to say that I have grave reservations over  
> HR875, and I also disagree with some of the things Vicki said in  
> regards to the bill, especially after having read some of it, the  
> language is very broad,general and interpretation could be taken  
> from different angles in regards to who is doing the  
> interpretation. There seems to be many more regulations and  
> bookeeping involved( seems the onus always falls on the small  
> producers!),and is very invasive. The penalties are also quite  
> extreme( possible jail time and one million dollar fine for each  
> offense and according to interpretation, a million dollars a day  
> for each day of non compliance), in the case of the peanut debacle,  
> if the federal and state regulators had been doing their jobs,  
> people would not have died or fallen ill. Paying off inspectors  
> seems to be the norm in much of the food industry these days( I  
> have seen it myself over the last thirty years), then you also now  
> have,in many large plants, the "inspector" being an actual employee  
> of the company, this has been going on now for a few years, HAACP  
> trained employees doing the actual inspection, no conflict of  
> interest,of course. There is a lot going on "out there" and has  
> become very hard to even keep up with the overload of information  
> and fear mongering over food safety, many folks seem to forget that  
> "life" itself is not "safe"! I have requested from my house rep. 
> ( Bart Stupak) a copy of the bill(HR875) as introduced to  
> committee,as I have not been able to find the "whole" bill, no  
> answer yet. The bill may not be as bad as we think,as long as there  
> are some clear exemptions for direct farm to consumer sales.
>     Secondly, there seems to be some communication going on between  
> inividuals, instead of sending to the complete list-serve, please  
> folks send to "reply all", it makes it very difficult to know  
> everything said when you do not receive ALL the e-mails, if you  
> only hit the reply button,your reply will only be sent to the  
> individual that originally sent the message. Receiving bits and  
> pieces is very confusing!!
>      I see there was a request to have someone removed from the  
> list serve for not following the 'rules", from what I see, both  
> individuals were rude to each other. Personal attacks and profanity  
> really have no place here, this only causes a communication break  
> down and does not resolve anything, PLEASE folks, just agree to  
> disagree. Freedom of speech and expression is fundamental, but  
> should remain "civil". This type of behavior is one of the main  
> reasons the organic movement in this state has remained fragmented  
> for so many years, I believe we all have some level of interest in  
> moving forward and not to remain stagnated as has been. Michigan  
> has been trying to play catch up now for some time, especially in  
> regards to the progressive movements in the northeast and northwest  
> portions of this country, I do not believe any of us want to remain  
> in the "dark ages". I really enjoy receiving the information  
> forwarded on this list-serve and would hope to continue to do so,  
> now more than ever, we need a united front.
>                                                   Thank You All in  
> Advance,
>                                                          John Dutcher
>                                                         Dutcher Farm
>
>   ----- Original Message -----
>   F
>
>
>
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