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At the very least this law violates the US Constitution on 10th Amendment grounds. Congress does not have the authority to regulate wholly intrastate commerce.
Inb4 somebody mentions Raich and Wickard (if not also Lopez).
Actually, as I understand it, the part about small farmers being protected is a lie that was used to get the legislation passed. While on the surface those with profits under $500K would appear to be exempt, in reality, they must still jump through all the same bureaucratic hoops. Hobby farmers will still have to register with the FDA and are still open to having all the same intrusions by the federal government as the large scale farming operations.
What this legislation did was to grow
From the bill..just one item. Small farms are exempt..I read the bill.
I sell eggs and this bill directly affected me so I made sure I knew what was going on. The amendment really did exempt small farmers.
I'm exempt from labels and distribution records. I do not need to register with the FDA.
NAIS was another big one that I had to follow as well as had that passed I would have had to tag all of my chickens and register them as well.
(H) FARM SALES TO CONSUMERS- The Secretary shall not require a farm to maintain any distribution records under this subsection with respect to a sale of a food described in subparagraph (I) (including a sale of a food that is produced and packaged on such farm), if such sale is made by the farm directly to a consumer.
According to the amended version of H.R. 2751, their is no amendment that exempts small farmers. Under Section 102 "Registration of Food Facilities":
At the very least this law violates the US Constitution on 10th Amendment grounds. Congress does not have the authority to regulate wholly intrastate commerce. Therefore, they cannot prohibit anyone from producing their own vegetables and selling them to the public by the road-side, or stop farmers from growing, distributing, and selling their products within a given State. Those food producers that deal only within a given State are subject to the laws and regulations of that State, and not answerable to the federal government.
It would seem to violate the 4th Amendment too does it not?
From the bill..just one item. Small farms are exempt..I read the bill.
I sell eggs and this bill directly affected me so I made sure I knew what was going on. The amendment really did exempt small farmers.
I'm exempt from labels and distribution records. I do not need to register with the FDA.
NAIS was another big one that I had to follow as well as had that passed I would have had to tag all of my chickens and register them as well.
(H) FARM SALES TO CONSUMERS- The Secretary shall not require a farm to maintain any distribution records under this subsection with respect to a sale of a food described in subparagraph (I) (including a sale of a food that is produced and packaged on such farm), if such sale is made by the farm directly to a consumer.
Yep, I read that too....before the bill was passed. I've been hearing and reading otherwise since. See Glitch's post regarding amendment.
(H) FARM SALES TO CONSUMERS- The Secretary shall not require a farm to maintain any distribution records under this subsection with respect to a sale of a food described in subparagraph (I) (including a sale of a food that is produced and packaged on such farm), if such sale is made by the farm directly to a consumer.
Would that then put the squeeze on small co-ops, since technically the co-op (though some of the smaller ones may be extremely close to being a direct transaction the way some of them are run) is itself viewed as third party entity through pure technicality, and so the sale might not be considered a direct sale to the consumer, and hence within the capture of the regulation.
It would seem to violate the 4th Amendment too does it not?
Only if they attempt to search or seize the "food facility" without a court issued warrant. Even if they obtain a warrant and are in every way complying with the Fourth Amendment, they still do not have the authority to regulate "food facilities" that grow, process, distribute, or sell their product within a given State. A neighborhood lemon-aide stand, or a farmer selling their produce by the roadside, does not effect ("substantially" or otherwise) interstate or international commerce, and that is as far as Congress' authority extends.
Well supposedly it's to make your food safer and quicker for the government to hunt down food borne illnesses originating from CSA and Farmer Markets and direct sales from farms.
None of that has happened. The food borne illnesses have all been traced back to Big Ag so really this is a no-op. But I'm sure it creates more government jobs.
Would that then put the squeeze on small co-ops, since technically the co-op (though some of the smaller ones may be extremely close to being a direct transaction the way some of them are run) is itself viewed as third party entity through pure technicality, and so the sale might not be considered a direct sale to the consumer, and hence within the capture of the regulation.
See Section 102(c) of the bill. There are no exemptions with regard to the required federal registration of food facilities. That includes road-side food stands, co-ops, small farmers, even neighborhood lemon-aide stands.
In fact, co-ops are specifically mentioned in the law, as "community supported agriculture (CSA) programs."
See Section 102(c) of the bill. There are no exemptions with regard to the required federal registration of food facilities. That includes road-side food stands, co-ops, small farmers, even neighborhood lemon-aide stands.
In fact, co-ops are specifically mentioned in the law, as "community supported agriculture (CSA) programs."
But co-ops are not CSAs. They are two different entities.
Co-ops are growers getting together.
CSAs are consumers buying a share of farm produce.
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