It keeps getting harder and harder to keep prices down. A large part of those cost are the cost of compliance. While my livestock aspect is not regulated by the FDA yet, the poultry is and if the poultry rules are promulgated I will be closing that aspect down. The birds have wander the entire farm doing their bird things, under proposed rules this would be unacceptable as they will be exposed to wildlife. Manure and compost tea in the gardens will be prohibited, wildlife in the gardens will be prohibited, putting livestock intot the garden areas to clean it up over the fall and winter will be prohibited. The water testing requirements are insane as it is now I am required to have our water tested twice per year bump that up to 35 times per year x $48 that is another $1680 out the window plus another estimated $3600 for new cost of compliance exepenses per year on top of the existing cost of compliance expenses on top of the normal overhead. I am all for sensible regulation that sets realistic minimal standards but what the FDA is proposing is just plain insanity that does little to make food more safe, while exempting in many cases those mega Corporations that are proven to be the primary source of food borne illness. Of course is the average end consumer would apply safe food handling practices in their home kitchens there would be very few instances of outbreaks to start with. If you eat raw burger meats and eggs you are playing russian roulette, you eat produce without washing it in very simple sanitizing solutions you are playing the same game. You chop the salad up on the same board you formed your burgers on guess what...... BACTERIA exist everywhere most of it is beneficial to us. No amount of regulation or water testing is going to remove the bacteria. There is no possible way for a farm to eliminate environmental things from what we produce. The wind blows dust, dust has bacteria in it, we have to water and water has bacteria in it, we have to fertilize and non petro chemical fertilizers have bacteria in them. Our own bodies are loaded with bacteria and if they were not we would all fall over dead. Washing on the farm or in the packing shed makes the produce look better but as soon as the washing is complete the surviving bacteria start growing again. It is nature, I will stand by this until the day I die food safety begins and ends with the end consumer when it comes from unprocessed farm to fork foods. Everything in between is just smoke and mirrors. and if one more person uses those cantaloupe farmers that were the source of the listeria outbreak as an example of irresponsible farm practices............ I am going to SCREAM! What if everyone who had bought one of those melons had washed it with any number of easily concocted at home or retail produce sanitizers before cutting into it? The listeria was not inside the melons but on the skin, the cutting through the melons is what transferred the listeria into the melon. Those guys are looking at prison time now because the end consumer could not shoulder the responsability to handle their food safely. But No one washes melons before cutting them! I do!! Washing anything and using a mild sanitizer on anything that is grown in the dirt was common practice in most households and I remember very few people getting sick from food back then. When there was a illness it was usually from a food joint or at one of the holiday meals where the turkey sat on the table for to long. I dont recall anyone ever getting sick from eating fresh produce of any kind... maybe because we washed everything in a mild vinegar solution and rinsed it before we served it raw. Not only is there a disconnect from the farm there is a huge disconnect from personal responsability. I am sure a lot of consumers will find this producers perspective and opinion offensive and will ask Why should I be responsible for cleaning bacteria from the food that you produce? Becuase it is just good practice and it is even spelled out in the USDA safe food handling literature. Your Grandparents knew this and practiced these things like a religion. All of that knowledge and safe practices seem to have been tossed aside over the last 40-60 years of super processed fast food and petrochemical based agriculture. I can see why so many folks are planning on shutting down their operations when these rules are promulgated and the ones who dont shut down are planning huge price increases to cover the huge finanacial burden being laid on their porch that at the end of the day will accomplish little if anything aside from putting a lot of small and mid size farms out of business and increasing the price of food across the board. Thankfully T5R Customers/Friend know to wash their produce and to cook their meats and eggs to safe temps. And I would say the same about most if not all people that shop the local food options. You folks tend to be well educated in how to handle food right off the farm. Unlike the people of walmart that stand there eating grapes from the display. That the little kid who was just drilling in his nose was eating from a few minutes before they started sample grazing.
Posted on: Wed, 13 Nov 2013 16:53:39 +0000