I got up really early to watch the vote of CSpan and still can not quite beleive it passed and with a margin of 73 in favor and 25 against.  The Bill that in large part will do:

  • food-safety-rating-system.jpgAllow the FDA to order a recall of tainted foods;
  • Require larger food processors and manufacturers to register with the Food and Drug Administration and create detailed food safety plans (Tester/Hagen Amendment excluded most small farmers from FDA regulatory oversight) ;
  • Require the FDA to create new produce safety regulations for producers of the highest-risk fruits and vegetables;
  • Require CDC and State Health Departments to coordinate Foodborne Illness surveillance;
  • Establish stricter standards for the safety of imported food;
  • Increase inspections of domestic and foreign food facilities, directing the most resources to those operations with the highest risk profiles.

From a pro legislation perspective, I am pleased that it has passed the Senate, but I wonder how it will be able to get through the House and to the President’s desk before years end. I am most heartened that passage was one of the most bi-partisan votes we have seen in a very long time. It is good to see R’s and D’s coming together to actually try and doing something good for the American people. Perhaps this means we can work together to solve the budget deficit, two wars, unemployment – Sorry, I got caught up in the moment. I’ll leave the comments on the cons to this email I got this morning:

This Bill is a disgusting breech of democracy. It does the opposite of what it claims. It’s nearly impossible to get natural healthy food in the market. I hate this. It’s evil. I want to eat unprocessed food. food that actually tastes goodand is chemical and cruelty free. This is fascist. I don’t tell you what to eat! Get out of this kind of bullying. You only serve corperate interest not the people.

We clearly have more work to do.