{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://www.blunt.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/in-the-news?ContentRecord_id=5f67cabc-6991-4ca5-9e69-89d6caae1df0", "Springfield News-Leader: Blunt says food safety rules will overburden farmers", "2013-12-14", "2013", "2013-12", "Republican", "House", "MO", "Roy Blunt", "B000575", "www.blunt.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Deirdre Shesgreen \n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\tSen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., is among those fighting for changes to new federal food safety rules, saying the proposed requirements could be \u201cseverely detrimental\u201d to farmers of produce and even force some out of business.\r\nThe issue pits fruit and vegetable growers against food safety advocates amid ongoing federal efforts to reduce deadly outbreaks of food-borne illnesses.\r\nAt the center of the fight is a sweeping food safety law, which Congress passed in 2010 after a spate of high-profile food recalls. These included lettuce contaminated with E. coli bacteria that sickened more than two dozen people, and eggs tainted with Salmonella that made approximately 1,900 people ill.\r\nRegulators with the Food and Drug Administration are now implementing the law, the Food Safety Modernization Act. Earlier this year, the FDA issued draft rules for farmers who grow fruits and vegetables that are typically eaten raw or unprocessed, such as lettuce, apples, and tomatoes.\r\nThe rules don\u2019t apply to produce that\u2019s typically cooked, such as potatoes, or that will be processed in a way that kills bacteria. The rules would also not apply to farms with less than $500,000 a year in sales.\r\nThe FDA\u2019s produce proposal, first issued in January, has sparked a backlash from farmers and Congress. Some smaller and organic farmers have been particularly vocal in their criticism, saying the rules could disproportionately affect operations that use more sustainable farming methods.\r\nBlunt is the top Republican on the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that oversees the FDA. He joined a bipartisan coalition of 75 lawmakers who are now pressing the FDA to go back to the drawing board on the food safety rules.\r\nThe issue has shattered traditional party lines, with Blunt and other conservatives joined by liberals such as Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont. In a Nov. 25 letter, Blunt and the other lawmakers said the FDA\u2019s proposal could impose a steep new burden on the agriculture sector.\r\n\u201cAfter hearing many reservations from our farmers and businesses, we are concerned that the rules as currently proposed, and the heavy cost of complying with them, will force some producers and processors to shutter their operations,\u201d the lawmakers wrote.\r\nLawmakers have taken issue with several of the FDA\u2019s pending provisions. They cited, for example, an FDA rule that would require farmers who use raw manure on their crops to wait nine months before harvesting from those fields \u2014 to make sure any bacteria hasn\u2019t survived to contaminate the crops. Organic farmers are more likely to use manure because they shun chemical products. Another contentious proposal would mandate that farmers who use untreated surface water on their crops test that water frequently for bacteria.\r\nSome farm groups say the FDA\u2019s goal is good but the rules go overboard.\r\n\u201cWe want to do what\u2019s right. Everybody cares about food safety,\u201d said Garrett Hawkins, national legislative programs director at the Missouri Farm Bureau. But for many farmers, it will be too hard to comply with this rule, he said.\r\n\u201cMost farmers don\u2019t have an environmental manager . . . taking care of all the paperwork and testing,\u201d he said. \u201cYou\u2019re trying to keep the plants alive and have produce to market to consumers.\u201d\r\nHe said the full impact on Missouri farmers is unclear. But there\u2019s no question that fruits and vegetables are a significant portion of the state\u2019s agriculture sector \u2014 from peaches and apples to cabbage and cucumbers.\r\nAccording to the U.S. Department of Agriculture\u2019s last census, conducted in 2007, the state\u2019s farmers produced $61 million in vegetable crops and another $4.3 million in fruits, nuts, and berries.\r\nHawkins said farmers should not shoulder the entire burden of making sure food is safe. \u201cWe believe it\u2019s a shared responsibility with those who are involved in food preparation and service,\u201d he said. \u201cYou have to look beyond the farm gate.\u201d\r\nBut food safety advocates say the proposed rules are vital to reducing food-related illnesses and averting deaths.\r\n\u201cWhat\u2019s at stake is whether or not we\u2019re going to continue to have 48 million people get sick every year from contaminated food,\u201d said David Plunkett, a senior food safety attorney the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a consumer advocacy group.\r\nThe proposed FDA rules \u201creally hit the mark,\u201d Plunkett said. \u201cThey would result in a safer product\u201d for consumers.\r\nThe FDA took public comments on the rules through Nov. 22, and the agency is sifting through them now. The agency is expected to issue final regulations in 2015.\r\nPlunkett said FDA officials have to determine whether the complaints are coming from \u201cfarmers who just don\u2019t want to comply because they don\u2019t like regulations, or farmers who have raised legitimate concerns about how these rules will affect their ability to continue farming in a sustainable fashion.\u201d\r\nSome of the concerns may be legitimate, he said, but \u201cthere\u2019s a strong mood in the farm community that they just want to be left alone. They don\u2019t want to be regulated.\u201d\r\nBut Blunt and the other lawmakers have asked the FDA to reopen the rules for additional comment and issue a second draft before moving to finalize anything.\r\n\u201cEnhancing the safety of our food supply can be accomplished without burdening farms and small businesses with excessive regulations that make it difficult for them to expand and diversify their operations,\u201d Blunt said. Re-drafting the rules and allowing a second round of public comment \u201cwill minimize unintended consequences for producers in Missouri and nationwide,\u201d he said.\r\nAn FDA spokeswoman, Shelly Burgess, said she could not comment on the request for another round of work on the rules. \u201cThe comment period closed on Nov. 22, and we are now reviewing those,\u201d Burgess said.\r\nRead more here.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://www.blunt.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/in-the-news?ContentRecord_id=5f67cabc-6991-4ca5-9e69-89d6caae1df0"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9105040226131678, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}