releases: https://pingree.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/pingree-testifies-hearing-food-safety-rules
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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| https://pingree.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/pingree-testifies-hearing-food-safety-rules | Pingree testifies at hearing on food safety rules | 2013-08-19 | 2013 | 2013-08 | Democrat | House | ME | Chellie Pingree | P000597 | pingree.house.gov | legacy | Tells top Obama Administration official 'one-size-fits-all' rules will put farmers out of business At a public hearing in Augusta today attended by over 150 people, Congresswoman Chellie Pingree urged a top Obama Administration official to create food safety rules that don't place an unnecessary burden on smaller farmers that grow a variety of crops. "One-size-fits-all regulations will put New England farmers out of business. The size of regulation must match the amount of risk, and the loss of hundreds of farms cannot be an unintended consequence of the food safety rules," Pingree said. The hearing featured Michael Taylor, the Deputy Commissioner for Food Safety at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), who agreed to come to Maine to hold a listening session with farmers and producers. At issue are new rules that the FDA will issue as a result of a new food safety law passed by Congress. While Pingree said food safety standards are critically important, they shouldn't result in rules that put farmers out of business. Pingree cautioned Taylor not to make smaller farmers follow the same rules designed to regulate large, single crop farms. "These are not factory farms, or single commodity operations, they are family run, diversified farms. They are diversified because that has traditionally been the most successful way to yield even amodest profit that is what enables them to stay on the land for another generation," Pingree said. "I remain very concerned about the impact of the rules on small producers and processors." The FDA estimates that a medium-sized farm with annual gross sales of $250,000 to $500,000 would spend $13,000 a year in compliance costs. For farms with sales over $500,000 that cost jumps to over $30,000 a year. "Let me be clear: for operations of that scale, these additional costs will put farms and processors out of business, and it will permanently change the landscape in states like Maine," Pingree said. Officials heard testimony today on two proposed rulesproduce regulations intended to cover farmers and the "facility preventative controls rule", designed to cover facilities that process food. Pingree said she's worried that the FDA will make some farmers conform to both sets of regulations. "Unfortunately, the FDA's definitions of 'farm' and 'facility' are confusing and do not provide clarity to farmers for determining whether they are subject to one or both rules. Congress did not intend for a single operation to be subject to both regulations, yet this is what FDA appears to codify with the term 'farm mixed-type facility,'" Pingree said. "Part of running a successful agricultural operation is not only growing food but also selling food and preparing it to be sold. I am concerned that many farms will come under the full weight of both rules, including farms that are involved in on-farm processing and aggregation activities." Pingree has been involved in farming and farm policy in Maine for forty years and currently owns a farm on the island of North Haven where she raises a variety of vegetables as well as chicken, turkeys, pigs and goats. | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |