Say hello to Darla, one of the sexiest cheeses you'll find anywhere. Don't bother trying to pick her up at your local IGA, she tends to hang out in classier joints. Fair warning, she's an expensive date, but the best thing about her-she only gets better with age.
Unfortunately, if the federal government has its way, her days are probably numbered. The Senate, working under the radar, voted for cloture to bring to a vote the Senate bill known as the FDA Modernization Act, also known colloquially by some as The Food Police Bill. It now faces reconciliation in the House, who earlier passed their own version, after which it will become law, at a cost of 1.4 billion dollars over a four year period.
Here's what the bill does-
Spanning some150 pages, the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act would authorize the FDA to dictate how farmers grow fruits and vegetables, including rules governing soil, water, hygiene, packing, temperatures, and even what animals may roam which fields and when. It would also increase inspections of food “facilities” and tax them to do so. And, fulfilling the dream of a long line of agency officials, the bill grants the FDA unilateral authority to order recalls.
To put it bluntly, the worse thing about the bill isn't the upfront cost to taxpayers, although that is considerable and wholly unwarranted in the face of trillion dollar deficits as far as the eye can see. No the worse thing about it is the fact that it will likely result in intense and unnecessary hardships for countless small businesses-small farms, local growers and producers, and farmer's markets, a great many of whom will or are likely to be put out of business by this unwarranted bill. This is especially true of regional local cheese makers such as Beechers Handmade Cheese, and the folks who produce Darla, as well as a variety of fine cheeses, many pictures of which I have copied for this post.
They are the Estrella Family Creamery, and they are already so far under the gun, they are in dire danger of having to close their doors. They have been reduced to soliciting donations from friends and supporters and the general public in order to keep their family business open and operating. The reason-a recent FDA inspection found evidence of bacteria, specifically listeria. The problem with that is, it would be next to impossible to NOT find bacteria at a cheese producing operation. The family assures the public that their product is safe, but their pleas have fallen on deaf ears, despite the face that there has never been a reported illness associated with the family product.
But when they objected to the FDA order to shut down operations, they were closed down, much of their products and supplies confiscated. As they unfortunately don't have the resources to fight a long protracted court battle, their long-term survival is very much in doubt.
Some members of the Senate understand the implications of the bill, thanks no doubt in no small measure to pressure from local food growers among their constituents. Two Democratic Senators, Montana's John Tester and North Carolina's Kay Hagan, co-sponsored the Tester-Kagan Amendment, which would establish less stringent requirements for small local and regional producers. The Amendment basically does this-
The Tester/Hagan amendment would exempt producers whose annual sales are less than $500,000 and who are not more than 275 miles away from the end-user, be it a consumer, restaurant or a distribution facility.
It is a mild amendment, but big agribusiness wants the amendment removed from the bill, as do organizations such as the National Cattlemen's Beef Association. But this should not be a surprise. Big government regulations and taxes are the best friends big business ever had, not because they like them, but because there is the silver lining that they have the potential of doing something big business on its own might never accomplish-they might put their smaller competitors out of business. Brands such as Kraft Foods, for example, can simply absorb the shock of the added expense and pass it on to their consumers. Which, by the way, become more and more of a "captive audience", so to speak, as the bigger companies just sit back and watch their smaller, less connected rivals die from strangulation by red tape while drowning in red ink. And it looks like they also have allies among the left-leaning press, who not only editorializes in favor of the bill but slants their news coverage as well. Advertising dollars can buy a lot of good press, it seems, and money is no object when you are trying to completely dominate a market against a product you have no hopes of matching in terms of class and quality.
And of course, the bill and its agribusiness supporters has its allies among the far-left, who are against the Amendment out of fear that it will "water down" the bill, making it "less effective". Yet, even among leftist groups, there is some debate about the bill and the Tester-Kagan Amendment.
There is always a chance this bill can be repealed once this lame duck session of Congress is over and the new Congress takes its place in January, but that might not be so easy as one might assume. For one thing, this bill actually had strong bipartisan support, with 15 Republican Senators supporting it.
Alexander (R-TN)
Brown (R-MA)
Burr (R-NC)
Collins (R-ME)
Enzi (R-WY)
Grassley (R-IA)
Gregg (R-NH)
Johanns (R-NE)
Kirk (R-IL)
LeMieux (R-FL)
Lugar (R-IN)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Snowe (R-ME)
Vitter (R-LA)
Voinovich (R-OH)
So as you can see, it's not merely the Democrats in the Senate who did not "get the message" of the last election. Far too many Republican Senators, more than one-third of the current crop, voted for this bill, which amounts to yet another monstrous power grab by the federal government, one that will be yet another drag on local economies while killing jobs and businesses, and raising taxes in the process.
And it happened, as is usually the case, while we were all distracted by the "important" and "controversial" issues. In the meantime, it appears that the biggest enemy facing the American people might not be leftist radicals or long-bearded men in robes hiding in caves, nor lone comoputer geeks hiding in osmebody''s basement half a world away, nor even sworn enemy states.
No, if you're a small business owner, it looks like your greatest enemy is the one to whom we must all pay tribute, with a filing deadline of April 15th
But at least now we know who they are, whether they call themselves Democrat or Republican. Some of them, such as Voinovich, will be gone when the new Congress convenes next year. Some of them, such as Burr, have another full six years in which to make amends.
But others, such as Dick "Sucker" Luger, will be up for reelection in two years. We need to send them packing, along with as many Democrats as we can pile in with them on the outbound train from Washington. The country, and the people, just can't afford this kind of crap anymore. Ironically, government regulatory interference is one thing that puts the price of quality foods out of the reach of most Americans, either in terms of price, or given enough time, in terms of availability. How many small, local and regional food producers will this bill put out of business?
I don't know, but if you are of a mind to purchase a high quality cheese as a Christmas present for someone special, now might be the year to do it.
Next year, high quality products such as this might well be either much too costly for more and more people, or completely off the market. Next Christmas, your highest quality option might well be Sargentos, or maybe Velveeta.
