Internet chatter has some local organic farmers concerned about a food regulation bill moving through Congress.
E-mails claiming that organic farming could be outlawed by the bill have been sent out to activists and farmers over the past several weeks.
The Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009 was proposed in response to recent health issues such as the Georgia peanut butter scare and was introduced to the House of Representatives by Rosa DeLauro, a representative from Connecticut. It is one of several proposed bills addressing food safety.
Locally based organization Florida Organic Growers and UF's Center for Organic Agriculture have questioned the e-mails' fiery accusations while remaining cautious about the bill's final form.
According to a chain e-mail, the bill is sponsored by Monsanto, a multinational corporation which produces genetic seeds and the herbicide Roundup, with the intent of forcing organic farmers, even backyard growers, to use chemical fertilizers and insecticides. The connection to Monsanto is drawn through DeLauro's husband, who worked as a political strategist for the company, according to some reports. Two Youtube videos are also linked in the e-mail.
"Buried in the bills are regulations that criminalize all aspects of organic farming by categorizing the practice as a source of seed contamination," according to one video, a camera recording of a news anchor on Free Speech Internet Television.
But Marilyn "Mickie" Swisher, director of UF's Center for Organic Agriculture, has read the nearly 19,000-word bill, and couldn't find any mention of the criminalization, she said.
While she is admittedly not a legal expert, Swisher felt comfortable saying that the bill would not affect backyard gardens and was likely less threatening to small-scale farmers than reactions suggest.
She also spoke against connecting Monsanto with the bill.
"We make people devils by association," she said. "'I don't like what your preacher says, so I don't like what you say.' It's the same thing."
According to Marty Mesh, director of the Gainesville-based, statewide Florida Organic Growers, the problem is broad wording and "one-size-fits-all legislation," which could apply the same fines and regulations to small-scale farms as it would to corporate operations.
"A $1,500 fine could have a small effect on a large industrial farm, while it may threaten to put a small grower out of business," he said.
But Mesh believes that any ill-will that the bill shows towards organic farmers is an accident and would be worked out if it became law.
