Category Archives: Policy & Regulations

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FDA Extends FSMA Comment Period until mid-September

A message from Ginger Nickerson, UVM-Extension’s GAPs Outreach Coordinator:

This is good news as it is taking quite a bit of time for everyone involved in the produce industry to wrap their heads around what the proposed regulations will mean.  ALL farmers are urged to familiarize themselves with the Act and comment on it.  Pooh Sprague of NHVBGA, along with other regional farmer organizations, have a nice website for farmers to wrap their heads around what the proposed regs will mean for farms in the Northeast.

The National Sustainable Agriculture Council (NSAC) also has a new FSMA website here.

Some of the issues that seem to rise to the top in terms of impacts on New England farms are:

  • A proposed 9 month interval between the application of raw manure (this would include grazing/pasturing) and harvest
  • Irrigation water from surface water – irrigation water from rivers and lakes must be tested every 7 days, water from protected springs and ponds should be tested at least once a month during the growing season
  • Processing/rinse water- there can be no E.coli in water that comes in direct contact with covered produce during or after harvest activities (includes cooling). This means monitoring temperature, using an EPA registered antimicrobial and monitoring the disinfectant and pH for efficacy.
  • Cost of infrastructure improvements to make packsheds and equipment cleanable, may be substantial for farms with older structures & equipment

For more information on these issues, The FDA adds new factsheets regularly.

To read the actual proposed rules click here.

Question and Answer Sessions with the FDA on specific portions of FSMA are available on the Produce Safety Alliance website. (These are audio recordings- maybe something to listen to in the greenhouse.)

While farm advocacy organizations will be submitting comments, it is important for the FDA and our congressional representatives to hear from individual farmers on the rules!

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Just released: A Farmer’s Guide to Farm Internships

If you have interns on your farm you should read this guide!

The guide was published in Minnesota and references to state laws may or may not apply for farms in Vermont, but this guide could prove helpful in outlining what federal labor laws apply to you.

Some food for thought from page one of this guide:

I just learned from the first page that interns who work full time on a farm on a temporary basis are entitled to federal minimum wage and cannot be compensated with room or board alone. I also learned  that even though small farms (hiring fewer than seven employees) may be exempt, they are only exempt if their employees only do agricultural work, and selling produce at a farmers market does not qualify as agricultural work.

Read more about regulations you may not have been aware of in this guide by clicking here!

For more insight into farm internships check out this article:  Farming Internships: Vital or Illegal? The Answer is Both by Dayna Burtness

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Update on Ag Politics from NSAC

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A message from the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition:

 

Unless the Senate acts to fix the situation next week, 2013 is on track to be the worst setback for sustainable agriculture in years.  Opportunities for farmers to implement smart conservation practices will be severely limited.  Training opportunities for the next generation of beginning and minority farmers will dry up.  Microloans to the very small businesses that drive economic recovery in rural America will cease.  Organic farming research and cost share funding will be greatly diminished.

What’s going on?

Back in the fall, Congress made a mistake that prevents farmers from signing up for the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) this year, leaving over 9,000 farmers high and dry.*  And when Congress extended the old farm bill on New Year’s Eve, they left out dozens of critical sustainable agriculture programs – leaving them stranded without funding for the year!**

On Monday, the Senate will take up its own version of the bill to fund government programs through the rest of 2013 – and the Senate has a chance to fix the CSP mistake and to restore funding for key sustainable agriculture programs.  But they’ve got to know these issues matter.

The House failed to include these priorities in the funding bill it passed this week – the Senate can fix this!

Don’t let Congress leave these programs stranded!  Speak out today!

Please call your Senators:

Sen. Pat Leahy
Sen. Bernie Sanders

 

An example message for your Senator is: “I am calling about the Continuing Resolution.  Please tell the Senator to fix the Conservation Stewardship Program so USDA can hold a farmer sign-up this year.  Also tell the Senator to support mandatory funding in the bill for the programs that were stranded in the farm bill extension, including [name a few of the "stranded" programs below that are important to you, your farm, and your community!].**  These programs are important to farmers in Vermont, and they must be funded.” 

Making a call takes only a few moments – please call right now!

Thanks for all you do,

Sarah and Shavaun, The NSAC Grassroots Team

* The problem impacting the Conservation Stewardship Program is a technical error that is currently preventing USDA from conducting a 2013 sign-up for the program.  This error can be corrected with a no-cost fix that will allow USDA to help farmers and ranchers install conservation practices this year!

** Some of the programs currently stranded without funding include:

  • Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program
  • Value-Added Producer Grant Program
  • Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program
  • Rural Energy for America Program
  • Organic Agriculture Research & Extension Initiative
  • National Organic Certification Cost Share Program
  • Organic Production & Market Data Initiatives
  • Farmers Market Promotion Program
  • Outreach & Assistance for Socially Disadvantaged Farmers & Ranchers
  • Conservation Reserve – Transition Incentive Program

 

[For full disclosure: this blog and RAFFL's New Farmer Initiative are funded by the USDA Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program which is listed here as "stranded with out funding"]

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New Book Released Today by Local Author Philip Ackerman-Leist

Rebuilding the Foodshed

How to Create Local, Sustainable, and Secure Food Systems

By Philip Ackerman-Leist

From publisher Chelsea Green:

foodshed

A Community Resilience Guide

Droves of people have turned to local food as a way to retreat from our broken industrial food system. From rural outposts to city streets, they are sowing, growing, selling, and eating food produced close to home—and they are crying out for agricultural reform. All this has made “local food” into everything from a movement buzzword to the newest darling of food trendsters.

But now it’s time to take the conversation to the next level. That’s exactly what Philip Ackerman-Leist does inRebuilding the Foodshed, in which he refocuses the local-food lens on the broad issue of rebuilding regional food systems that can replace the destructive aspects of industrial agriculture, meet food demands affordably and sustainably, and be resilient enough to endure potentially rough times ahead.

Read more about the book and its author here!Chelsea_Green_Logo010612

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UVM Extension Practical Produce Safety Workshop – Feb 12th

With the increase in food borne illnesses associated with fresh produce, more and more produce buyers are asking the farms they buy from if they have a farm food safety plan. UVM Extension’s Center for Sustainable Agriculture is offering a day-long hands-on workshop on writing a farm safety for small and diversified fruit and vegetable farmers who market directly and locally. 

This is a great chance to get your farm manager/crew leaders trained in on-farm produce safety practices!

You will leave this workshop with a concise plan (for you, your customers, and your employees) and many resources!

Although this workshop could help you prepare for a Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) audit certification, it is designed for farmers who do NOT intend to become GAP certified in the near future. The workshop is appropriate for both organic and conventional growers.

Date: February 12 , 8:30 – 4:00
Location: Martin Memorial Hall, 5199 U.S. 5, Weathersfield, VT, 05030, and Deep Meadow Farm 
http://deepmeadowfarm.net/

Cost: $30 (or $15 per person if more than one person is coming from one farm)
Registration Deadline: February, 5

To Register:
By mail: 
http://www.uvm.edu/sustainableagriculture/Documents/PFSRegistrationFeb13.pdf

On-line: 
http://vermontpracticalfoodsafetyplan.eventbrite.com/#

By phone: call Cheryl with a credit card at 802-656-5459 

To request a scholarship or disability-related accommodation to participate in this program, please contact Ginger Nickerson at (802) 505-8189 or gnickers@uvm.edu, by February 1 so we may assist you.