WASHINGTON — Sen. Tom Harkin doesn’t want Americans to worry if the food in their pantries is safe. He’s working to expand the inspection powers of the Food and Drug Administration, but he’s also taking steps to ensure small farmers retain their autonomy.
A food-safety bill that is expected to reach the Senate floor within two weeks would give the FDA enforcement abilities it currently lacks, increase the number of food inspectors by 50 percent and raise its food safety spending by 25 percent.
“The FDA is still working under laws we passed 40 years ago, 50 years ago,” Harkin said. “Think about the changes that have taken place in how we produce and distribute the food that people eat.”
However, Harkin is concerned about the bill’s potential burden on small farmers. The bill treats them the same as it does large-scale producers, which would put an inequitable cost strain on small farmers, said Jaydee Hanson, policy analyst at the Center for Food Safety, a nonprofit group that advocates for safer food production technologies.
“[The bill] is right in thinking the food-safety system is broken,” Hanson said. “It’s wrong in thinking everybody is equally to blame.
“It’s going after the little tomato grower to pay for its new inspections. To put the burden on the little guy is the same kind of reverse logic we’ve had too much of.”
While Hanson says the bill is a step in the right direction, he prefers an amendment proposed by Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., that would exempt small-scale producers. If a farm grossed an average of less than $500,000 over the last three years, it would remain subject to state law.
Harkin said the Senate is considering a number of amendments, including Tester’s, which would help small farmers and businesses.
“We’ve got a clear signal that a number of our colleagues want some strengthening in the bill to provide that kind of protection for our small producers,” Harkin said.
He stressed that protecting small farmers is a priority of his.
“The last thing I want to do is put any undue burdens on small farms,” Harkin said. “We’re looking very carefully at that.”
But Deborah Stockton, executive director of the National Independent Consumers and Farmers Association, a group that promotes unregulated direct farmer-to-consumer trade, said the bill gives the FDA too much authority. It amends the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, altering the bill’s rhetoric.
“It removes words like ‘credible evidence’ and changes that to ‘reason to believe,’” Stockton said. “It gives any agency with ‘reason to believe’ [there is contaminated food the ability] to shut down a farm.”
A recent Health and Human Services report found 5,000 Americans die each year and another 300,000 are hospitalized due to food contamination.
Current laws do not allow the FDA to compel food-processing facilities and restaurants to adhere to its guidelines. One restaurant violated seafood-handling procedures seven times in six years before the FDA was able to secure an injunction.
Staff cuts have dramatically reduced the amount of inspections nationwide. In 2003, the FDA employed 3,167 people to inspect food facilities. By 2007, that number had plunged 19 percent to 2,569 employees. In turn, the percentage of food facilities inspected dropped from 29 percent in 2004 to 22 percent in 2008.
“I don’t think [the FDA] is doing a very good job right now, quite frankly,” Harkin said. “They’re not empowered to do so by law. That’s the essence of this bill. Secondly, they lack some of the resources and personnel that they need.”
The bill calls for $825 million of the FDA’s budget to be designated for food safety in fiscal year 2010, which begins Oct. 1, up from $662 million this year. It also would increase the FDA’s field staff to 3,800 in 2010.
“[The FDA is] going to have more trained personnel,” Harkin said. “We’re going to have a lot more inspections of food facilities.”