By TIM THORNBERRY
Kentucky Correspondent

FRANKFORT, Ky. — The argument has been made for years about the advantages a local food economy has, for the producer and the consumer. The past few years have seen an increased interest in local foods as the number of farmers’ markets has grown, along with the number of large supermarkets carrying local commodities to accommodate demand.

Recent passage of the FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) Food Safety Modernization Act (see related story) is supposed to help combat the many food recalls faced by consumers each year. In 2010 dozens of foods were recalled, including eggs, beef, pork products and poultry products.

Many organizations have come into existence to promote and support the local food movement. The Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance (FARFA) is one of these; it advocated for the Tester-Hagan amendment to remain in the bill, as a way to protect small operations from the heavy costs of compliance with the bill had that amendment not been included.

Sens. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Kay Hagan (D-N.C.) cosponsored the legislation, which guarantees small producers will continue to be regulated at the state and local levels, according to a statement from Hagan’s office. The information also states: “The provision applies to small producers who earn $500,000 or less in annual sales and sell most of their food directly to consumers, local restaurants or retailers within a 275-mile radius or within the same state.”

Judith McGeary, FARFA executive director, said real problems caused by food-borne illnesses come from imported foods or foods that are part of an industrialized, centralized food chain.

“They are not coming from the small-scale local producers,” she said. “There’s something inherently safer about buying from someone who is local and small-scale. There are solid scientific reasons that the level risks are simply lower.
“Then, you look at the additional fact that you know who you are buying from. If there were a problem, it could be found very quickly and addressed very quickly. It’s a very transparent and accountable system, which unfortunately does not describe the mainstream food system.”

One of the biggest obstacles for local producers to overcome has been costs. Local foods are generally more expensive for a number of reasons. But it doesn’t mean they are unobtainable. Earlier this year, Walmart announced it would expand its efforts to purchase more local foods to meet the demand at affordable prices.

Closer to home, the Kentucky Proud initiative has helped bring local goods to consumers through a series of marketing efforts. State producers have used money from the Kentucky Agricultural Development Fund to help diversify their operations as they have moved away from a tobacco-dependent farm economy.

The state also has the Community Farm Alliance, a grassroots organization that has worked for 25 years to bring attention to local, sustainable agriculture. Adam Barr, a member of the group since 2006 and past president, is a local producer and said the amendment to the food safety bill helps protect the local food initiative.

“I am happy to see that the Tester-Hagan amendment was included … this exemption provides protection to a growing local food movement, which is a landmark decision for Congress to set as precedent,” he said. “The amendment recognizes that there is no ‘one size fits all’ solution to food safety.”

He also said, regarding the expansion of power provided to the FDA, that he feels farmers are leery of that and would like to keep FDA off the farm.
“A lot remains to be seen on how effective this bill will be at improving food safety,” he said.

McGeary said there will still be hurdles to jump with the passage of the bill, such as how it will be funded. The FDA will need approximately $1.4 billon in new funding to be fully implemented, and it’s not clear if it is going to get that money, she said.

She also noted that just because Tester-Hagan remained intact doesn’t mean small producers won’t be affected in some ways, as many will not be covered by the amendment. And, as FDA rules and regulations come forth, it has the potential to have an effect even on those producers who do qualify.