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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2017

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S E N A T E   R E S O L U T I O N

RESPECTFULLY REQUESTING THAT THE RI CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION WORK

TO REVISE THE FOOD SAFETY MODERNIZATION ACT AND TO DELAY ITS

IMPLEMENTATION

     Introduced By: Senators Sosnowski, Coyne, Calkin, Kettle, and Miller

     Date Introduced: May 30, 2017

     Referred To: Senate Environment & Agriculture

     WHEREAS, The Food Safety Modernization Act was signed into law in 2011 by

President Obama, with the goal to ensure the U.S. food supply is safe by shifting the focus from

responding to contamination to preventing it; and

     WHEREAS, The American public deserves access to the safest food in the world, and an

important way to meet that goal is through policy that prevents food contamination; and

     WHEREAS, Although the Food and Drug Administration has been charged with

implementing the Food Safety Modernization Act, the FDA lacks experience with the

complexities of overseeing our nation’s agricultural lands which experience would allow it to

effectively regulate food production; and

     WHEREAS, the United States Department of Agriculture was founded by President

Abraham Lincoln in 1862, when half of the Nation’s population lived and worked on farms, the

USDA’s role has evolved with the economy; and

     WHEREAS, the USDA works towards our shared goals of rural prosperity, preservation

of forests and working lands, sustainable agricultural production, job opportunities and safe,

nutritious food for every American; and

     WHEREAS, the USDA provides leadership on food, agriculture, natural resources, rural

development, nutrition, and related issues based on sound public policy, the best available

science, and efficient management; and

     WHEREAS, the USDA has a multi-year strategic plan consisting of five strategic goals

which contain 16 objectives including increasing agricultural opportunities by ensuring a robust

safety net, creating new markets, and supporting a competitive agricultural system, and

     WHEREAS, Regulating the way foods are grown in order to prevent food contamination

should therefore be overseen by the United States Department of Agriculture; and

     WHEREAS, Rhode Island agriculture is an important and growing sector of the state’s

economy with over 1,200 farms employing more than 2,500 workers, covering over 69,000 acres;

and

     WHEREAS, A strong local food system creates growth in many related businesses from

food processors, to storage facilities and transportation networks, to restaurants and tourism; and

     WHEREAS, Rhode Island’s farms are predominantly small-scale family run businesses

that have made the state a national leader in the quantity of fresh fruits and vegetables sold

directly from the farm to consumers; and

     WHEREAS, According to the United States Department of Agriculture, there are 2,055

people who operate farms in Rhode Island; 773 of them are women and for 619 of them, farming

is their primary source of income, and only 86 farmers in the state of Rhode Island receive 100%

of their income from farming, and

     WHEREAS, Farms vary in size in the state with 433 farms that are 9 acres or less in area

and only four farms in Rhode Island that are over 1,000 acres, and the average Rhode Island farm

has 56 acres; and

     WHEREAS, Rhode Island has the highest farmland prices in the nation, while the

average income for a Rhode Island farm is $47,990 per year, and the US Department of

Agriculture classifies any farm with gross sales of less than $250,000 as a small farm; and

     WHEREAS, The largest age groups for Rhode Island farmers are 45-49 years old and

people who are 70 years or older while the average age for a Rhode Island farmer is 57 years old;

and

     WHEREAS, When the Food Safety Modernization Act is fully implemented, farms will

be responsible for adhering to the Act. At that point, the U.S. Farm Bureau claims it will be

uneconomical for small farmers to continue to operate; and

     WHEREAS, The Tester-Hagan Amendment to the Food Safety Modernization Act would

exempt farms with gross food sales of less than $25,000 annually, and would exempt farms with

gross food sales of between $25,000 and $500,000 from much of the Act if their sales are to

qualified retailers and sales are not more than 275 miles from the farm; and

     WHEREAS, the Food and Drug Administration has proposed rules that will allow that

agency to revoke the Tester-Hagan Amendment and to require that even small-scale, direct

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marketing farms comply with the Food Safety Modernization Act, and

     WHEREAS, The various categories and methods of farming in addition to the various

sizes of farms throughout the United States create myriad complexities requiring different

regulatory treatment with which the US Department of Agriculture works, regulates, preserves

and sustains since it is charged with overseeing, protecting and increasing agricultural

opportunities. The USDA has thus earned the trust of American farmers; now therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this Senate hereby respectfully requests that the President of the

United States and Congress delay the implementation of the law and ensure the Tester-Hagan

Amendment is complied with or delay the implementation of the law as it pertains to small farms

until it can be further amended so that the United States Department of Agriculture is responsible

for its implementation and so that it exempts small farms from regulations that are cost

prohibitive and could force our farmers out of business; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That failing such amendments, this Senate respectfully requests that the

Food Safety Modernization Act be repealed; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit duly certified copies of this resolution to the Rhode Island Congressional Delegation.

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