Archives
June 2010

August 2009
July 2009
June 2009
May 2009
April 2009
March 2009
February 2009
January 2009

December 2008
November 2008
October 2008
September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008

December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007

October 2006
September 2006
May 2006
March 2006
January 2006

December 2005
November 2005
October 2005
August 2005
July 2005
June 2005
April 2005
February 2005
January 2005

December 2004
October 2004
September 2004
August 2004
July 2004
June 2004

Farmers market lovers want to see exemptions in food safety bill

Rapid City Journal
August 11, 2009
By Mary Garrigan

Email this page

Roy Neal calls the state and federal laws designed to protect him from Ranee Priem's home-canned zucchini relish and apple jelly -- including the Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009 now working its way through Congress -- attempts at "solving a nonproblem."

Neal was browsing through the Cascade Farms booth at the Black Hills Farmers Market last week, where Priem had garden fresh beets, zucchini and summer squash for sale, as well as glass jars filled with pickles, relishes and jellies.

"Let them post a disclaimer that says these things are homemade, and then let the consumer decide," said Neal of Rapid City, a farmers market shopper who wants to see South Dakota adopt Minnesota's approach to small food vendors at fairs and farmers markets.

Under Minnesota's "pickle bill," certain types of home-canned foods can be sold direct to the consumer as long as the seller meets some minimal requirements, including posting a sign that says it was prepared in a home kitchen and is not subject to state inspection. The jars must also be labeled by date of processing and name of seller.

Farmers market vendors who sell processed foods -- that includes canned, baked or any other value-added food product -- were told in July by the South Dakota Office of Health Protection that they must begin complying with a state law that requires any processed foods sold to the public be prepared in a certified kitchen. A certified kitchen is one that meets a lengthy list of regulations established by the Department of Health for the preparation of value-added food products. Those establishments also pay a $100 food service license, as well as annual inspection fees.

"We are going to comply," Priem said, despite the hefty financial burden that she will incur to install a certified kitchen in a building at her Hot Springs farm. "They told us we need to start complying with the law, but they didn't give us a deadline yet."

At the Hill City Farmers Market, the state's requirements for processed foods has effectively eliminated breads and baked goods as well as jams, jellies and salsas.

"It's just too much for right now," said Rebecca Lord, an organizer of the Hill City Farmers Market. That market is held at 9:30 a.m. Saturdays outside of Swan's Discount Organic Market across from the Hill City train station.

"I would like to see a provision made for local farmers markets, for local people to be able to grow and wash produce and bake things and bring them in for their neighbors to buy," she said.

At the Philip Area Farmers Market, manager Deeta Terkildsen said vendors are no longer selling shelf-stable baked goods, jellies and jams, threatening the viability of the market, she said. "This will probably end our market that started last year."

Vendors and buyers at local farmers markets agree people want protection from increasingly common national food scares: e-coli in burgers, bacteria-tainted cilantro and salmonella-contaminated peanuts. But Priem, Lord and Neal say the danger comes from national and international sources, not local vendors.

"In 20 years, no one has ever gotten sick by any of the foods sold at the Black Hills Farmers Market," Priem said.

In fact, there has never been a case of food-borne illness reported to the FDA that has been traced to an organic farm or a farmers market anywhere in the U.S., according to Lord.

Before Congress left for its August recess, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 2749, the food safety legislation designed to address those health scares.

That bill, which strengthens the Food and Drug Administration's ability to prevent contaminated foods from entering the nation's food supply and to stop it when it does, awaits action by the Senate.

Lord said the House version is a one-size-fits-all approach to the issue of enhancing food safety and too often fails to differentiate between small processors, like Priem, and food giants like Dole or Del Monte.

Amendments have improved the bill so that, mostly, farm-direct marketers have been written out of most sections of the legislation. The one exception to that is that some produce crops, such as leafy greens, could be covered by federal rules governing farming practices. A local farmer who cuts, rinses and packs fresh greens into a plastic bag for sale at the Rapid City farmers market may be subject to the same $500 facility fee and record-keeping rules as a large food processor.

"We can't even believe that," Lord said. "How can a person who grows vegetables in their backyard for sale have to comply with the same fees as Heinz or some other large processor?"

Dale Casteel, who sells fresh produce grown at DC Farms, wants to see Congress use common sense with the bill. A $500 annual facility fee would eliminate him as a vendor at the market, he said. "That would shut me down," he said.

"Somehow, they need to make a differentiation between the huge corporate farms and small farmers," Lord said.

Dakota Rural Action organizer Stephanie Trask said the advocacy group is in the process of plotting its legislative agenda for the 2010 South Dakota Legislature, including regulation of small food vendors at farmers markets.

"We'll advocate some changes to state law to affect the marketing of that kind of value-added production," Trask said, "but it would be premature to say what the wordage will be."

Contact Mary Garrigan at 394-8424 or e-mail mary.garrigan@rapidcityjournal.com

NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for research and educational purposes.