Tag Archives: food safety

Food Safety and the Impact of Regulations on Small Food Producers and Processors

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Micro and Small Business Consultation at CFIA

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is seeking input and comments on the discussion paper: Options for Reducing Burden for Micro and Small Businesses. The paper lays out the reasoning behind the Safe Food for Canadians Act, and why they are seeking additional consultations regarding the regulations that will support the Act:

  • …The consequences to public health and the economy when food safety issues arise can be severe, regardless of the size of the company. Food safety risks depend on the type of food product, the processes and management systems in place – not size of business.
  • …The CFIA would like to hear more from companies on how it can better support micro and small businesses in their efforts to produce safe food and comply with new food regulations.
  • Further, the costs and challenges that small and micro companies would face in meeting proposed new requirements needs more study. There are options that can be considered to support micro and small businesses as new regulations are developed and implemented.

To provide comments and fill out the questionnaire…

 

Trends in U.S. Local and Regional Food Systems

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The latest (2012) USDA numbers show that almost 8% of all US farmers are selling ‘local food’, with 70% of those selling direct-to-consumer (DTC). ERS census data analysis shows that 85% of these ‘local food farms’ have gross sales below $75,000 (US). The number of farms joining these ranks is slowing, as are the direct sales, which totalled an estimated $6.1 billion in 2012. However, farms with DTC sales are more likely to stay in operation than all farms not using DTC sales.

One cloud on the horizon: new ‘Produce safety’ and ‘Preventive controls’ rules under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) may disproportionately affect these ‘local food’ farms. “DTC farms apply more manure than all non-DTC farms and thus could be disproportionately affected by any FSMA regulations on the application of biological soil amendments”. Read more…

Fortnightly Feast

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Our biweekly roundup -from across the internet- of the interesting, the relevant, and the merely peculiar.

Try My Maccas: A short film
This Aussie marketing campaign from MacDonald’s has sparked a prolonged discussion on the Sustainable Foods Network: “…what i find really interesting is the admission, the acceptance, the demonstration by ‘Maccas’ marketeers that the gold standard in food safety, environmental responsibility, sustainable production -and the story they know their consumers want to see- is 1) small farm; 2) local; 3) ecologically sensitive agricultural production (wind and solar, trees and butterflies)…”

Power grows from Motor City soil
Waging Nonviolence | January 29, 2013
“We have lost the ability to think collectively about our own interests in the public political sphere…”

Sustain UK |  Growing Success: The impact of Capital Growth on community food growing in London

USDA  |   Agriculture Secretary Vilsack Signs Regulation Confirming “Government to Government” Consultation with Tribes
“…since 2009 the Department has worked with more than 270 Tribal governments to provide healthier food for more than 250,000 low-income Tribal citizens. Additionally, USDA has partnered with Tribal colleges to enhance community gardening efforts and improve nutrition education.”

Al Jazeera (English)  |  Resolving the food crisis: The need for decisive action
Global leaders squandered 2012, but prospects for resolving the food crisis in 2013 seem better – Sophia Murphy and Timothy Wise

The Atlantic | The Agricultural Fulcrum: Better Food, Better Climate
The National Climate Assessment, released this week, predicted increasingly negative impact of weather extremes on crops. But with industrialized farming as a key player in greenhouse gas emissions and climate change, the vicious cycle needs breaking.

Sustainable Cities Collective  |  How Physical Places Define Local Economies
“Human capital and creative talent increasingly goes where it likes; talent increasingly goes to great places; but talented people become most attached to places that they help create.”

Farm Foundation: Ag Challenge 2050 | Sustainable Health of the Food Supply
Another lens on sustainability…