Posted on 05/04/2007 1:06:30 PM PDT by TheBethsterNH
Article published May 4, 2007 New agriculture bill would allow sale of uninspected chickens
MONTPELIER — A bill to allow poultry farmers who sell fewer than 1,000 birds a year to avoid facilities inspections was endorsed Thursday by the state Senate.
Backers said they hoped to promote small poultry operations enough so that it would be economical for more slaughterhouses to open in Vermont, filling a void that makes it difficult for some farmers to process their chickens.
Rep. David Zuckerman, P-Burlington and chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, said New York had just repealed a law allowing small poultry producers to go without inspections, prompting the opening of more slaughterhouses to serve small producers.
But opponents raised the specter of tainted chicken sickening or even killing people and ruining Vermont's image as a producer of wholesome products.
The poultry provisions were contained in a far-reaching agriculture bill that also calls for working with other states to revive the Northeast Interstate Dairy Compact. It would also promote more farm energy projects like those that burn methane from cow manure to make electricity and contains a host of other measures.
One calls for the state to fund a mobile slaughterhouse that could be used by small producers. Amy Shollenberger, director of the farm advocacy group Rural Vermont, which supports the poultry provisions, said more processing facilities are needed before it's practicable to expect all poultry producers to be inspected.
The poultry provisions caused feathers to fly during Senate debate. An amendment to strike them failed after lengthy debate.
Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Sara Kittell, D-Franklin, argued that with their business reputations on the line and with legal liability at stake, small poultry producers and restaurant owners would see to it that birds were processed in a sanitary fashion.
But Sen. Ann Cummings, D-Washington, countered that if she or a loved one were to eat tainted meat, "I'm not going to care about who's liable. I'm going to care about who's sick and who's dead."
Sens. Jane Kitchel, D-Caledonia, and Dick Mazza, D-Grand Isle-Chittenden, said putting a label on the poultry saying "not inspected," as the bill requires, would drive consumers away.
Kitchel said it was her goal to "develop a system of inspections that is accessible, affordable and addresses the needs of our poultry farmers."
The amendment to strike the poultry provisions died on a 22-7 vote, followed by a vote to advance the underlying bill of 26-3.
It's expected to go up for final approval in the Senate on Friday. Zuckerman said if no major changes are made before the final Senate vote, the House would be likely to concur with the Senate's changes, saving the need for a conference committee to work out differences between the two versions.
SOUND FAMILIER?
I have read that the inspection regulations require a designated room to be set aside for the inspector to be used for no other purpose, and there are other onerous requirements.
If you eased some of the nonessential requirements but still required inspection, that would make sense.
Now if you have someone selling ten chickens a week locally, how often does it make sense to inspect the facilities? The FDA regulations are geared to large agribusinesses and not the small farmer.
Mrs VS
Your number (10) and your realistic assessment of the problems involved seem sound, but 1000 tainted chickens on the market can do a lot of damage.
So, if I set up 10 companies and sell 999 chickens from each..........
For God’s sake people get a grip!
What exactly do you think these chickens are going to be “tainted” with any way? These farmers are selling live chickens to the slaughter house; they are not selling slaughtered chickens at the grocery store. Furthermore, exactly how much good is some government inspector going to do on a small scale chicken farm anyway?
I think the chances are that a small farmer is likely to raise his chickens in a much better environment than a huge factory farm.
What ever happened to personal responsibility? Don’t you inspect your chicken before you cook it, don’t you cook your chicken all the way? If you don’t you deserve to be poised by “tainted” chicken!
LOL...good time to get in the Training Wheels business...
EXACTLY 999 chickens per year business, fold up shop, start new farm next week and another 999 chickens...and so on, and so on.
Further, because our chickens weren't crowded into battery cages where they pooped on each other and developed paralysis from lack of exercise, they produced a far better, more sanitary meat than anything done on the conglomerate large commercial scale.
My brother was a government meat inspector at some of these large operations and could tell you a few stories about how his colleagues came to work drunk, stoned or otherwise if they had the right connections to get and keep the job.
The Mennonite family operation, meanwhile, did not have inspectors but were always happy to show small-time farmers like my Dad or I around because they took pride in what they did.
999 chickens on the truck, 999 chicks,
Take one down, pass it around,
998 chicks on the truck.....
I do not need some gov’t inspector to tell me whether or not my chicken is good to eat! You all are putting way to much faith in these inspectors.
I don’t put too much faith in inspectors. I like to have that buffer there though.
is there no end to the problems with our food?
A VT Co-Op (forgot the product, milk? Dang Ocean Spray commercial got inserted into recent co-op memory references) just lost their accreditation last month to test their own stuff. Now, they have to send it out of state for testing.
Legislators are only thinking getting their pockets lined at the expense of the common good.
If you bought a chicken from the store and it smelled funny and was covered in red spots and welts would you eat it because it was “inspected”?
I don't think so.
As a previous poster mentioned, small family run farms are much cleaner than huge industrial complexes.
If you read my post #14 you would have ascertained that I liked the buffer aspect. You seem to want to do away with government inspections of food in general. I find that F***ed up.
You are assuming that the government inspectors are an effective buffer. I find that f***ed up! I feel the solution to higher quality foods in out markets lies in the hands of smaller farms, and packing plants, run buy people who are proud of the products they produce.
Government intrusion should be limited to only spot inspection of facilities to ensure that flagrant health violations are not present.
In this day and age, between the USDA and the EPA a farmer or even a small machine shop has to deal with so much government legislated CRAP it isn’t funny.
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