Congress Proposes To
Outlaw Home Gardens
Senate Bill S-510
Food Safety Modernization Act

A proposed federal law would regulate individual home gardens forcing individuals to comply with a vast regulatory system of complex rules that would virtually eliminate individuals from growing their own food. It would also make it nearly impossible for small family farms to continue operations. Only corporate farms would have the necessary capabilities to comply with new regulations ostensibly designed to protect consumers from unsafe foods.

The new legislation would essentially tell farmers how to grow their crops by setting up guidelines on appropriate temperatures, type of soil, how much water to use and what types of animals would be allowed on the fields, if any.

This new bill will place a great deal of authority over farmers, and even freelance gardeners simply growing fruits and vegetables in their own backyards. Practices such as saving seeds for use the next year would be prohibited and doing so could result in a federal offense, punishable by fines and prison time. Some speculate that the practice of saving seeds is being banned in order to give seed companies, such as Monsanto, a monopoly over the seed industry.

The proposal was ready to sail through to a vote on the Senate floor - limiting debate to 30 hours when Senator Tom Coburn (R) of Oklahoma filed an amendment that would ban all "earmark" spending until 2013. That move created a deadlock on the Senate floor stalling consideration of the proposed law until  On Thursday evening the Senate voted again to allow another 30 hour period of debate on the measure.

Another amendment to exempt small, family farms triggered controversy in the Senate. The amendment proposed by Senator Jon Tester (D) Montana would exempt farms that sell their products directly to consumers and restaurants within state lines or 275 miles if sales are less than $500,000.00. It would also remove the exemption if a facility is involved in a recall.

The Produce Marketing Association withdrew its support for the bill, sayint that the amendment would mean federal regulation would apply based on where food is sold and how much it earns, "neither of which are risk factors."

One of the biggest groups of people to suffer are farmers. Farmers who provide food for their own families, as well as sell their crops at farmer's markets, will now be subjected to the authority of the federal government in regards to their crops, and the sale, and even personal consumption, of said crops. You heard right; it would be against the law to consume food grown in your own garden without the federal government's approval.

This bill would affect not only the farmers, but gardening hobbyists, or those hoping to stretch their dollar and make ends meet with a summer garden. Ordinary Americans could be committing a federal offense by enjoying some home-grown cucumbers, tomatoes or sweet peas. That apple tree that's been in your backyard for the last decade? You better chop it down, because if you're caught eating from it, you could face criminal charges.

Given the delays on the Senate floor, the measure may stall out in the Senate after the Thanksgiving recess when the Senate resumes consideration on Monday, November 29, although a vote is scheduled to be taken early Monday evening of the 29th.

It remains to be seen whether or not the lameduck Congress will be able to take up the legislation before the lameduck session ends in December. Should the Senate bill pass, it must match up exactly with the House version of the House will have to accept the Senate version of the legislation. If the two separate measures cannot be reconciled, the legislation would stall out in failure, requiring the next Congress to start all over again for consideration of the proposals.

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