Food Safety Traceback
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Matt on -
I am way too small to be interested in any of this. Most guys that are as big as the article suggests probably need to do this just to know where stuff is coming and going from. Is this possibly a positive spin on some government agencies unfunded (except out of our pockets) mandate?
Food safety is great, but it should be left to industry to decide what is necessary, not some politician in washington who knows only about kickbacks from technology companies and big ag.
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Permalink Reply by Janie Cox on
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I believe the gov't should start paying attention to all of the back yard farmers who are packing the CSA (community supported agriculture) boxes in their yards, carports, etc. Some that we have seen have the appearance of having very unsanitary conditions where they are putting these boxes together to deliver to customers. Some rules and regulations should be placed on these folks to prevent a serious e-coli type of breakout in our local areas. Maybe it could begin with the local health offices making periodic inspections and setting some guidelines to follow to prevent a disaster that would effect all small farmers who grow and sell produce.
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Permalink Reply by Pamela Sweeten on
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@Matt how small is too small to have traceback? The goverment left it to the industry, this is the first of many goverment regulations to come when people die from eating food.
American farmers are doing it right 99% of the time. Traceback and getting product out of the system quickly is VITAL!!! Weeks and Days are unacceptable. WE all need to do it in a timely cost efficent manner.
@Jamie I know the health department in our local area is at the farmers market on a regular basis. I have even heard from folks with CSA's that they are being visited more often. So it seems in my area steps are being taken to address your concerns.
www.tracethefood.com works for all growers, packers, shippers. We work at all levels. We treat each area to your needs not asking you to be like the guy down the street.
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Permalink Reply by Matt on
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The amount of people sicked from small growers is virtually non-existant. The risk comes from very large agri-business who ship their product across multiple states AND/OR are part of a large multi-national company.
ALL of the recent health outbreaks, Lysteria, E-Coli, Salmonella, etc. ALL of them have come from LARGE, Conventional, Agri-business. The outbreak from the muskmelons? That came from a "family-farm" that shipped over 300,000 cases of muskmelons all across the United States. Calling that a "family-farm" is like calling Microsoft or Siemens a "family business".
Food traceback requirements are EXPENSIVE for a small grower. Which I would classify as someone who sells in the local (i.e. within 50 miles of production) community and farms 100 or less acres.
Policing farmers markets is the LAST thing that will help food safety. People can put a face on their producer at the farmers market. They KNOW who they got their food from. Go to the grocer who got his produce from a large produce distributor who bought it from multiple different large agribusiness who bought it from a famer or imported it.
Large agribusiness is the problem, not the small farmer at the farmers market. Traceback rules may make sense for the above large agribusiness scenerio. It makes NO sense for the small grower selling locally. It is simply a way for a niche industry to pressure it's way into the pocketbooks of small farms who can least afford it.People who signup for a CSA have a personal relationship with the farmer. They KNOW who they are getting their produce from. Any sickness would be limited to a very small group of people and traceback would be instant and easy. Maybe direct your fear towards the large agribusiness that takes its spoiled melons to the large confined animal feedlot and then drives the truck back to the packing house and contamintes it.
E-coli 057:H1 is almost exclusively found in contamination from confined animal feedlots where large amounts of grains are fed to cattle. Most people that grow a garden would not meet the sanitary conditions the government puts forth. As long as common sense sanitary producers are followed (Clean water for washing, all floors, walls, etc. sanitized periodically, no animal waste of facilities nearby, proper refrigeration where necessary, etc. They you food will most likely be safer than it will be from the store.
I worked in a grocery store as a manager for 14 years. I can tell you with 100 percent certainty that proper cold chain is not followed (produce routinely arrived on unrefrigerated trucks or the truck was way too warm, produce pallets were left to sit out for hours at a time until cooler space was freeded up, melons left to sit in boxes on the sales floor for days unrefrigreated). The cutting knives were not routinely cleaned. It was common to see produce personnel cut melons for an hour, never wash the knoves, switch to cutting pinapple, etc. Plastic cutting surfaces were used and not sanitized until the end of a shift (which could be 10 hours). Floors were left sticky, flies, etc.
This was a NICE store too. They did a LOT of business. I can tell you with 100% certainty that the produce I pick and deliver the SAME day was safer, cleaner, healthier than what can be found at MOST groceries. That is the case for almost ALL people at the farmers market/CSA. They pride themselves on what they grow. It is not all just dollars and cents.Traceability for big agra? Sure. For the small local farmer selling locally, un-needed.
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@Matt Pointing the finger at BIG ag as you put it, leaves 3 pointing back at you. Traceback if for everyone! One up one down isn't good enough. Recordkeeping is inexpensive and easy to use. Limits risk and liability.
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Permalink Reply by Matt on
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It depends on your profit margin. Almost all of the small producers organazations are against your proposals. The cost to implement this is significantly cheaper for a larger organization due to economies of scale.
I will always refer back to the past history. Small producers are almost never the problem. Widescale sickness is caused by large producers and hence it is logical to point the finger at the problem.
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Matt,
Take a moment and look at www.scoringag.com this is the recordkeeping system. Where are your backups if you suffer from a flood, fire or theft?
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Permalink Reply by Matt on
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I use carbonite.com and some of the free google services. Again, I am not that big. I sell to two restaurants and at the farmer's market. Maybe $25,000 per year if I am lucky. In no way do I want any part of extra work. My customers know where there produce comes from. I grow in one field and want no part of any other private companies dreams of tracking all of my processes, etc. I am not costco, not wal-mart and want no part of their command and control structure.
Private companies dream up these systems and then use government to try and mandate that we must all purchase them. Sorry I am having no part of it. If some people want to volunteer, that is up to them. My produce is safe, clean and healthy.
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I know we are cheaper than Carbonite.com!!!
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Permalink Reply by Greg on -
This simply looks to me as a salesperson trying to sell a product on a non-commercial forum.
Greg
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Lets go back to the original question?IF you could Achieve Significant Benefits in Multiple Areas: • Inventory & Supply Chain • #Food Safety • Labor • Yields Would you???It turned into small farmer large farmer.
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Permalink Reply by Matt on
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I think you got it Greg! This is how it stats though. Magazine announces great new tracking software. Software maker schmoozes congress. Big Ag is already doing it so they say, sure no problem, but don't forget about the last of our competition. Those evil farmers market and CSA people. Their pesticide free/IPM produced crops are dangerous. They might even be organic <gasp> and we can't have that. They need to track ALL of their produce from the field to their two or there institutional customers and their handful of CSA and farmers market customers.
If the government wanted to provide us with something useful then why don't they start funding research into reduce risk/bio pesticides, how about holding producers who kill people with their product liable? Remember the egg scare that lead to the food safety bill? That was from a plant that had numerous complaints by even the government's own employees. NOTHING happened to them. They recalled the eggs and then resold them in a processed food. Uhhh.
Yet all we hear about is stupid raids on raw milk drinkers and amish farmers. These people have their priorities backwards. The local food producers are what we need more of not less. Food that only travels 50-100 miles from source to consumption. This would GREATLY limit the exposure of the population at large to food safety issues and make traceback a lot earlier.
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