This article focuses on the aspects of the FSMA most relevant to farms we assist. The FSMA standards were structured to roll out in phases and the largest businesses were the first required to meet deadlines by which they must adopt certain food safety practices, followed by the smaller players. We will focus here on small and very…
FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA)
Working to Better Serve FTCLDF Members
Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund (FTCLDF) recently conducted a survey of its members to learn how COVID-19 has affected their farm businesses and to learn what more the organization can do to serve its members. Here is what we learned and what we are planning at the FTCLDF…
Unconstitutional New Rule to Affect Small Produce Farmers
The Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance led a coalition that we were a part of in 2010, which convinced Congress to exempt small, direct-marketing farmers from the new rules under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). But now that the rules are being implemented by the states, the Texas…
FSMA Deadlines: Are You a “Food Facility”?
After nearly a decade of congressional debates, regulatory wrangling, and implementation delays, the deadline for compliance of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) is now approaching. Thanks to organizations (like FTCLDF!) working for small farmers, artisan producers, and local food consumers, most small-scale producers are exempt from…
Reclaiming Our Traditional Foodways
For the majority of this country’s history, unregulated farmer-to-consumer direct commerce was the norm in most of the United States. Consumers could even purchase meat, a food heavily regulated today, from farmers that were not