I am opposed to House Resolution 2749. This is a time when our country should be supporting local, sustainable agriculture and the family farmer. But HR 2749 will make that very difficult.

Warrantless searches of business records and regulating how crops are raised in this blanket bill will eliminate choice for the educated consumer. The bill fails to distinguish between corporate chemical-based agriculture and ecologically sustainable family farms. In fact, it completely misses the point.

The majority of food safety problems stems from the consolidation of our food supply and from CAFOs (concentrated animal feeding operations), from long-distance transportation (as opposed to local production and distribution) and from the massive environmental damage done by corporate chemically based food manufacture.

This bill is not based on educated knowledge of safe and nutritionally dense farming practices. This bill completely fails to protect the very farmers who are ensuring food safety by their organic, small-scale growing practices. It also tricks the consumer into thinking that they will be more informed about their food safety with this tracing system, but in fact that is false.

The consumer is actually more informed when they research and visit their local grower on their farm or farmers market or co-op.

The consumer should never let the government do his or her homework.

This bill gives the subtle suggestion that the consumer will be more protected. But eliminating the ability to choose small, local, ecologically sustainable, family-farmed food through the draconian provisions in this bill will actually expose the consumer to the mass-produced, chemical, corporate, average food that is not at all as nutritional or safe as the food produced by the conscientious organic family farmer.

Mrs. Hansa Pistotnik, Westfield