Blog posts by Brise Tencer
Written by Brise Tencer
on Tuesday, April 30, 2013
on advocacy, food safety, grower, handler, standards
Update 04/30/13:
The FDA has extended the comment period on the proposed food safety regulations until September 16. This change was made as a result of numerous requests for more time to review the proposals, which are complex. The additional time offers CCOF members an opportunity to provide more feedback about the proposals, areas for concerns, or suggested changes. We encourage you to continue sending us your feedback to policy@ccof.org.
Original Post 03/13/13:
I wanted to take this opportunity to update CCOF members on the FDA proposed rules for implementation of the Food Safety...
Written by Brise Tencer
on Wednesday, January 16, 2013
on grower, inputs, materials, pests and pesticides, regulatory, SOP
Understandably, organic growers are concerned about the Asian Citrus Psyllid (ACP), a pest that is a carrier of a devastating disease of citrus trees, huanglongbing (HLB). ACP findings are particularly concerning for organic producers because of how few choices there are for organic control methods. In cases of CDFA eradication efforts, there are no currently accepted organic treatments, but organic producers do have tools for management and prevention.
We encourage citrus growers to read up on the issue and be proactive with preventive management. In general, organic common sense principles...
Written by Brise Tencer
on Monday, January 14, 2013
on advocacy, farm bill, funding, policy
In the last days of December and the beginning of January, Congress and the White House passed legislation to avoid the “fiscal cliff.” They attached language to the legislation that extends provisions of the 2008 Farm Bill for nine months, giving themselves until September 2013 to write a new farm bill. Unfortunately for farmers across the nation, this farm bill does not actually extend all programs and leaves many growers high and dry. Organic farmers were hit particularly hard by this move as no funding was provided for the Organic Data Initiative (which provides for price reporting and...
Written by Brise Tencer
on Tuesday, January 8, 2013
on advocacy, food safety, policy, standards
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has released two proposed rules for implementation of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), signed into law on January 4, 2011. One of the rules is about produce safety and other is about processing. Both rules have 120-day comment periods. Additional rules related to implementation of FSMA are expected.
The proposed Produce Safety Rule would establish standards for growing, harvesting, packing, and holding produce on domestic and foreign farms in light of identified routes of microbial contamination of produce, including agricultural water;...
Written by Brise Tencer
on Friday, May 11, 2012
on
After much uncertainty about the timing of the 2012 Farm Bill, the legislation is finally moving forward. On April 26, the Senate Agriculture Committee passed a farm bill that included $23 billion in cuts. Although the farm bill still has a long way to go before becoming law (the House has not yet acted), things are happening fast, with the full Senate expected to consider the bill in May and the House Agriculture Committee suggesting they will likely consider the bill in June or July.
The Senate Committee’s version of the 2012 Farm Bill is a revolutionary piece of legislation in that...
Written by Brise Tencer
on Friday, April 27, 2012
on
This past week I joined fellow CCOF staff and board members in traveling to Washington D.C. to advocate for organic farm bill programs and participate in the OTA Policy Conference. This year, the whirlwind trip coincided with the Senate Agriculture Committee consideration of the 2012 Farm Bill.
The OTA Policy Conference & Hill Visit Days had a great lineup of high profile speakers and addressed a range of topics from food safety and GMO labeling to research needs and the OTA organic marketing order proposal. It was a fantastic time for all of us to reconnect with the broad spectrum of...
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