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News and Updates
Farm Bill
October 2, 2007
FARM BILL AMENDMENT WILL WEAKEN AMERICA
Amendment will eliminate a 40-year-old protection in the federal meat and poultry inspection acts
Washington, D.C. – The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) today joined forces with the Consumer Federation of America, Safe Tables Our Priority and other consumer and watchdog groups to oppose an amendment in the Senate Farm Bill that puts consumers and food workers at risk of foodborne illnesses. The pending amendment will eliminate a 40-year-old protection in the federal meat and poultry inspection acts that bans state inspected meat and poultry from being sold in interstate commerce. The amendment will also allow meat and poultry plants to forgo federal inspections and increase the risk of foodborne illnesses in the United States.
“Any notion that state inspection systems are equal to the federal system is hogwash,” said Michael J. Wilson, UFCW International Vice President and Director of Legislative and Political Action. “States have no ability to recall tainted products, and state inspectors are not accountable to consumers in other states. Any effort to devolve federal oversight of meat and poultry plants to states is a threat to consumer safety and will further subject food workers to unsanitary work conditions.”
For more than 100 years, the UFCW has been fighting to improve the working conditions of food workers and the safety of our food, and currently represents more than a quarter of a million workers in the meatpacking and poultry industries. In addition to protecting the rights of food workers, the UFCW is also a founding member of the Safe Food Coalition which consists of consumer groups, groups representing victims of foodborne illnesses, and watchdog groups that are dedicated to reducing the incidence of foodborne illnesses in the United States.
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September 25, 2007
FARM BILL PROVISION WILL PUT CONSUMERS AND FOOD WORKERS AT RISK
Provision will compromise food safety by allowing states to forgo federal meat and poultry inspections
Washington, D.C. – The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) joined forces with the American Federation of Government Employees today to oppose a provision in the House Farm Bill that will put consumers at risk of food borne illnesses and further subject food workers to unsanitary work conditions.
The provision will eliminate a 40-year-old protection in the federal meat and poultry inspection acts that bans state inspected meat and poultry from being sold in interstate commerce. The provision will also allow the vast majority of meat and poultry plants to forgo federal inspection in favor of more lax state inspections, which ultimately puts the health and safety of millions of consumers at risk.
“This amendment will weaken America’s food safety net, pure and simple,” said Michael J. Wilson, UFCW International Vice President and Director of Legislative and Political Action. “Anyone who pretends that state inspection is the same as federal inspection also believes in the Tooth Fairy. In addition, it will encourage thousands of facilities who are currently federally inspected to opt for a more ‘friendly’ state inspection. Like a tainted piece of meat, this provision deserves the stamp of rejection.”
For more than 100 years, the UFCW has been fighting to improve the working conditions of food workers and the safety of our food, and currently represents more than a quarter of a million workers in the meatpacking and poultry industries. In addition to protecting the rights of food workers, the UFCW is also a founding member of the Safe Food Coalition which consists of consumer groups, groups representing victims of food borne illnesses, and watchdog groups that are dedicated to reducing the incidence of food borne illnesses in the United States.
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July 27, 2007
House Democrats Betray American Consumers
Washington, DC – Despite recent food safety outbreaks, House Democrats betrayed American consumers last night when they added a provision to the Farm Bill (H.R. 2419) that effectively weakens food safety standards and increases the risk of food-borne illness in the U.S.
The bill’s provision allow the vast majority of meat and poultry plants to forgo federal inspection in favor of more lax state inspection—which ultimately risks the health and safety of consumers. The provision eliminates a 40-year old protection in the federal meat and poultry inspection acts that ban shipping state-inspected meat to other states, as individual states do not have the full capacity to implement and track recalls of tainted meat and poultry across state lines. Furthermore, the USDA Office of the Inspector General recently reported that plants subjected to state inspection are not as clean and sanitary as federally inspected plants. Last fall, the OIG released an audit of state inspection that included stomach-turning examples of state programs that failed to meet basic sanitation requirements and were not held accountable for protecting public health.
“It’s a sham to pretend that state inspection systems are equal to federal inspection systems,” said Michael J. Wilson, International Vice President and Director of Legislative and Political Action for the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union. “A public discussion of this issue would have prevented this betrayal and protected American consumers.”
This particular provision was added by the House Agriculture Committee without public hearings and was agreed to by some state officials and food processors. Consumer and public health experts who had concerns about the increased risk of food borne illness because of this provision were shut out of the discussion.
Supporters of the state-inspected meat provision justified it as a way to allow smaller plants to compete in the market. This ignores the fact that thousands of small plants currently thrive under federal inspection by complying with higher food safety standards while also making a profit.
The UFCW is a founding member of the Safe Food Coalition, which consists of consumer groups, groups representing victims of food borne illness, and watchdog groups dedicated to reducing the incidence of food borne illness in the U.S.
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