Governor Abercrombie announced the veto of controversial Hawaii food safety and security bill # HB667. This will allow small farmers and all interested parties to participate in future discussion and action in this area vital to our sustainability. Please help express appreciation to the Governor, who overcame intense pressure from corporate interests in this bold action.
According to Governor Abercrombie’s press release:
House Bill 667 would have created the food safety and security program within the Department of Agriculture (HDOA). This bill did not provide any funding or power for the department to establish regulations. Congress has recently passed the Food Safety Modernization Act and federal regulations are in the process of being passed. The state must act on the issue of food safety and this Administration will be working on bringing a bill before the Legislature that is comprehensive and includes implementation of a funding mechanism. Moreover, this measure has created such a division of opinion, passage of this bill would make more problems than it solves.
Wendy
Dear Governor Neil Abercrombie,
Please remain a hero to the people, humanity & do all that you can to fight Tyranny. Thank you for the veto, HB667.
Mahalo,
Wendy
Colette Evans
I want to thank you Governor Abercrombie, for supporting small farmers who have taken many blows with little support over the years. Your continued support and assistance in watching for legislation which is not in the interest of Hawaii’s future is so needed and welcomed.
In our times when corporate interests drown out the common person, not in number but in effect, a time when the average person does not know how to write, much less introduce legislation, we need governance with a long-range vision for the health and wellbeing of our communities and state.
Thank you Neil Abercrombie!
Makana
Dear Governor,
Thank you for taking action to protect small scale and aqua farming and prevent mega-food corp backed legislation from hurting our local producers. The issue of “food safety” is increasingly ironic in that the implementation of so-called well-intentioned legislation often results in the destruction of most or all living enzymes in food, resulting in an increasingly unhealthy population. Add to that broad, non-specific language and we have nothing short of a regulatory nightmare riddled with subjective interpretations which end up seeking resolution in the courts. Keep government regulation at a MINIMUM and let consumers choose to educate and fend for themselves in their food consumption choices. And please apply a local, independently-minded thinking process in regard to the implementation of any new food related legislation, rather than tow the line of any federal mandate, which is often nothing more than the result of big money influence from the corporate ag-industry lobby. Hawai’i has its own climate, culture and geology; let’s celebrate our ‘aina by encouraging diversified agricultural practices rather than streamlining toward centralized control of such.
Mahalo,
Makana
Karen Chun
Actually, I don’t think this bill was “well intentioned” at all. It was part of Big Ag’s strategy to squeeze out organic and local farmers under the guise of “safety”
They tried to pass the Federal Food Safety and Modernization Act without any exception for local growers selling locally and it was only thanks to the Tester-Hagan amendment that local farmers selling locally were not dealt a crushing blow of expensive permitting.
So Big Ag has embarked on their 50 state strategy of getting redundant legislation passed in each state but WITHOUT the exception for local farmers.
This was a sneaky ILL INTENTIONED bill.