Do not grow your own Food..Thx Kate Wilkinson

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Topic # 94388 9-Dec-2011 19:11

Why do we follow these crazy over seas laws..

This leeds the way to preventing us from growing our own food and sharing seeds.. When will it end?

http://nzfoodsecurity.org/2011/07/19/food-a-controlled-substance-not-in-my-back-yard/

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sbiddle

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Reply # 556050 9-Dec-2011 19:43

That's actually a very one sided opiniionated view of the proposed law, which the Government did announced in September would have some aspects reviewed. Having spent a lot of time looking at this bill early on I'll actually make a pretty bold comment and say I suspect you have not read the full bill, and actually have very little idea what it actually covers.

What is interesting however is that the key people behind the current FUD campaign expressed absolutely no objection to any aspects of the law as it was going through the select committee process, which is exactly the sort of hearing you express your views and changes.

Many aspects of the law are logical - why for example should you as a small scale food producer, say at a local market, not be subject to the same food safety regulations that a supermarket next door is subject to? Your food has exactly the same potential to harm, or even kill somebody as the food from the supermarket. Just because something has been grown in somebody's back yard does NOT make it automatically safe.

kingjj

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Reply # 556075 9-Dec-2011 20:33

sbiddle: That's actually a very one sided opiniionated view of the proposed law, which the Government did announced in September would have some aspects reviewed. Having spent a lot of time looking at this bill early on I'll actually make a pretty bold comment and say I suspect you have not read the full bill, and actually have very little idea what it actually covers.

+100, could not have said it better. I have not read the bill, but I am inclined to treat that blog post with a grain of salt. For starters it does little to actually outline the described purpose and scope of the proposed bill and reads like one big scaremongering campaign.

gzt

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Reply # 556095 9-Dec-2011 21:02

The linked article has a high FUD level for sure. I took a quick look at it then read this instead for a more coherent overview:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/5601333/Food-safety-backlash-stuns-government

sbiddle: Many aspects of the law are logical - why for example should you as a small scale food producer, say at a local market, not be subject to the same food safety regulations that a supermarket next door is subject to?

But here is the bit I don't yet understand - as far as I am aware (and I accept I may be wrong) existing health regulations already cover small scale production for sale and distribution. That being the case, what exactly is the need for the new legislation?

I do think if you are manufacturing herbal supplements which have known potential for unintended harmful byproducts to occur in manufacturing, manufacture should be performed to a pharmaceutical standard, but that list is likely to be small.

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Reply # 556109 9-Dec-2011 21:36

gzt: But here is the bit I don't yet understand - as far as I am aware (and I accept I may be wrong) existing health regulations already cover small scale production for sale and distribution. That being the case, what exactly is the need for the new legislation?

Much of it covers the implimentation of HAACP food safety programs and a framework to expand on what is in place now. Right now you can go and sell food at a market without necessarily needing any form of documentation to show that your have the skills and knowledge to safely produce food, and that your food won't pose a risk to others. There is also a lot of work put into ensuring that food importated into NZ is compliant with our food safety guidelines, and is safe to eat.

I haven't looked at the final bill but there was also going to be greater responsibility on suppliers to prove that labelling is correct - 10 years on from mandatory ingredient and NIP labelling the poor uptake is of real concern, especially when there are so many loopholes and lack of enforcement surrounding this.

Quite frankly IMHO the sorts of people objecting to this law are the same ones who would come out and say bean sprouts and orange juice don't kill people.. The fact bean sprouts and orange juice have killed people and made people very suck is all the proof people should need that food safety programs aren't optional, they are an essential part of a regulatory framework to ensure that consumers are eating safe food.

(And in case anybody's wondering much of my former life was spent dealing with this very sort of thing)