Hiding Aspartame in Your Dairy

So do you want artificial sweeteners added to your dairy products.....without you even knowing it's in there?  If the dairy and milk industry has it's way, this will be how things are done.

URGENT ACTON ALERT
Dairy industry petitions FDA to approve aspartame as a hidden, unlabeled additive in milk, yogurt, eggnog and cream.

 

The integrity of our food supply is poised for another blow with an FDA petition submitted by the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) and the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF).  These industry groups are asking the FDA to alter the definition of "milk" to include chemical sweeteners such as aspartame and sucralose without listing these additives on the label.

While aimed principally at replacing sugar in flavored milks served to school children, the petition also asks for the right to put hidden artificial sweeteners in a host of dairy products including nonfat dried milk(always added to reduced-fat milks), yogurt, cream, half-and-half, sour cream, eggnog and whipping cream. Truly, no conventional dairy product will be safe if the petitioners get their way.

 

To read the petition, click here:
https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2013/02/20/2013-03835/flavored-milk-petition-to-amend-the-standard-of-identity-for-milk-and-17-additional-dairy-products

ACTIONS TO TAKE

1. Please file a comment at

http://www.regulations.gov/#!submitComment;D=FDA-2009-P-0147-0012

 

Even if your comment is very short, we need thousands of people letting the government know that granting this petition would be a disaster to our food supply, especially for children.  It’s best to compose your comments before submitting them.  Comments 2000 words or less can be copied and pasted into the comment box.  Longer comments can be attached as a letter.

For the required field “Organization Name,” please enter “Citizen.”

For "Category," you can use "Individual Consumer"

Remember to hit “submit comment” when you are done. You should be taken to another screen that includes a confirmation number for your comment, which is how you know your comment was successfully submitted.

The comment period ends on May 21, 2013

1. A petition from a consumer group, SumOfUs, has gathered almost 100,000 signers to oppose this move. To sign this petition, go to sumofus.org.
2. Please circulate this Action Alert to other email groups.

TALKING POINTS

• Adding hidden artificial sweeteners to dairy products would hurt the dairy industry by further reducing the numbers of people who could safely consume dairy products.
• Adding hidden artificial sweeteners to dairy products would generate severe consumer backlash to all conventional dairy products.
• The FDA lists more than ninety documented symptoms of aspartame toxicity, including abdominal pain, anxiety attacks, brain cancer, breathing difficulties, chronic fatigue, depression, headaches, migraines, dizziness, marked personality changes, memory loss, panic attacks, rapid heartbeat, vision loss and weight gain
• Aspartame releases methanol upon digestion, and methanol poisoning causes headaches, behavioral disturbances and inflammation of the nerves. Another breakdown product of aspartame is poisonous formaldehyde..
• Thousands of adverse reactions to aspartame have been reported to the FDA, mostly concerned with abnormal brain function, brain tumors, epilepsy and Parkinson’s.
• Children’s brains are four times more susceptible to damage from excitotoxins like aspartame than those of adults and react with ADD ADHD type symptoms, impaired learning, depression and nausea.
• Sucralose side effects include rashes, panic attacks, dizziness, numbness, diarrhea, swelling, headaches, cramping and stomach pain.
• People who are sensitive to aspartame can have life-threatening reactions to it.
• The proposed regulations restrict our freedom of choice. Industry players who oppose consumers' ability to choose raw milk are now trying to force consumers to consume artificial additives without their knowledge or consent.

Proposition 37-- Right to Know Act

If you haven't heard there is a GMO labeling ballot initiative --Proposition 37--(the California Right to Know Act, a.k.a. Label GMO)  in California this fall. 

They want to make it law that it will not only require labels on genetically engineered foods (like what they have in Europe already), but will also ban the fraudulent (and highly profitable) industry practice of marketing GMO-tainted foods as "natural."    

But guess what??  There are a lot of businesses not liking this and are pouring big bucks into the fight to defeat it.  You get 1 guess in who the leading contender is--yep--you guessed right--Monsanto...the king (and a nasty king at that!) of GMOs.   A bit of a surprise though for some, there are a good deal of the parent companies, to those smaller organic companies that we are all familiar with, that are fighting to defeat this too.  And then there are some true organic companies that are just sitting there doing nothing to help out.

Want to know more about this, who those companies are and what you can do?  Check out these links:

http://www.anh-usa.org/gmo-labeling-initiative-will-be-on-the-ballot-in-california/

http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_26121.cfm

 http://www.anh-usa.org/the-great-organic-deceivers/

 http://www.anh-usa.org/our-gmo-boycott-is-expanding/

Update on S.510.... now H.R. 3082

Here is an update on the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act that I have posted an Action Alert for these past 2 posts.

This is getting a bit confusing as S.510 did pass the Senate, then went to the House which seem to act like they were going to stall it, THEN today we find out they (House Democrats) put it into another bill altogether! This is NOT good...or honest!!! While it was somewhere (I think the Senate) there was an added amendment to it called the Tester-Hagan amendment which did help small farmers in some ways, but even with this, the bill has serious problems....and ramifications to us all.

I have put 2 different Alert emails that have come through about this bill below to help you wade through this if you have not kept up to date about this.

Your attention is needed on this issue- NOW- if you want to keep your food freedoms.

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From..........Alliance for Natural Health USA

On December 8, the House of Representatives passed a Continuing Resolution (CR) H.R.3082. A CR is supposed to provide temporary, stopgap funding for the government while budget bills are worked out. But this CR included the language of the Senate food safety bill—language that will still affect small food producers (organic farms, small farms, mom-and-pop roadside stands, etc.) most of all. It will completely transform the food and farming industries—for the worse.

Putting the text of another bill into a CR is a prime example of the way Congress operates. It is ethically wrong; indeed it is an example of corruption. We saw this kind of slight of hand in the passage of the health reform legislation, and the American public should be fed up with it.

Now this House CR goes back to the Senate, which is expected to pick it up by the middle of next week. The rumor is that instead of dealing with the CR directly, Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-HI) will introduce the Senate’s own omnibus bill (even larger than the CR) that will also contain the food safety language along and who knows what else.

This is a bad bill, on its own or attached to another piece of legislation. We are grateful that the changes we lobbied for have stayed in the bill, including the exemption for supplements from Codex language and the Tester amendment that protects small farms from some of the bill’s provisions. But the bill still gives the FDA much too much control over farming in general and small producers in particular.

Three specific concerns remain, all major:

1. The bill mandates that every registered facility must be inspected by the FDA: high-risk facilities will be inspected initially within the first five years and then every three years thereafter; low-risk facilities, initially within seven years, and then every five. The FDA will need to hire an additional 5,000 employees to do all the inspections. Big companies love this, because the FDA will be so bogged down inspecting all the smaller operations that they won’t have time to focus on the big guys—where the actual food safety problems arise. Food safety legislation should be targeted at the large industrial farms, but, no surprise, this bill does just the opposite.

2. Language in the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act currently reads:

An officer or qualified employee of the Food and Drug Administration may order the detention, in accordance with this subsection, of any article of food that is found during an inspection, examination, or investigation under this chapter conducted by such officer or qualified employee, if the officer or qualified employee has credible evidence or information indicating that such article presents a threat of serious adverse health consequences or death to humans or animals.

Under this bill, the boldfaced text above would be changed to:

if the officer or qualified employee has reason to believe that such article is adulterated or misbranded.

And remember, as interpreted by the FDA, a food or supplement may be deemed “adulterated” if there have been any record-keeping violations. “Misbranded” can mean that the producer makes a completely true statement about the product but without FDA permission.

So when the FDA is inspecting a facility, if they merely believe an item is misbranded or adulterated—no concrete evidence is required—they can confiscate all of that product. If there is a suspected record-keeping error for a supplement, the entire stock can be taken by the FDA.

3. A company has to be registered to operate. Under this bill, if the FDA finds there to be a reasonable probability that a product may cause serious adverse health consequences or death to humans or animals, the FDA may suspend that facility’s registration, effectively shutting it down. This seems reasonable, but there is only one informal opportunity for companies to reinstate registration, with no opportunity whatsoever to appeal—they are at the mercy of an FDA inspector’s whim. This should not be allowed in America.

Why does all of this matter? Keep in mind the FDA has consistently done Big Pharma’s bidding and has attacked supplement companies and small food producers (such as the cherry and walnut growers). The bill gives the FDA unbridled authority to ratchet things up even further. The FDA needs to focus on large producers, not get its tentacles onto small producers.

Please contact your senators TODAY and ask them to oppose the food safety bill language that is currently in the CR (though it might be found in the omnibus bill next week). This may be our last chance to defeat this bill—please take action immediately!

TO SEND YOUR MESSAGE TO YOUR SENATORS Click THIS LINK to go to the Action Alert page. Once there, fill out the form with your name and address, etc., and customize your letter. We have a suggested message for you, but please feel free to add your own comments to the letter.

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From....... Farm-to Consumer Legal Defense Fund

SENATORS, Vote "NO" on Cloture for H.R. 3082 & Oppose the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act By a 212-206 vote on December 8, the House passed the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (formerly S.510) as an amendment to H.R. 3082 (the "Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011" to fund the government through September 2011). A food safety act should not be part of a spending bill. House Democrats attached what was S.510 (as passed by the Senate on November 30) to H.R. 3082 because they were worried about Republican opposition to it as a stand alone bill. The next step for H.R. 3082 is to go to the Senate for a vote. As this is the Senate, the first vote on H.R. 3082 will be on a cloture motion to limit debate before there is a vote on the bill itself.

TAKE ACTION People need to contact their Senators now to tell them to Vote "NO" on Cloture for H.R. 3082 and Oppose the "FDA Food Safety Modernization Act" (Division D of H.R. 3082). STEP 1 - Send a live fax message to your Senators through the online petition at www.ftcldf.org/stopS510 even if you've already used the petition this week. STEP 2 - Call your Senators and be sure to give your zip code Call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121; ask to be connected to your Senator's office. OR Go to www.Congress.org; enter your zip code on the right side under "Get Involved" and click "Go". Click on your Senators' names then click the "Contact" tab to get office phone number(s). If you get voicemail, leave a brief message with your zip code. If the line is busy, keep calling until you get through.

TALKING POINTS The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act is fundamentally flawed and is not in the best interest of small farmers, especially those who produce raw milk. 1. FDA does not respect individuals' rights to obtain healthy, quality foods of their choice. The agency has stated as a matter of public record, that: "There is no absolute right to consume or feed children any particular food." "Plaintiffs' assertion of a 'fundamental right to their own bodily and physical health, which includes what foods they do and do not choose to consume for themselves and their families' is similarly unavailing because plaintiffs do not have a fundamental right to obtain any food they wish." FDA has even participated in armed raids on small-scale co-ops and membership organizations. This agency should not be given any additional power. 2. FDA has adequate powers under existing law to ensure food safety and effectively deal with foodborne illness outbreaks. FDA has power to inspect, power to detain product and can readily obtain court orders to seize adulterated or misbranded food products or enjoin them from being sold. The problem isn't that FDA needs more power; it's that FDA does not effectively use the power it currently has. The agency has power to inspect imported food yet inspects only 1% of food coming into this country from outside our borders. 3. The Act does nothing to address many significant food safety problems in this country, such as those resulting from confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs), genetically modified organisms (GMOs), and various contaminants (e.g., BPA, pesticides, herbicides, etc.). 4. FDA has used its existing power to benefit the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries at the expense of public health (e.g., allowing the overuse of antibiotics in confined animal feeding operations and refusing to require labeling for genetically-modified foods). This Act does not address the fundamental problems at this agency in order to truly protect public health. 5. The Act will expand FDA's involvement in regulating food in intra-state commerce, further interfering with local communities. State and local governments are more than capable of handling any problems related to food in intrastate commerce. All the major outbreaks of foodborne illness involve either imported food or food in inter-state commerce. 6. The Act will hurt our ability as a nation to be self-sufficient in food production because it has more lenient inspection requirements for foreign than domestic producers creating an unfair advantage for food imports. Giving an advantage to foreign producers will only increase the amount of food imported into this country that does not meet our domestic standards. The Act does not address food security--the ability of a country to produce enough food to meet its own needs.

Stop S.510 -part 2

Additional information from Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund regarding Stop S.510.
See previous post for more info on this bill if this is the first time you've seen this.

When someone is trying to stop debate on a bill in Congress, that usually means there is something to hide and/or they want to push it through before the American people find out about it and have a chance to oppose/stop it.

I encourage you to watch the video (highlighted orange) of Sen. Tom Coburn that is linked below. He says that this current congress has used cloture more than any other congress. He is a practicing physician that uses the recent egg and tomato recalls (and his practice) as examples and is stopping the bill because it doesn't address the underlining problems with food safety but adds more regulation and costs to our government.

STOP S.510 and PROTECT LOCAL FOOD - VOTE "NO" on CLOTURE An action alert earlier requested that readers call their Senators to ask them to OPPOSE S.510--the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act. It is also imperative to ask your Senators to VOTE "NO" on CLOTURE. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) is trying to stop debate on S.510 by invoking cloture. The best chance to defeat S.510 is to defeat the cloture motion which requires a three-fifths majority of the full Senate [60 votes] to pass. S.510 is a major threat to the local food movement. It greatly expands FDA's jurisdiction over intrastate commerce and imposes one-size-fits-all regulations that will make it more difficult for small farms and food processors to remain in business. See Talking Points below.

TAKE ACTION 1. Call or Fax your Senators and ask them to VOTE "NO" on CLOTURE and OPPOSE S.510--see contact details below. 2. Call or Fax Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY, Senate Minority Leader) whose support is crucial if cloture is to be stopped. Tell him you want the Republicans to stop S.510 by voting "NO" on cloture. McConnell's Washington Office Phone: (202)224-2541 Fax: (202)224-2499 3. Call or Fax Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK). Thank him for his opposition to S. 510 [watch the video ]. Ask him to rally his fellow Republicans to vote "NO" on cloture. Coburn's Washington Office Phone: (202)224-5754 Fax: (202)224-6008 4. Send a live email message to your Senators through the online petition to Reject S.510 at www.ftcldf.org/stopS510 Be sure to follow up with phone calls--see contact details below. S.510 will significantly increase the power of FDA, an agency which has stated on public record that the American people have no ''fundamental right to their own bodily and physical health" and "do not have a fundamental right to obtain any food they wish". S.510 needs to be stopped.

Stop S.510

This is from the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund. Your action is needed.........

STOP S.510 and PROTECT LOCAL FOOD The "lame duck" session of Congress begins today and S.510 --the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act--is scheduled for a cloture vote sometime this week. S.510 is a major threat to the local food movement. It greatly expands FDA's jurisdiction over intrastate commmerce and imposes one-size-fits-all regulations that will make it more difficult for small farms and food processors to remain in business. It is urgent that you call your Senators and ask them to oppose S.510. S.510 will interfere with your ability to obtain the foods of your choice. It will benefit the industrial food system and imports, the two sectors of the food economy that are most responsible for outbreaks of foodborne illness in this country. Through regulating small, quality producers out of business, S.510 will decrease food safety and this country's ability to become self-sufficient in food production.

TAKE ACTION 1. Call both of your Senators and ask them to oppose S.510. Go to Congress.org and type in your zip code in the box in the upper right hand corner. Click on your Senator's name, and then on the contact tab for their phone number. You can also call the Capitol Switchboard and ask to be directly connected to your Senator's office: 202-224-3121. Once connected, ask to speak to the legislative staff person responsible for agriculture. If they are unavailable leave a voicemail message. Be sure to include your name and phone number. 2. Send a live email message to your Senators through the online petition to Reject S.510 at www.ftcldf.org/stopS510 Be sure to follow up with phone calls.

TALKING POINTS 1. FDA has more than adequate powers under existing law to ensure food safety and effectively deal with foodborne illness outbreaks. FDA has power to inspect, power to detain product and can readily obtain court orders to seize adulterated or misbranded food products or enjoin them from being sold. The problem isn't that FDA needs more power; it's that FDA does not effectively use the power it currently has. 2. S.510 will give FDA extensive power to regulate food in intrastate commerce; state and local governments are more than capable of handling any problems related to food in intrastate commerce. All the major outbreaks of foodborne illness involve either imported food or food in interstate commerce. 3. S.510 will hurt our ability as a nation to be self-sufficient in food production; it has more lenient inspection requirements for foreign than domestic producers creating an unfair advantage for food imports. Giving an advantage to foreign producers will only increase the amount of food imported into this country that does not meet our domestic standards. The bill does not address food security--the ability of a country to produce enough food to meet its own needs. 4. S.510 will provide a competitive advantage to industrial food producers--the sector of the food system causing most of the food safety problems; they will benefit from this legislation because it will cripple many small farmers and local producers--the solution to the food safety problems in this country. The bill will impose burdensome regulations that will punish local food producers, many of whom won't have the economies of scale to comply with S.510's requirements. 5. S.510 gives FDA the power to dictate growers' practices by establishing national standards for produce; the same standards applying to big firms-where the food safety problems have occurred-will apply as well to small growers who have had no food safety issues. Small growers will be forced to change practices that have produced safe, quality food. 6. S.510 does nothing to address many significant food safety problems in this country, such as those resulting from confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs), genetically modified organisms (GMOs), and various contaminants (e.g., BPA, pesticides, herbicides, etc.).

Web Addresses (urls) in this Edition Suggestion: copy and paste the url into your browser to navigate to the webpage. FDA Food Safety Modernization Act http://www.farmtoconsumer.org/federal/111_Cong-S510.htm Congress.org http://www.congress.org Reject S.510 http://ftcldf.org/stops510

STOP! HR 2749

Urgent Action Alert!!!
New Food Safety Bill HR2749

Background Information
A new food safety bill is on the fast track in Congress-HR 2749, the Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009. The bill needs to be stopped.

HR 2749 gives FDA tremendous power while significantly diminishing existing judicial restraints on actions taken by the agency. The bill would impose a one-size-fits-all regulatory scheme on small farms and local artisanal producers; and it would disproportionately impact their operations for the worse.

HR 2749 does not address underlying causes of food safety problems such as industrial agriculture practices and the consolidation of our food supply. The industrial food system and food imports are badly in need of effective regulation, but the bill does not specifically direct regulation or resources to these areas.
To read a detailed account of the bill, go to: http://www.ftcldf.org/news/news-15june2009.htm

Alarming Provisions:

Some of the more alarming provisions in the bill are:
* HR 2749 would impose an annual registration fee of $500 on any "facility" that holds, processes, or manufactures food. Although "farms" are exempt, the agency has defined "farm" narrowly. And people making foods such as lacto-fermented vegetables, cheeses, or breads would be required to register and pay the fee, which could drive beginning and small producers out of business during difficult economic times.

* HR 2749 would empower FDA to regulate how crops are raised and harvested. It puts the federal government right on the farm, dictating to our farmers.

* HR 2749 would give FDA the power to order a quarantine of a geographic area, including "prohibiting or restricting the movement of food or of any vehicle being used or that has been used to transport or hold such food within the geographic area." Under this provision, farmers markets and local food sources could be shut down, even if they are not the source of the contamination. The agency can halt all movement of all food in a geographic area.

* HR 2749 would empower FDA to make random warrantless searches of the business records of small farmers and local food producers, without any evidence whatsoever that there has been a violation. Even farmers selling direct to consumers would have to provide the federal government with records on where they buy supplies, how they raise their crops, and a list of customers.

* HR 2749 charges the Secretary of Health and Human Services with establishing a tracing system for food. Each "person who produces, manufactures, processes, packs, transports, or holds such food" would have to "maintain the full pedigree of the origin and previous distribution history of the food," and "establish and maintain a system for tracing the food that is interoperable with the systems established and maintained by other such persons." The bill does not explain how far the traceback will extend or how it will be done for multi-ingredient foods. With all these ambiguities, it's far from clear how much it will cost either the farmers or the taxpayers.

* HR 2749 creates severe criminal and civil penalties, including prison terms of up to 10 years and/or fines of up to $100,000 for each violation for individuals.

Action to Take:

Contact your Representative now! Ask to speak with the staffer who handles food issues. Tell them you are opposed to the bill. Some points to make in telling your Representative why you oppose HR 2749 include:

1. The bill imposes burdensome requirements while not specifically targeting the industrial food system and food imports, where the real food safety problems lie.

2. Small farms and local food processors are part of the solution to food safety; lessening the regulatory burden on them will improve food safety.

3. The bill gives FDA much more power than it has had in the past while making the agency less accountable for its actions.

HR 2749 needs to be defeated!! Please take action NOW.

To contact your Representative, use the finder tool at www.Congress.org or send a message through the petition system (the petition will be on our website this evening) at http://www.ftcldf.org/petitions_new.htm.
Or call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121.
To check the status of HR 2749, go to www.Thomas.gov and type "HR 2749" in the bill search field.

Action Alert! Stop NAIS

If you want to help stop NAIS, you action is needed NOW.
If you don't know what NAIS is, see the earlier post on it (title: 'Want Food Freedom?' OR under the label of: 'In The Know')


USDA COMMENT PERIOD ENDS MARCH 16

In January, the USDA proposed a rule to require farms and other properties where animals are raised to be registered in the federal NAIS database for existing federal disease control programs. The rule also sets the stage for future mandatory animal identification. If you haven't already submitted comments on this proposed rule, please be sure to do so before March 16! An easy way to comment online is through the Organic Consumers Association's automated system, at http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/642/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=26665

Please be sure to personalize the letter! It can be as easy as a couple of sentences at the beginning stating who you are (for example, a farmer, consumer, property rights proponent) and why you care about NAIS.


CONGRESSIONAL HEARING ON NAIS, MARCH 11

The U.S. House Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy and Poultry will hold a hearing on "animal identification programs" on Wednesday, March 11, 2009. This is the first time in several years that any Congressional Committee will hear testimony about NAIS! It is critical that the thousands of farmers and consumers who oppose NAIS make their voices heard in this process!

STEP 1: Before the Hearing:

At the end of the alert is a list of Subcommittee members. If one of the Subcommittee members is from your state, call that member. If your state does not have any representation on the Subcommittee, contact your own Representative and ask him or her to approach the Subcommittee to urge them to oppose NAIS. If you're not sure who represents you, go to http://www.congress.org

When you call, ask to speak to the staffer who handles agricultural issues, and talk with them about your concerns about NAIS. Use a brief personal story to explain how NAIS would impact you. Emphasize that you want them to ask hard questions of both the industry and USDA representatives, and to make sure that people representing those who oppose NAIS are also heard at the hearing.

STEP 2: At the Hearing:

If you are in the DC area, please try to come to the hearing!

WHEN: Wednesday, March 11th - 10:00 a.m.
WHERE: 1300 Longworth House Office Building (go to http://www.aoc.gov/cc/cobs/lhob.cfm for maps and parking information)
WHAT: Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry -- Public hearing to review animal identification systems.

The subcommittee will hear invited testimony only, so you won't be able to speak at the hearing. But it is still good for the subcommittee to know that a lot of people care enough about this issue to show up in person!

Immediately after the hearing, we encourage you to visit the Subcommittee members' offices. Be polite and concise during your visit. Let them know that you were at the hearing because you are against NAIS. Briefly bring up one or two points that you felt weren't covered at the hearing that show the problems with NAIS. Keep your visit short and thank them for their time.

STEP 3: After the Hearing:

You can submit written testimony to the subcommittee before the hearing, at the hearing, or up to 10 days after the hearing. Send your testimony to the Hearing Clerk, Jamie Mitchell, at Jamie.Mitchell@mail.house.gov Be sure to put "March 11 Hearing - Animal Identification Programs" in the subject line. Keep your comments clear, polite, and concise.

We will send out some guidance after the hearing for key points to make in your testimony, based on what is said at the hearing. If you are submitting comments before the hearing, you can draw ideas from the "Reasons to Stop NAIS" posted on the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund's site at http://www.ftcldf.org/nais.html (scroll down past the news items and lawsuit information) or from the comments submitted by FARFA on the USDA's proposed rule for NAIS, posted at: http://farmandranchfreedom.org/content/files/090202_FARFA_Comments_USDA_rule.pdf

SUBCOMMITTEE MEMBERS:

Below are the Subcommittee members, their party and state, and phone numbers. You can also send an email by using this format: firstname.lastname@mail.house.gov We strongly recommend that you make at least your initial contact with the ag staffer with a telephone conversation.

Mike Rogers (R-AL), (p): 202-225-3261, (f): 202-226-8485
Dennis Cardoza (D-CA), (p): 202-225-6131, (f): 202-225-0819
Jim Costa (D-CA), (p): 202-225-3341, (f): 202-225-9308
Joe Baca (D-CA), (p): 202-225-6161, (f): 202-225-8671
Betsy Markey (D-CO), (p): 202-225-4676, (f): 202-225-5870
David Scott (Chair), (D-GA), (p): 202-225-2939, (f): 202-225-4628
Leonard Boswell (D-IA), (p): 202-225-3806, (f): 202-225-5608
Steve King (R-IA), (p): 202-225-4426, (f): 202-225-3193
Walt Minnick (D-ID), (p): 202-225-6611, (f): 202-225-3029
Frank Kratovil, Jr. (D-MD), (p): 202-225-5311, (f): 202-225-0254
Adrian Smith (R-NE), (p): 202-225-6435, (f): 202-225-0207
Tim Holden (D-PA), (p): 202-225-5546, (f): 202-226-0996
David P. Roe (R-TN), (p): 202-225-6356, (f): 202-225-5714
K. Michael Conaway (R-TX), (p): 202-225-3605 or 866-882-3811, (f): 202-225-1783
Randy Neugebauer, Ranking Minority Member (R-TX), (p): 202-225-4005 or 888-763-1611, (f): 202-225-9615
Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), (p): 202-225-5431, (f): 202-225-9681
Steve Kagen (D-WI), (p): 202-225-5665, (f): 202-225-5729

For more information about NAIS, go to www.FarmAndRanchFreedom.org