Jake,
I think it's great that you will talk about the food safety issue.
I have been asked to talk, on tuesday 2/2 to the VT House Ag Committee on
the topic of "GAP". They don't seem to have any bill pending, they just
want to gather information on the general topic which certainly
encompasses Food Safety. It seems that you have something say on the
subject. I would happily cede my time to you, if it's something you want
to do.
Think about it. I was planning to bring the topic up at the BOD meeting
monday evening.

I intentionally returned this "Reply all"  to get a little more input from
others.

Hank

> Greetings All,
>     Pooh Sprague was supposed to give a talk on green manures at the
> meeting, but was sucked away by tropical winds and is somewhere very
> warm and very nice for week or so. He sends his apologies
>     Before leaving, however, he asked me to take his place and give the
> talk. No problem so far.
>     However, in the mean  time, Liz and I went on our not so warm and
> very wet, but very enjoyable vacation to California where, among other
> things we attended the three day Eco-Farm Conference in Monterey; the
> premier organic conference in the country.
>     There were lots of talks on all kinds of subjects and lots of neat
> folks to meet and learn from, but the subject that came up over and over
> was the food safety issue. Now, some of you know that I've been on a
> bit of a tear about this thing and you're probably getting a little
> tired of my rantings about how dangerous this issue is for us, but
> believe me, I had no idea what a monster this thing has become until I
> listened to the stories especially of medium and smaller leafy greens
> growers.(Medium being five hundred to a thousand acres!)
>     Anyhow, as important as green manures may be, I was so shocked by
> what I heard at the eco-conference  that I've to decided to use my few
> minutes at the end of our conference to talk a little about what I
> learned there. I hope that's OK.
>     I know this is late notice (we just got in last night) but if any of
> you are so inclined, you can get a taste of what I'll be talking about
> by going to
> (http://www.caleafygreens.ca.gov/members/documents/LGMAAcceptedGAPs07.10.09.pdf
> )  This is just one of many related documents coming out of this food
> safety hysteria, but will give you an idea of what draconian measures
> are being put in place.
>     See you tomorrow,   Jake Guest
>
>