The revised ordinance and Market Rules are on tonights agenda, July 16, 2007. It is public hearing three. You can speak without signing up in advance. Hope to see a few there.
Here is the email I sent to the Mayor and Council.
Mayor and Council Members:
I believe that the proposed reorganization of the Market Commission will be an improvement. At the very least, some alternative to the current Commission organization should to be considered.
In general the proposed Market Rules are also an improvement, however there are three areas where further improvement should be made.
First, the rules do not require that a vendor presenting his product as organic be a certified organic grower. If the Market is to prosper, customers must have the equal confidence in the advertising honesty at the Market as they would in a food store.
Second the rules introduce a new class of vendors, food cart vendors. If these vendors meet the same requirements as other vendors, why is a new class needed? Past experience indicates that this class of vendors may be allowed to simply buy resell products. If this is the intent, it is inconsistent with the Market Ordinance and other Market rules and this class of vendors should not be introduced.
Finally, the rules as amended by council, make it possible for a vendor to be permanently removed from the market without any opportunity to present his/her explanation or to appeal. The vendors need and deserve better procedural rights.
The attached PDF file contains additional supporting documentation and suggested modifications to the proposed Market Rules. I encourage you to pass tonights resolution and to direct the Community Services Administrator to promulgate these suggestions as technical corrections. The CSA has the authority to make these corrections with returning to Council for formal approval.
I think growers that use pesticides on their products should have to inform consumers about what poisons they are putting on the produce, so that the consumer could then make an informed choice.
ReplyDelete"certified organic" is a bunch of baloney. If you look at FDA regs on what a producer can put on their produce and still call it "certified organic", you would be appalled.
First, the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) does not regulate organic produce. The national organic Program standards are set by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA)
ReplyDeleteListing all pesticides used would simply be unenforceable. So there is a two category approach. In one category a farmer can use any legal agent without inspection or regulation. In the organic category the grower is limited in the chemical agents he can use and he is inspected annually.
The customer can decide. Some control or none. The vendor I would not trust is the one that wants the advertising advantage of organic, but is unwilling to be inspected and tested.