Press Release (Texas): Texas Senate Approves Cottage Foods, Farmers Market, and DSHS Better Communications Bills

 
For Immediate Release

Texas Senate Approves Cottage Foods, Farmers Market, and DSHS Better Communications Bills

Significant Growth in Support for Local Food Movement at Capitol
 
AUSTIN, Texas – May 23, 2013 – Yesterday, the Texas Senate voted to pass HB 970, the Cottage Foods Bill sponsored by Senator Robert Deuell (R-Greenville); HB 1382, the Farmers Market Bill (also sponsored by Senator Deuell); and HB 1392, the DSHS Better Communications Act sponsored Senator Jane Nelson (R-Grapevine). All three bills will now go to the Governor for signing.

HB 970 expands on last session’s cottage foods law, allowing cottage food producers to make low-risk foods – such as baked goods, jams and jellies, dried herbs, dried fruits and vegetables, granolas, dry mixes, pickles, and coffee/tea mixes – and sell at places such as farmers markets and community events, as well as from home.

“Patrons at farmers markets will soon be able to take advantage of a much wider selection of locally produced foods.…

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Press Release (Texas): DSHS Better Communications Bill and Fair Property Tax Bill Hearings

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 

DSHS Better Communications Bill and Fair Property Tax Bill Hearings

Bills Would Remove Unnecessary Barriers For Small Farmers Providing Local Food

 
AUSTIN, Texas – March 18, 2013 – On Wednesday, March 19, two bills concerning small, local farmers and food producers will be heard by Texas House of Representative committees.

HB 1306, the bill to give fair tax treatment to small-scale and sustainable producers, will be heard by the Agriculture and Livestock Committee in Room E1.010. The bill clarifies provisions in the current state law that have been misinterpreted by county tax assessors to exclude vegetable growers, urban farmers, community gardens, and diversified farms from obtaining agricultural valuation on their property. …

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Press Release (Texas): Texans Gather at the Capitol to Show Support of Local Farms and Food

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Texans Gather at the Capitol to Show Support of Local Farms and Food

Citizens Lobbying Day Relies on Strength in Numbers of People

AUSTIN, Texas – March 12, 2013 – On Tuesday, March 19, people from all over Texas will gather at the Capitol in support of local farms and food on Local Foods Citizens Lobbying Day, organized by the Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance (FARFA). {Click here for details on how to participate.}…

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Press Release: Family Farmers and Organizations Ask FDA for More Time to Analyze New Food Safety Rules

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Family Farmers and Organizations Ask FDA for More Time to Analyze New Food Safety Rules

Joint Letter Says Comment Period Too Short for Complex 1,200-Page Proposal

AUSTIN, Texas – March 6, 2013 – Over 270 organizations, food businesses and farms requested an extension today of the comment period for two major proposed food safety rules. The groups seek more time to assess the effects of the 1,200 pages of rules on family farms and small food businesses.…

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Press Release: Texas Legislators Focus on Local Farms and Food

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Texas Legislators Focus on Local Farms and Food

Raw Milk Gains Attention in Wake of Farmer’s Suspension 

AUSTIN, Texas – February 13, 2013 – Legislators from both parties have filed four bills in the 83rd Texas Legislative Session that will help eliminate some of the regulatory barriers to local foods and reduce unnecessary financial burdens on local food producers.…

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Press Release: USDA Issues Final Animal ID Rule

The USDA issued a final rule on Animal ID today.  While we are still working on a complete analysis of the rule, USDA’s announcement identified several important changes that it made to the proposed rule, which make this final rule far less burdensome on family farmers, ranchers, and backyard poultry owners.…

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Press Release: Farm and Consumer Organizations Protest Animal ID Scheme

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Judith McGeary, Executive Director

(P) 254-697-2661 | (E) judith@farmandranchfreedom.org

 

Farm and Consumer Organizations Protest Animal ID Scheme

Drought-Stricken Farmers and Ranchers Cannot Afford Costly Government Program

 

AUSTIN, Texas – September 18, 2012 – Organizations representing family farmers, ranchers, and consumers from across the country are fighting to protect drought-stricken livestock producers from a new costly regulatory program. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Animal Disease Traceability (ADT) system, originally known as the National Animal Identification System (NAIS), remains a contentious issue because of the undue burdens that it will impose on livestock producers and costs that will be passed down to consumers, contributing to even higher food costs.…

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Press Release: Conference Addresses Government Policies Behind Our Food System

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Judith McGeary, Executive Director
(P) 254-697-2661 | (E) judith@farmandranchfreedom.org

Farm and Food Leadership Conference Addresses Government Policies Behind Our Food System

6th Annual Conference in Bastrop, Texas on September 10-11, 2012

BASTROP, Texas – August 21, 2012 – Attendance continues to grow for the Farm and Food Leadership Conference, one of the few conferences anywhere in the country focused on government policies impacting local food and agriculture. The conference, presented by the Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance (FARFA), is in its sixth year and has seen attendance more than triple since the beginning.…

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Press Release: Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association vs. Monsanto

Family Farm and Consumer Organizations Speak Out in Lawsuit Against Monsanto

Fourteen Groups File “Friend of the Court” Brief

 

CAMERON, TX (July 13, 2012)—Fourteen family farm and consumer organizations have filed a friend of the court (amici curiae) brief with the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C., in support of request by the Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association to overturn a lower court’s ruling in favor of Monsanto Corporation in a case involving Monsanto’s genetically engineered seed.…

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