November 14, 2022
This post is a roundup of federal legislation, some new and some old, that would positively impact meat production, processing regulations, and food safety inspection. Most of the bills are in response to the effects of consolidation across the meat industry, and how consolidation allows for upward price manipulation.
June 17, 2022
NSAC applauds the House for taking decisive action to support the creation of a USDA special investigator to enforce fair-play rules in the highly concentrated meatpacking industry when they passed the Lower Food and Fuel Cost Act – H.R. 7606 on Thursday.
March 31, 2022
In February 2022, USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service’s (FSIS) announced that their Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) Validation webpage was updated to include validation studies that can be used to support HACCP plans for fermented products, salt-cured products, and dried products. This was based on recommendations from a 2020 report addressing guidance, tools, outreach, and responsiveness to the needs of smaller-scale meat processors.
December 2, 2021
NSAC issued a comment in response to the FDA’s proposed rule published today that would revise the Food Safety Modernization Act Produce Safety Rule to change certain pre-harvest agricultural water requirements for covered produce other than sprouts
July 23, 2021
USDA recently announced over $600 million in future investments to support and increase processing capacity through grants, loans, and technical assistance to address concentration within the meat and poultry sectors, as well as small plant fee relief. On July 16th, 2021 the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) published a notice in the Federal Register, seeking […]
July 9, 2021
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Laura Zaks, National Sustainable Agriculture Coalitionpress@sustainableagriculture.net RELEASE: NSAC Applauds USDA Announcement of $500 Million for Expanded Meat and Poultry Processing Capacity Washington, DC, July 9, 2021 – Today the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) applauds the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announcement of $500 million in additional funding to bolster small- and […]
June 28, 2021
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently announced that they will invest more than $4 billion to strengthen the food system, with one of the four funding priority areas including small processing support. Over the next year, USDA will invest some of the $4 billion for existing processing facilities expansion, as well as new regional […]
February 10, 2021
Farmers are working to improve food safety on the farm, and prepare for Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) inspections, but this requires both assistance and resources. We are excited that the Food Safety Outreach Program (FSOP) applications have just opened up and will provide organizations with funding to assist and help farmers and small food businesses with […]
February 9, 2021
We need your help to ensure farms that are not facilities are removed from the Traceability Proposed Rule, and that the rule ensures inexpensive and practical traceability for small food businesses.
January 15, 2021
With the country facing an imminent government shutdown, the President finally signed the $2.3 trillion Emergency Coronavirus Relief Act of 2020 on December 28th. This bill includes both badly needed emergency COVID-19 relief aid as well as regular fiscal year (FY) 2021 appropriations. For more information on the COVID-19 relief aspects of the bill check […]