Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/418083
80 DECEMBER 2014 GOOD FRUIT GROWER www.goodfruit.com T ennessee Williams, in his play A Streetcar Named Desire, has the character Blanche DuBois remark, "…And when I die, I'm going to die on the sea. You know what I shall die of? I shall die of eating an unwashed grape…. 'Poor lady,' they'll say, 'The quinine did her no good. That unwashed grape has transported her soul to heaven.'" The United States Congress decided that souls should not be transported to heaven due to the eating of unwashed grapes, or apples, or leafy greens and, in 2010, passed the Food Safety Modernization Act, now known as FSMA. While the main trigger for action was a string of deadly incidents over the prior decade, mostly tied to fresh veg- etable crops that shook the public's confidence in the government's regulatory oversight of food production, there were other related influences at work. Many large food companies favored it due to increas- ing legal liability fears stemming from the part of their supply chain that they had the least control over—inde- pendently owned farms. Produce industry associations wanted Congress to do something—almost anything—to restore the public's confidence in the products they represented. Consumer advocacy groups were eager to fortify the government with more power to ensure safe food at every table. Food safety experts called for a comprehensive "farm to fork" approach, one based on advanced safety methods used for decades within food packaging facilities. In addition, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) desired broader authority and additional resources to deal with our country's increas- ingly complex food production and delivery system, one ever more reliant on foreign imports. So now we have FSMA. Since FSMA became law in January of 2011, the FDA has worked to develop regulations to implement this landmark bill. As a result, there are seven proposed FSMA rules now floating about. They await being made final, and thus enforceable. These proposals cover such food safety related things as imported food, packing houses, orchards and other farms, transportation of food, and animal feed. These all have varying degrees of on tree fruit grow- ers and shippers. For example, animal feed rules would come into play when cull apples are sent to a cattle GOOD POINT Chris Schlect, Northwest Horticultural Council That unwashed grape Providing the Highest Quality Pollen Since 1929! CHAMBERLIN DISTRIBUTING HOOD RIVER, OR 541-354-2700 WENATCHEE 509-663-7151 G.S.LONG COMPANY YAKIMA, WA 509-575-8382 PEACH RIDGE ORCHARD SUPPLY SPARTA, MI 616-887-8239 (DAVID CHASE) P O L L I N A T I O N E N H A N C E M E N T Antles Pollen Supplies, Inc. 135 N. Mission Street, Suite 9, Wanatchee, WA 98801 p: 855-POLLEN8 f: 509-662-6647 e: info@antlespollen.com www.antlespollen.com f o r : A l m o n d • ¬ $ S S O H • $ S U L F R W • A v o c a d o C h e r r y • K i w i f r u i t • P e a r • P i s t a c h i o • P l u m f r o m . . . State of the art pollination enhancement since 1929!