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Last week, six of OTA’s organic egg producer members from across the United States flew in to Washington, D.C. to meet with representatives from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the National Organic Program (NOP), and Congress to exchange information about the compatibility of the new FDA egg safety rule and organic standards requiring outdoor access for layers. Specifically, they came to address concerns that have been raised suggesting FDA may perceive NOP’s outdoor access requirements to be in conflict with FDA’s 2009 rule regarding Prevention of Salmonella Enteritidis (SE) in Shell Eggs.
OTA members participating in the fly-in event included Jesse LeFlamme from Pete and Gerry’s, Andy Wilcox of Wilcox Farms, Michael Cox and Ashley Swaffer of Arkansas Egg Company, David Will of Chino Valley Ranchers, Melissa Hughes and David Bruce of Organic Valley, and Mike Sencer of Hidden Villa Ranchers. Together, they represent the majority of the U.S. organic laying hen population, which, according to the 2008 Organic Production Survey, ranges between 4 and 4.5 million hens and spreads across 49 states and 1,200 farms, including many family farms.
Presenting a unified front, these producers delivered the message to FDA, USDA and Congress that NOP regulations require all chickens to have access to the outdoors, and that organic producers not only support outdoor access but know how to do this well. They also communicated that consumers expect and demand outdoor access for all organic livestock. Additionally, they made clear that they support a strong food safety system and FDA’s Egg Safety Rule, and that organic egg producers have exemplary audit systems in place and an outstanding food safety record.
FDA
The group kicked off the day with a meeting with Nega Beru, Director of the Office of Food Safety at FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, and Jeff Farrar, Associate Commissioner for Food Protection at the Office of the Commissioner at FDA.
USDA
In the afternoon, they headed to USDA to meet with Ann MacMillan, Secretary Vilsack’s Senior Advisor.
The Hill
Following the USDA meeting, producers and OTA made their way to Capitol Hill to meet with the following Congressional offices: Rep. Latham (R-IA), Sen. Chambliss (R-GA), Sen. Boozman (R-AR), Sen. Casey (D-PA), Sen. Feinstein (D-CA), Sen. Tester (D-MT), Sen. Stabenow (D-MI), Rep. Bass (R-NH), Rep. Schrader (D-OR), Rep. DeFazio (D-OR), Rep. Kind (D-WI), Rep. Farr (D-CA, Rep Hanna (R-NY), Rep. Ribble (R-WI), Rep. Denham (R-CA), and Sen. Leahy (D-VT).
Together, these meetings made for a long and intense day, but OTA and its egg producer members made their stance clear: organic egg producers can and do produce safe eggs for consumers, and they are committed to providing outdoor access for poultry. |
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