The FDA is holding a magnifying glass up to organic farmers, warning that food safety inspections are about to get stricter.
The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) was formed in response to consumer group pressure, and is a broad food safety plan to be implemented by the FDA. Consumer groups have pushed for more oversight, citing major outbreaks like the listeria outbreak of 2011that killed 30 and sickened 100 others.
The FSMA's increased scrutiny on farms and food practices may be disruptive to smaller farms, and hamper sustainable practices like composting and using fertilizer from farm animals, which would be deemed unsafe.
Farmers have voiced their distress, arguing that the FDA doesn't understand what happens in small-production farms. Local growers simply don't have facilities to meet some of the proposed demands.
Although enforcement is still years away, and the FDA has eased some demands, the FSMA will mark the first time the government will directly regulate farm practices.