Several people have been handing out flyers in which the disseminators insists is a “must read” news item. The flyer, like the FriendsEAT.com blog, says that a bill on the floor of congress will make it illegal to grow your own food.

In the article written by Spence Cooper, dated “11/03/09” and entitled “You May Be Arrested Soon for Growing A Tomato,” Masseur Cooper says that HR 875, The Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009 will result in us being fined up to $1,000 for growing our own food and that “…fishing boats, hotdog stands, neighborhood vegetable booths and farmers’ markets will be federally regulated under the same draconian law.” The bill is sponsored by Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, 3rd congressional district of Connecticut.

He further claims that multinational agribusiness is behind this proposed legislation and names Monsanto, ADM, Sodexo, Tyson, and Smithfield as the culprits. As a kicker, he alleges that DeLauro's husband, Stanley Greenburg, works for Monsanto.

The blog makes numerous other onerous claims.

On Thursday, March 12, 2009, Jeffery Bombard, who works for Congresswoman DeLauro’s office, sent me a “Myth vs. Fact” sheet. The email was reprinted here with no changes made to the content.

Myths and Facts - H.R. 875
The Food Safety Modernization Act

* * * MYTH * * * H.R. 875 "makes it illegal to grow your own garden" and would result in the "criminalization of the backyard gardener."

- - FACT - - There is no language in the bill that would regulate, penalize, or shut down backyard gardens. The focus of this bill is to ensure the safety of foods sold in supermarkets.

* * * MYTH * * * H.R. 875 would mean a "goodbye to farmers markets" because it would regulate and penalize "each farmer who wishes to sell locally."

- - FACT - - There is no language in the bill that would result in farmers markets being regulated, penalized by any fines, or shut down. Farmers markets would be able to continue to flourish under the bill. In fact, the bill would insist that imported foods meet strict safety standards to ensure that unsafe imported foods are not competing with locally-grown foods.

* * * MYTH * * * H.R. 875 would result in the "death of organic farming."

- - FACT - - There is no language in the bill that would stop or interfere with organic farming. The National Organic Program (NOP) is under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).The Food Safety Modernization Act only addresses food safety issues under the jurisdiction of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

* * * MYTH * * * H.R. 875 would implement a national animal ID system.

- - FACT - - There is no language in the bill that would implement a national animal ID system. Animal identification issues are under the jurisdiction of the USDA. The Food Safety Modernization Act addresses issues under the jurisdiction of the FDA.

* * * MYTH * * * H.R. 875 is supported by the large agribusiness industry.

- - FACT - - No large agribusiness companies have expressed support for H.R. 875.The bill is supported by several Members of Congress who have strong progressive records on issues involving farmers markets, organic farming, and locally-grown foods. Also, H.R. 875 is the only food safety legislation that has been supported by all the major consumer and food safety groups, including:

• Center for Food borne Illness Research & Prevention
• Center for Science in the Public Interest
• Consumer Federation of America
• Consumers Union
• Food & Water Watch
• The Pew Charitable Trusts
• Safe Tables Our Priority
• Trust for America's Health

- - FACT - - Food safety legislation has yet to be considered by any Congressional committee. After the committees of jurisdiction complete their hearings on the issue and legislation moves forward in Congress, the House Energy and Commerce Committee will consider H.R. 759 as its base bill. The Senate HELP Committee will consider S. 510 as its base bill.

It would appear that the only element of truth in this hoax is that Congresswoman DeLauro is actually married to Stanley Greenberg. Nevertheless, even though Adriana Surfas, the congresswoman's communications director, would not disclose where Mr. Greenberg is employed, she did confirmed today that Mr. Greenberg works for a company that conducts political polls and does not work for Monsanto.

Many professors, if not most, will not allow their students to cite Wikipedia as a source of reliable information on a term paper because essentially anyone with a computer can post whatever he or she wants regardless of their knowledge of the subject. Moreover, even snopes.com, which is one of the best sites to check if you want to see if a story is a hoax or an urban myth, seems to have let this one slip through the crack. At least, as of today, their database did not have matches for the search terms, "H. R. 875, The Food Safety Modernization Act" or "You May Be Arrested Soon for Growing A Tomato."

Some facts can be verified with a phone call or email. Some require research.

Intelligent students accept nothing on face value unless it is from a recognized, reliable source.