Carolina Farm Stewardship Association - Comment

January 4, 2009 Division of Dockets Management (HFA-305) Food and Drug Administration 5630 Fishers Lane Room 1061 Rockville, MD 20852 DOCKET NUMBERS: FDA-2009-D-0348 FDA-2009-D-0347 FDA-2009-D-0348 Thank you for the opportunity to provide comments on following draft guidances: Guide to Minimize Microbial Food Safety Hazards of Tomatoes. (FDA-2009-D-0346) Guide to Minimize Microbial Food Safety Hazards of Melons ( FDA-2009-D-0347) Guide to Minimize Microbial Food Safety Hazards of Leafy Greens (FDA-2009-D-0348) These comments are submitted on behalf of the 1,200 members of the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association (CFSA) by Roland McReynolds, CFSA Executive Director. CFSA is a member-based organization with a mission to support local and organic agriculture in the Carolinas by educating, inspiring and organizing farmers, consumers and businesses. Our farmer membership includes large-scale organic operations of 1,000 acres or more and beginning farmers intensively cultivating a single acre; they are predominantly family farms and market gardeners that use sustainable and organic production practices to produce a variety of fruit, vegetable, livestock and dairy foods, and the vast majority run small operations with annual revenues less than $250,000. The attached document includes the comments of CFSA on all three of the proposed Guides on Microbial Hazards. We look forward to working with FDA to ensure a healthful food supply for American consumers, and welcome you to contact us for any further information on these issues. Respectfully submitted, Roland McReynolds, Esq. Executive Director, Carolina Farm Stewardship Association