Cook County Farm Bureau - Comment

Cook County Farm Bureau® 6438 Joliet Road Countryside, Illinois 60525 (708) 354-3276 bona@cookcfb.org June 10, 2013 Division of Docket Management (HFA-305) Food and Drug Administration 5630 Fishers Lane, Rm. 1061 Rockville, MD 20852 RE: Comments regarding Food and Drug Administration, Docket No. FDA-2011-N-0921 and RIN 0910-AG 35 To whom it may concern: The Federal Register of January 16, 2-13 (78 FR 3504) included a proposed rule entitled “Standards for Growing, Harvesting, Packing, and Holding of Produce for Human Consumption”. The proposed rule would provide standards for the growing, harvesting, packing, and holding of produce for human consumption. Further the proposed rule provides that small businesses, those that the average monetary value of food sold during the previous three-year period is no more than $500,000 would have three years after the effective date to comply with the bulk of the rule and five years to comply with the water requirements set forth in the rule. In addition, very small businesses, those with an average monetary value of food sold during the previous three-year period less than $250,000 would have four years after the effective date to comply with the bulk of the rue and six years to comply the water requirements. Under the proposed rule, all other farms would have two years after the effective date to comply with the bulk of the rules and four years to comply with the water requirements. For the purpose of this rule, the Food and Drug Administration uses a measure of the average annual monetary value of food sold to determine farm size. However, the proposed rule does not indicate how the annual monetary value of food sold will be calculated, especially in regards to mixed-use farms. Clarification regarding how farm size will be calculated is requested. Cook County Farm Bureau® is Cook County’s largest general farm organization and is committed to bridging the gap between farmers and the non-farming public. If you