food supply chain

Earlier this year, President Obama signed the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) (P.L. 111-353), a law that will overhaul U.S. food safety for the first time since the Great Depression. The legislation passed in response to a growing public concern about the integrity of both local and imported food supplies and the inability of officials to trace the sources of many tainted foods. As those involved in the food supply chain begin to examine the impact of FSMA, one requirement in particular is striking:

“The Secretary [is required] to establish a product tracing system to track and trace food that is in the United States or offered for import into the United States.” (FSMA d 204)

The Greens Party has launched a $85m policy aimed at helping farmers sell directly to end customers and small, local processors.

“With one of the most concentrated food retail sectors in the world dominated by the supermarket duopoly, the barriers to making it easy to buy local food in Australia are significant. It is time for Australia to rebuild local food systems,” the policy document says.