Dear Editor:

Imagine if you run a small business and someone, who has openly vowed to shut you down, should gain access to some of your important business records. Do you think they would use that information with honorable intentions? This scary scenario is a reality on farms in this state. Activists groups, who have publicly stated that they want to stop all dairy production, have attempted to get proprietary records that include personal information about our homes, families and farms.

There are bills currently in the state legislature that would offer a bit of protection if anyone should seek farm information that has been submitted to a state agency. One bill would direct the state to notify the farmer that someone has filed a freedom of information request. If a farm family’s information is to be made public, it seems only reasonable that it be a two way street. Without FOIL protections, farmers are already pulling out of valuable state animal health programs.

Another piece of legislation looks to protect the source of water wells from FOIL. These wells provide the very water used to irrigate the food we grow. The federal government’s General Accounting Office (GAO) took the issue of food tampering seriously enough to issue a 2003 report labeled “Bioterrorism: A Threat to Agriculture and the Food Supply.” The right to know must be balanced with the right to be safe.

New York Farm Bureau commends Senator Maziarz and other supporters of these bills for helping to protect our food and farms.

Sincerely,

Paul Bencal
New York Farm Bureau District 2 Director
Ransomville

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