Got a question...a few. Please someone help me.

Throughout my entire "eating healthy food" lifestyle I was also taught to not touch canola oil. Why? Well, I usually do my research on just abput everything that touches my tongue and the info I found on canola oil was either really bad or inconclusive. So, I thought to myself why go for inconclusive when I know cocunut is the best (for cooking foods at high temperatures <325) and olive oil is not that bad. Well, recently, ok today, right now, I am at a friends house who wanted me to cook and so I said sure. They wanted me to fry and all that was here was Canola Oil. Instinctively I wanted to reject the offer but I convinced myself to remain "open minded" despite my knowledge of Canola Oil. While cooking in this oil I immediately noticed the harsh smell. Ok really it smells like a$$! Really bad...just not like food but I did not spazz. Then when it started to foam I got concerned. There was little popping ad tons of foam and so I was confused. "Why is this oil foaming like a cleanser would", I asked myself but I did not have the answers and nor did my friend or the roommate. OMG! I was beginning to spazz out of control! So, I asked the roommate if it were supposed to smell "like this" (like a$$) and he said yes. Ok. So I let them try the chicken. Apparently, their parents deep fried with Canola Oil (stemming from Canada Oil in which it is said that Canada paid the US millions of dollars to put on the market as safe food"...but ok) and so they...well only one tried it...liked the chicken. When I tasted it omg I freaked.

Just recently I had KFC and know for a fact they were not using Canola oil. This chicken was awful. It had a strong manufactured taste to it; nothing like veggie oil. if you were to fry in both oils and rate on a scale from 1 to 10 I guarantee real foodies would go for veggie oil. Now I am not saying anything bad about Canola oil (even though i researched several sites including wiki which kept it extremely general but more negative than positive) but i am saying YUCK!!

Honestly, I just got real concerned for all the people who use canola oil cause man this is just disgusting. I tried it....won't ever again. I wonder what McDonald's uses for deep frying or even most restaurants...

Please, someone help!!

Sent in by Kimberly H.

This just came in from Virginia Independent Consumers and Farmers, please take action now to preserve our local food system.--Kimberly H.

Dear VICFA Supporter,

The U.S. Senate is expected to vote on a sweeping overhaul of the food safety laws, very soon - possibly as early as April 13. As it is currently written, the bill, S. 510, will actually make our food less safe. S. 510 will strengthen the forces that have led to the consolidation of our food supply in the hands of a few industrial food producers, while harming small producers who give consumers the choice to buy fresh, healthy, local foods

Please contact your Senators NOW to urge them to amend or oppose the bill! Contact information and talking points are below.

Congress needs to solve the real problems - the centralized food distribution system and imported foods - and not regulate our local food sources out of business. S. 510 is a "one-size-fits-all" approach that will unnecessarily burden both farmers and small-scale food processors, ultimately depriving consumers of the choice to buy from producers they know and trust.

TAKE ACTION:

Call both of your Senators. You can find their contact information at www.senate.gov, or call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 or toll-free at 877-210-5351. Ask to speak with the staffer who handles food safety issues.

Tell the staffer that you want the Senator to amend or oppose S. 510. If you get their voice mail instead of the staff, leave the following message:

"Hi, my name is _____ and I live in ______. I'm very concerned that S.510, the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, imposes unfair and burdensome regulations on local food sources, which are very important to me. The Committee version of the bill does not address my concerns, and I urge the Senator to support the Tester Amendment to exclude small facilities and direct marketing farms from the most burdensome provisions of the bill. Please call me back at ____________."

You can also send an email to your senators by visiting the website of the

Western Organization of Resource Councils.

TALKING POINTS

VICFA joined with 86 other organizations to send a letter to the Senators urging that they amend S.510 to exempt small-scale and local producers from the more burdensome provisions of the bill. You can borrow some talking points from the letter (posted here) or use the ones below:

1. The major foodborne illness outbreaks and recalls have all been caused by the large, industrial food system. Small, local food producers have not contributed to the highly publicized outbreaks. Yet S. 510 subjects the small, local food system to the same, broad federal regulatory oversight that would apply to the industrial food system.

2. Increased regulations and record-keeping obligations could destroy small businesses that bring food to local communities. In particular, the reliance on hazard analysis and risk-based preventative controls, a concept similar to "HACCP", will harm small food producers. HACCP has already proven to be an overwhelming burden for a significant number of small, regional meat processors across the country. Applying a HACCP-type system to small, local foods processors could drive them out of business, reducing consumers' options to buy fresh, local foods.

3. FDA does not belong on the farm. S. 510 calls for FDA regulation of how farms grow and harvest produce. Given the agency's track record, it is likely that the regulations will discriminate against small, organic, and diversified farms. The House version of the bill directs FDA to consider the impact of its rulemaking on small-scale and diversified farms, but there are no enforceable limits or protections for small diversified and organic farms from inappropriate and burdensome federal rules.

4. Food safety and security both come from a diversified, vibrant local food system. Local foods give consumers the choice to buy from producers they know, creating a transparent, accountable food system without federal government oversight. State and local laws, which are often size-specific rather than one-size-fits-all, are more appropriate for local food producers.
Time is short. DO NOT WAIT TO ACT against this attack on our food freedom.

Sincerely,
VICFA Communications
Virginia Independent Consumers
and Farmers Association