| Hi Friend,
Small farmers can sell "ungraded" eggs at farmers' markets all across Texas, but regulations prevent restaurants and retailers from buying those exact same eggs to serve or sell to their customers. We hear form members all the time about how restaurants want to buy more of their products—this would help!
"Grading" eggs involves weighing each egg, looking at them with a special light for visible defects, getting licensed by the Texas Department of Agriculture, and paying fees. This takes time and money and does not increase health or food safety.
HB 2028 and SB 336 would allow farmers to sell eggs clearly labeled as "ungraded" to restaurants and retailers who in turn sell directly to consumers. The eggs would be labeled to ensure that the consumers know who produced the eggs. This would open up new opportunities for small farmers and make it easier for restaurants and retailers to source and provide consumers with locally raised eggs.
But the big poultry industry doesn’t want small farmers to have more opportunities, and they are lobbying hard against this common-sense bill. With less than 7 weeks left in the Texas legislative session, we need your help!
Please see action steps below and share this alert with friends and family in Texas to help us get these important bills passed.
Alexia Kulwiec
Executive Director
|
| | | TAKE ACTION
Getting more co-sponsors is one of the best ways to create pressure to get a committee hearing.
1. Call your State Representative and urge him or her to co-sponsor HB 2028.
2. Call your State Senator and urge him or her to co-sponsor SB 336.
Each call takes about a minute, and it truly makes a difference. Please be polite and friendly when you call – any angry or hostile comments will backfire and hurt our chances of passing this bill.
Find out who represents you.
And below is a list of the committee members – if one of them is your Representative or Senator, please be sure to encourage all your friends and family in the district to call also!
Sample Call Script:
“Hi, my name is ___, and I live in [town]. I am calling to urge my Representative to co-sponsor HB 2028 [or to urge my Senator to co-sponsor SB 336]
I am a [small farmer, a consumer who buys from local farms…however you want to describe yourself].
It doesn’t make sense that farmers can sell eggs from their own flocks without grading at any farmers’ market in the state, but a small restaurant or grocer is unable to buy those exact same eggs to sell to their customers. Not only is there ever-increasing demand for local food, but the recent supply chain disruptions that we saw due to COVID and to the 2021 winter storms have demonstrated that the conventional food supply chains are fragile. We need to be supporting small farmers and local food distribution not only to help the farmers, but to build a more resilient and safe food system!
Grading eggs is a marketing issue, not a food safety one. Let the consumer decide if they want to buy ungraded eggs at their local grocer.
I ask that my Representative [or Senator] sign on to the bill and do everything they can to help it move forward this session.”
If you have time, ask for the email address for the staffer who is handling agriculture bills, and follow up with an email to them after your call. Politely let them know how important protecting small farms is to you! They are working very long hours right now, so keep your call and email short and to the point.
If your State Representative or Senator is on the House Agriculture or Senate Health Committee (see the list below), it’s even more important that they hear from you and from others in your district!
If you want to read more about the bill, the Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance has a fact sheet about the bill HERE. |
| | COMMITTEE MEMBERS
Legislators want to hear from the people they represent…and when committee members hear from their constituents, it can have a major impact! If you live in any of the districts below, it is vital that you call your legislator and urge them to support HB 2028/ SB 336 and help it move through their committee – and then share this information with your friends and family who also live in the district, and urge them to call as well!
The list below includes the areas the legislators represent. You can also look up who represents you.
House Agriculture Committee
Chair: DeWayne Burns
Represents: Bosque, Johnson counties
DeWayne.Burns@house.texas.gov
512-463-0538
Vice Chair: Charles “Doc” Anderson
Represents: Part of McLennan County
Charles.Anderson@house.texas.gov
512-463-0135
Ernest Bailes
Represents: Liberty, Walker, San Jacinto counties
Ernest.Bailes@house.texas.gov
512-463-0570
Sheryl Cole
Represents: Part of Travis County
Sheryl.Cole@house.texas.gov
512-463-0506
John Cyrier
Represents: Bastrop, Caldwell, Gonzales, Karnes, and Lee counties
John.Cyrier@house.texas.gov
512-463-0682
Ryan Guillen
Represents: Atascosa, Brooks, Duval, Jim Hogg, Kenedy, La Salle, Live Oak, McMullen, Starr, and Willacy counties
Ryan.Guillen@house.texas.gov
512-463-0416
Abel Herrero
Represents: Parts of Nueces County
Abel.Herrero@house.texas.gov
512-463-0461
Jon Rosenthal
Represents: Part of Harris County
Jon.Rosenthal@house.texas.gov
512-463-0722
Steve Toth
Represents: Part of Montgomery County
Steve.Toth@house.texas.gov
512-463-0797
Senate Health & Human Services Committee
Chair: Lois Kolkhorst
Represents: Aransas, Austin, Burleson, Calhoun, Colorado, De Witt, Fayette, Goliad, Gonzales, Jackson, Lavaca, Lee, Matagorda, Refugio, Victoria, Waller, Washington, and Wharton counties, and parts of Fort Bend, Harris, and Nueces counties
Lois.Kolkhorst@senate.texas.gov
512-463-0118
Vice Chair: Charles Perry
Represents: From Plainview down to San Angelo and many counties to the east and west – check the map at https://wrm.capitol.texas.gov/fyiwebdocs/pdf/senate/dist28/m1.pdf )
Charles.Perry@senate.texas.gov
512-463-0128
César Blanco
Represents: Culberson, El Paso, Hudspeth, Jeff Davis and Presidio counties
Cesar.Blanco@senate.texas.gov
512-463-0129
Dawn Buckingham
Represents: Bandera, Bell, Blanco, Brown, Burnet, Callahan, Comanche, Coryell, Gillespie, Hamilton, Kerr, Lampasas, Llano, Mills, and San Saba counties, and parts of Taylor and Travis counties
Dawn.Buckingham@senate.texas.gov
512-463-0124
Donna Campbell
Represents: Comal and Kendall counties, and parts of Bexar, Guadalupe, Hays, and Travis counties
Donna.Campbell@senate.texas.gov
512-463-0125
Bob Hall
Represents: Delta, Fannin, Hopkins, Hunt, Kaufman, Rains, Rockwall, and Van Zandt counties, and part of Dallas County
Bob.Hall@senate.texas.gov
512-463-0102
Borris Miles
Represents: Part of Fort Bend and Harris counties
Borris.Miles@senate.texas.gov
512-463-0113
Beverly Powell
Represents: Part of Tarrant County
Beverly.Powell@senate.texas.gov
512-463-0110
Kel Seliger
Represents: Armstrong, Briscoe, Carson, Castro, Collingsworth, Dallam, Deaf Smith, Donley, Gray, Hall, Hansford, Hartley, Hemphill, Hutchinson, Lipscomb, Moore, Ochiltree, Oldham, Parmer, Potter, Randall, Roberts, Sherman, Swisher, and Wheeler counties
Kel.Seliger@senate.texas.gov
512-463-0131 |
| | DONATE
If you’d like to make a donation to support the work of Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund to bring you these informative legislative updates and work to improve federal and state laws, please donate HERE. |
| www.farmtoconsumer.org | 703-208-FARM (3276) | info@farmtoconsumer.org |
| |
