Backyard gardens under threat of inspection?

We’ve received several e-mails from readers asking us about new food safety legislation pending in Congress. They wanted to know if it is true that the bill would regulate backyard gardening.

They sent us several claims promoted by various bloggers. Here’s how a website called NaturalNews put it

“Senate Bill 510, the Food Safety Modernization Act, has been called ‘the most dangerous bill in the history of the United States of America.’ It would grant the U.S. government new authority over the public’s right to grow, trade and transport any foods. This would give Big Brother the power to regulate the tomato plants in your backyard. … This tyrannical law puts all food production (yes, even food produced in your own garden) under the authority of the Department of Homeland Security. Yep — the very same people running the TSA and its naked body scanner / passenger groping programs.”

This kind of statement takes a real concern about the bill — that it might impose excessive regulation on small farmers — and blows it up into a fabrication. For the details, read our complete report. We rated the statement Pants on Fire!