The group bonded over snacks: specifically, Starburst candies from a staff member of Senator Mike Enzi, a Wyoming Republican, and jelly beans from a staff member of Senator Richard J. Durbin, an Illinois Democrat. And in the midst of negotiations, the negotiators — nearly all women — took a field trip to a nearby food market so that a Republican staff member could teach the Democrats how to buy high-quality steaks.
You know what would have been cool? If the negotiators had bonded over learning how to purchase sustainable produce from local organic growers who would go out of business if forced to comply with costly and time-consuming paperwork.
Yes, the exemption for businesses that make less than $500k made it in, but I still think this is a net win for big agribusiness. The scarier the FDA can make “unregulated” growers sound, the better the factory farmers will do.