Cultivating safety: the federal Food Safety Modernization Act secures the food supply from field to plate but not without significant changes.

• Position: SPONSORED SECTION: CASH CROP

Brent Jackson cultivates 4,000 acres at his Autryville-based Jackson Farming Co. Half the land is planted with produce, including melons, strawberries, pumpkins and sweet potatoes. Grains grow on the balance. He and his wife, Debbie, have been farming for 35 years. When he's not there, he serves as a state senator, representing Duplin, Sampson and some of Johnston counties. He also is vice chairman of the Senate's Agriculture, Environment, Natural Resources Committee. That gives him a unique perspective on the largest overhaul of the food industry in the country's history.

President Obama signed the Food Safety Modernization Act into law in January 2011. It covers almost every link of the food chain, from field to fork. FSMA is so massive that it was divided into seven foundational rules that monitor the growing of crops; feeding of animals; harvesting, packaging and transporting of crops and meats; and testing of imported foods. The first went into effect last year, and the last will be underway by the end of the month. The categories are so in-depth that farmers are allowed two to four years to comply with some categories.

FSMA's roots are firmly planted in protecting the public. "Basically, we had numerous outbreaks or food recalls associated with listeria or salmonella, and we wanted to eliminate the public health consequences, the loss of consumer confidence," says Joe Reardon, N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services assistant commissioner. "It was equally important to recognize we needed a new, more robust framework for products coming in [from other countries]. Eighty-five percent of seafood, 20% of fresh vegetables and 50% of our fruits are imported, driven by marketplace demand, which brings them in year-round, and that number has significantly grown over the last 20 years. Under the traditional framework, the FDA only inspects about half of it."

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The FSMA operational plan was developed with the Food and Drug Administration and will provide states with education, inspection and compliance...