> From: Moose <olymoose@xxxxxxxxx>
>
> The latest battle shaping up is over rules and procedures for some row
> crops production. The bacterial caused recalls of lettuce and ___(?)
> have led the FDA to start considering much more stringent rules for
> handling and record keeping. As expected, they aren't particularly
> onerous for large operators, but would likely kill off many or most of
> the small farm operators.
Here's the typical situation:
1) Food from a large, industrial food operation makes a bunch of
people sick.
2) People clamour for their government to protect them.
3) New regulations are put in place that have significant costs.
4) Small, local producers are put out of business.
5) Big food companies get bigger.
Lather, rinse, repeat.
No one is asking, "Why don't you ever hear of Farmer Joe down the road
making people sick?" The answer is obvious: Farmer Joe feeds his own
family the same stuff he sells to others -- unlike the fast-food stove
jockey who spits in hamburgers and would never dream of eating one
from a fast-food place.
We're losing "food sovereignty" -- control over one's food supply --
at an alarming rate. Soon, you'll only be able to eat what the
industry-government allows you to eat.
(Keep in mind that "food sovereignty" is fundamentally different than
"food security" -- the latter is just a government guaranty that food
will be available. Look how well that worked in New Orleans.)
----------------
The small organic farm greatly discomforts the corporate/industrial
mind because the small organic farm is one of the most relentlessly
subversive forces on the planet. Over centuries both the communist and
the capitalist systems have tried to destroy small farms because small
farmers are a threat to the consolidation of absolute power. Thomas
Jefferson said he didn’t think we could have democracy unless at least
20% of the population was self-supporting on small farms so they were
independent enough to be able to tell an oppressive government to
stuff it. It is very difficult to control people who can create
products without purchasing inputs from the system, who can market
their products directly thus avoiding the involvement of mercenary
middlemen, who can butcher animals and preserve foods without reliance
on industrial conglomerates, and who can’t be bullied because they can
feed their own faces. -- Eliot Coleman
:::: Jan Steinman, EcoReality Co-op ::::
--
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