Image from Wyoming Food Freedom Facebook Page.
Excerpts:
In a win for farmers, deliciousness, and just plain common sense, Wyoming’s governor signed a bill this past week which will “stop overregulation of locally produced foods” by making it illegal for the state government to require “licensure, permitting, certification, inspection, packaging, or labeling” when farmers sell food directly to consumers.
In practice, this means that farmers markets and small food stands will be able to proceed without the interference of government busybodies. As the bill explains, its purpose “is to allow for the sale and consumption of homemade foods, and to encourage the expansion of agricultural sales by farmers markets, ranches, farms and home based producers.”
The bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Tyler Lindholm, says it will “take local foods off the black market. It will no longer be illegal to buy a lemon meringue pie from your neighbor or a jar of milk from your local farm.”
Read the full story here.
The Black Market – In Milk?
by Maureen Bader
Wyoming Liberty Group
Excerpts:
The Food Freedom Act has passed in Wyoming. It decriminalized some voluntary capitalist acts between consenting individuals and not a moment too soon. Government regulation is no panacea and food regulation could soon become even more disconnected with its purported purpose of keeping us healthy. Seems the USDA may incorporate environmental sustainability in its upcoming 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. As special interest groups exert more control over government, we must eliminate the dead hand of government from our food choices.
HB 56, the Food Freedom Act, allows the sale and consumption of homemade foods, including raw milk, and encourages the expansion of sales in farmers markets.
Food Freedom Act sponsor Sen. Ogden Driskill (R-Devils Tower) put it plainly during the senate debate when he said, “This is a personal choice.” He went on to confirm, “It’s about making something legal that is already happening.” In other words, the Food Freedom Act would eliminate the black market in raw milk.
Not everyone thinks free market acts between consenting individuals are a good thing. During that same debate, bill opponents such as Sen. Charlie Scott (R-Natrona) said that raw milk is full of bacteria. Sen. Scott, if you don’t want to drink raw milk, this bill won’t force you to.
This river runs far deeper than milk. One question asked during the debate was — does government regulation make us safer? Sen. Larry Hicks (R-Baggs) said more than two-thirds of food-borne illnesses come from government-inspected restaurants. So the answer is no, government regulation doesn’t necessarily make us safer.
An even more fundamental question is, does government know best?
Read the full article here.
