Protecting the Community Food Supply

by Liz Reitzig

I recently had my fourth child, and friends embarking on parenthood or expanding their families surround me.  A few days ago, I took a home cooked meal to a dear friend who had just given birth to her third baby.  Providing nourishment to families when a new baby arrives is not a new concept; rather it epitomizes the community support that has carried our species forward.  Just as there was no government involvement in this neighbor-to-neighbor transaction, government does not belong in any neighbor-to-neighbor food transaction.  Neighbor-to-neighbor, or direct farmer to consumer, sales are similar in principle to preparing a meal for a friend.  We need no permits, licensing or inspections to take a meal to new parents, and we need none in any direct food sales.  Yet the government forces regulations on such food transactions at the expense of small farmers and the communities that depend on them.  As individuals, we have the inherent right to purchase food from the producer of our choice and they to sell their food to us free of government interference.

Our relationship with food is profound in its intricacy. Food is more than simple nourishment for the body; we celebrate with food, we grieve with food, and we find comfort and exhilaration in food.  Food is an expression of self and an affirmation of community.  With our food choices we define who we are and what we stand for.  And many young parents, including myself, seek this expression of self for their growing families.  I, as a parent, cultivate how my children experience food in order to bring out the best in their present and future wellness.  I want them to associate foods that nourish their bodies with the memories that nourish their souls.

I spent childhood summers eating ripe tomatoes off the vine and peaches from the tree, with juice dripping down my chin.  While many of my peers turn to fast food or cold cokes to sate their summer appetite, I am grateful that my parents cultivated my tastes to appreciate and seek out these seasonal summer blessings.  I aim to inspire such tastes in my children as well.  Unfortunately, among the food choices available to us today, local foods are prohibitively difficult to access compared to other foods because of government overregulation of the food supply.  In Maryland, the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has prohibited farmers from selling, bartering or trading the fresh milk from their animals.  Demand grows exponentially for fresh milk and the products made from fresh milk, but this regulation is expressly intended to take away individuals’ choice and restrict access to this nutrient dense food.

As the mother of four young children, I guarantee that no one is more vested in my children’s health than I.  I want for them a vibrant well-being that comes from proper nutrition and I want for them safe food that will not bring on acute illness or degenerative disease.  Shopping at the grocery store is like dodging bullets.  With so much news about foods that have led to food-borne illness, I wonder what will be next and will it be the food I take home to feed my children and my friends’ children?  As we have seen from the recent food safety issues that have made headlines, regulations do not make food safe, individual integrity makes food safe. The best guarantor of safe food is not regulations, but direct face-to-face interaction with someone you trust and with whom you will have an ongoing relationship. Yet government regulation of direct farmer-to-neighbor trade makes most such transactions illegal.  Clearly, food safety is not achieved by surrendering our freedoms to choose our own food.

Access to food we trust, whatever that may be, is as basic a right as breathing, or accepting a meal from a friend. As I transitioned my family to local foods, I was thrilled to find that I finally trusted my food.  Once a task, cooking is now a joy and an art in my newfound appreciation for what it takes to cultivate the food.  I seek nourishment I trust and I choose products based on my family’s needs.  These needs are different for everyone.  Placing burdensome regulations on farmer-to-consumer transactions effectively eliminates options for many individuals.  In Maryland it is against regulation for farmers to sell unwashed or uncooled eggs.  This regulation removes that possibility for the growing numbers of consumers who prefer their eggs that fresh.

Regulations are predicated on enforcement. Farms are raided, shut-down, and run into the ground for not complying with regulations that would effectively put them out of business.  It is partially because of this approach towards enforcement that it remains imperative that bureaucracies not have authority over direct trade.  In Maryland recently a local Health Department agent came onto a farmer’s property unannounced, inspected their egg case and found labels where the font was not large enough.  The farm was ordered to cease selling the eggs with those labels on them.  Enforcement of regulations gives one person oversight over farmers and their farms based on subjective observations and personal experiences.  In contrast to illegal drugs, food is controlled at the point of sale.  Unlike with drugs, where the purchase and possession are illegal, people still have the right to buy, posses and consume whatever food they want, but government has destroyed the source by criminalizing farmers who sell their products directly to their community.

Farmers are central to their communities. They are the heroes who have cultivated the land for the nourishment of all.  Hands untied, farmers can thrive by selling their products directly to local community members and, in turn, communities will thrive.  Young people will flock to farmland in droves for their turn to cultivate the land and feed their communities.  As a young parent, I hope to see the day in the near future when I can legally purchase for my family the food I choose from the producer of my choice.

Liz Reitzig