Food Freedom

The centralized bureaucratic agencies in Washington D.C. in league with lobbyists and politicians have for decades been infringing upon the rights of the citizens to eat the foods of their choice.  Through punitive taxes, subsidies, and crushing regulations that are written indirectly by large agricultural and food companies, food production is concentrated largely in the hands of the politically connected at the expense of our health.

How Regulations Actually Work

While the governmental powers-that-be insist they are attempting to protect the safety of consumers, most measures taken by legislators and agencies are about market control.  Many think that large corporations do not like regulations, because:

a. they could get away with putting out an unsafe product, and
b. regulations are expensive and require spending money to comply.

This could not be further from the truth.  These regulatory agencies are stacked with ex-employees of the large food and agricultural corporations.  Conversely, the same corporations contain ex-government bureaucrats and officials who gained their positions by featherbedding; writing the rules to the advantage of the established oligopolies.  The largest corporations are the biggest advocates of regulations, in part, not despite the fact that compliance can be expensive, but precisely because it is expensive.  An established multimillion or billion dollar company can afford to pay for the compliance, while a smaller upstart may not.  Regulations serve to cement the place of the established companies in the market, by providing a legislative barrier to entry.  They then can pass much of that cost to the consumer in higher prices.

The Answer: Freedom

The Sphere of Health advocates a solution that will increase the abundance of and drive down the cost of food.  It advocates an end to corporate welfare in the form of subsidies, and an end to procedural regulations.  Bureaucrats in Washington D.C. or state governments are not the most qualified to determine procedures for food safety.  That expertise lies with the people that work with the product.  There should be punitive sanctions for fraud and negligence, but how to go about releasing a safe product should be left with each business.  Quality control will improve at a much higher rate with competing strategies and ideas.  The FDA has shown that it is at best, unable to prevent food outbreaks.  It's substantial oversight holds down the production of food, thereby making it less affordable.  At worst, its corruption shields large corporations from penalties for negligence, and subsidizes unhealthy food products.

People should be free to purchase products such as raw milk without harassment by agencies.  And should not be encouraged or discouraged from buying products by governmental tampering with prices.  The Sphere of Health trusts people with the diet of their choice for themselves and their families.