The 4th of July is a celebration of the right to personal freedom, something worthy of revolution.  Join the food revolution! 

I just saw a bumper sticker at Von's that read "Democracy is not a spectator sport."  Exactly.  The more I do activist work in the food and farming sector,  the more concerned I get about us losing basic freedoms to our own food sovereignty. Our right and access to sustainably produced, organic food is being systematically weakened. It's enough for a rational person to begin to believe in conspiracy theories. 

On the surface the system looks great -- there are more farmers markets, CSAs, "eat local" programs, & home gardens springing up all over. Clearly people want to eat good food, no matter how much money they have, or where they live. And, there's a tremendous "community farmer" movement all across America, versed in sustainability philosophy and practices.  

Yet behind the scenes, Federal funding is being ripped out of every program that will support those goals.  Congress is defunding: transitioning to organics, conservation on farmland, sustainable Ag research, nutrition programs for seniors and Women/Infants & Children (WIC) and more.  For example, the House just voted to prohibit spending ANY money (though very little was in it) on the "know your farmer, know your food" bill, and there is an amendment to completely eliminate the bill. 

And there are weird laws springing up -- like in Florida and even New York, there are bills to make it illegal to photograph a farm.  What??  Then, the FDA recently declared that we don't have a "right" to eat or feed our children the food we choose.  

Then a few months ago, 30 USDA, FDA, County sheriffs & FBI agents descended, with guns drawn, in huge SWAT operations on WHO???  Our own Sharon Palmer of Healthy Family Farms, in Santa Paula. Why? For raising goats that a Buying Club in Venice came up to milk for themselves. This was the third such raid on Sharon, each time confiscating all the families computers.  And she's one of many raw milk providers in the country who've received similar treatment.  (Be sure to attend a screening of "Farmagedden" to really get your blood boiling.)  I would submit this is not about our health and safety, or raw milk. 

 If health and safety were the driving concern of government, we wouldn't be able to buy alcohol, cigarettes or fried food which kill many more thousands than a glass of  goat's milk.  I ask you, how big a threat is the Amish farmer who sold milk over the Illinois state line?  We're not talking Al Capone here. 

Now it's GIPSA -- a law that passed to level the playing field for small & midsized livestock producers, who were being manipulted out of access to USDA slaughter-houses. Big Ag didn't want grassfed beef-pigs-poultry  

to compete with factory farmed animals.  So GIPSA passed to change all that, to support small farmers.  Undaunted, Big Ag worked their deals and Congress just defunded enforcement of this  legislation.

I'm not expecting that you're all going to rally round the pitchfork and set off to tar-n-feather the scoundrels.  But I do hope that you will find some publication, or on-line blog, or films to keep you abreast of what is going on.  Get educated, you and your childrens' health and well-being depend upon it. 

"This revolution will not be pasturized."