Do we have the liberty to choose our food?

Being born and raised in America, I have been trained to believe that I have “freedom”. I was taught the Pledge of Allegiance on the first day of Kindergarten, with the closing words “with liberty and justice for all”. I have said those words every school day since (and then some). That’s more than 2,160 times. 

The definition of liberty, a synonym for freedom, is (1) the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views; or (2) the power or scope to act as one pleases. However, the current issues our farm is going through is a blatant reminder that my freedom and liberty is limited (if you’re not current with the issues surrounding our farm, I recommend reading David Gumpert’s blog; three of his five most recent blog posts were about our farm).

For many personal, moral, and health reasons, I choose to feed my family food as close to the source as possible. We eat real ingredients, ideally produced by farmers that we know and trust and practice in sustainable and humane ways. However, my access to real food is being threatened. How could this be? I mean, it’s a complicated issue, but a lot of it boils down to politics. And, this political bone broth has some powerful ingredients, complex flavors, and is ultimately not very good for your health.

How could an organic apple cost more than a hamburger from McDonald’s? It simply can’t, unless we subsidize the water, fuel, land, grain, and other costs associated with large-scale beef production. The food system that I am choosing to support threatens big agri-business. And, I guess the people involved in big food politics are scared that, if enough people catch on or if real food becomes too accessible, the immense structure that they have built will collapse.

My hope is that people, real people who have the gumption to source real food, would stand up together for their rights to access the foods of their choice – to stand up now in hopes that the next generation will not have to fight this fight. And, I hope that government agencies will divert their efforts to real public health crises like autism (and an assortment of other neurological conditions), obesity, heart disease, HIV, and prescription drug overdose. This is where our taxpayer dollars should be going. Attacking small farms and their customers is downright unjust.

So, what can you do? Please, keep eating real food and standing up for your food rights. Vote with your dollar and support farmers and producers that are doing things the way you believe is right. If you believe in our farmer, please continue ordering. If you’d like to go the extra mile, donate to the Real Food Consumer Coalition, which is helping to protect our farm and food rights.