There's a lack of food freedom right now. Is it worth fighting for?

4th of July is this Sunday, and it got me thinking about the freedom and independence our forefathers fought for centuries ago. 

If I remember correctly, the American revolutionaries fought to not be taxed by Great Britain and to make their own laws. Because how could the British Parliament all the way across an ocean understand the colonists’ needs?

The saying “history repeats itself” is sadly accurate here… at least when it comes to food. 

The current American government creates taxes and regulations mostly with large scale industrial farms in mind. But, how do these rules translate for small farmers and real food consumers? It’s not pretty.

As an advocate for small farm food, I would love to have our food independence. Here are my wishes.

Please let farms and processors have the freedom to easily choose the ingredients that go into their products. Small food producers simply don’t have the bandwidth to jump through the hoops and complete the paperwork like an industrial operation does.

Please let consumers know everything about what’s in their food. No proprietary spice blends or mixes that we don’t have the right to know anything about.

Please stop making the “organic” label meaningless, adding more chemicals to the approved list year after year. The word “organic” should mean what the dictionary says - “produced or involving production without the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, or other artificial agents.”

Please make food labels mean what they say. Consumers deserve better than shady marketing when it comes to their food and their health.

Please stop allowing farms to spray synthetic and potentially harmful chemicals that then pollute nearby farms, the water, animals, and everything. 

Please let farms have a choice to be legally certified by the companies of their choice. Right now, it’s a government agency or nothing at all. We love having the safety double check, but we would also love to be able to choose companies that align with our vision.

Please give all Americans access to healthy and safe raw dairy. The laws are antiquated and, with modern testing equipment, we can keep it safer than ever before.

Please stop genetically modifying food. We simply don’t know what this will do long term… along with a plethora of other potentially harmful consequences.

Please start making these changes now so we do not pass this broken food system on to the next generation.

In my opinion, food freedom is absolutely worth fighting for. And the easiest way to fight is to vote with your dollar. 

Source food from small farms and businesses you know and trust. I mean, how would big ag continue without your dollars?

Do you have a food freedom issue that impacts your life? Do you have any food freedom issues to add to this list? I’d love to hear about it!