I was given homemade blueberry wine for my birthday. Another person gave me a quart of homemade yogurt. Someone shared a butchered chicken from their backyard flock, while someone else shared scrumptious old-fashioned kraut and another makes out-of-this-world pies.

What if I gave the wine-maker, yogurt-maker, chicken producer and the kraut and pie-makers something in trade? I don’t know how many folks realize that my giving them money for their homemade foods would be breaking the law. How many understand it’s against the law to sell to me what they can give to me?

The government decided we’re not allowed to trade without permission, and the courts agree. Blue Hill farmer Dan Brown sold milk directly to folks who wanted his milk. Dan was sued and lost because the government doesn’t permit him to do this. They say it’s about food safety. Then why isn’t it illegal to give homemade food away?

Many people accept government regulation concerning products that change hands on a mass scale. What the government has made illegal, though, has no middlemen. There’s no chain of custody. There’s only the producer and the consumer.

What arrogance treats me like a dimwit who cannot decide what to eat? What elitist garbage treats us as children needing permission to trade with each other? The state’s interference in private transactions violates what is sacred.

I accept no government authority over my God-given natural right to feed and nurture myself. The decline of small farms results in fewer food choices for us all. When the government makes immoral laws, it’s up to the people to reject them.

I will get my food how I decide: from folks I know and trust. I’ll trade what I want with whom I want. Natural law does not cease to exist just because man says so!

Cynthia Rosen

Washington, Maine


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