I don’t know whether to be amused, disgusted, or angry, but any politician who says we need higher taxes is crazy so long as the federal government is squandering even one penny on sting operations designed to interfere with the freedom of consenting adults to busy and sell unpasteurized milk.
Here are some excerpts from a story in the Washington Times.
A yearlong sting operation, including aliases, a 5 a.m. surprise inspection and surreptitious purchases from an Amish farm in Pennsylvania, culminated in the federal government announcing this week that it has gone to court to stop Rainbow Acres Farm from selling its contraband to willing customers in the Washington area. The product in question: unpasteurized milk. …“It is the FDA’s position that raw milk should never be consumed,” said Tamara N. Ward, spokeswoman for the FDA, whose investigators have been looking into Rainbow Acres for months, and who finally last week filed a 10-page complaint in federal court in Pennsylvania seeking an order to stop the farm from shipping across state lines any more raw milk or dairy products made from it. …“I look at this as the FDA is in cahoots with the large milk producers,” said Karin Edgett, a D.C. resident who buys directly from Rainbow Acres. “I don’t want the FDA and my tax dollars to go to shut down a farm that hasn’t had any complaints against it. They’re producing good food, and the consumers are extremely happy with it.” …Raw-milk devotees say pasteurization, the process of heating food to kill harmful organisms, eliminates good bacteria as well, and changes the taste and health benefits of the milk. Many raw-milk drinkers say they feel much healthier after changing over to it, and insist they should have the freedom of choice regarding their food. …the FDA uses its regulatory powers over food safety to ban interstate sales of raw milk and has warned several farms to change their practices. …By crossing state lines the milk became part of interstate commerce, thus subject to the FDA’s ban on interstate sales of raw milk. The court papers note that the jugs of milk were not labeled – another violation of FDA regulations.
This story isn’t quite as outrageous as the case of the despicable dumpster-diving IRS thug, which was discussed in March, but it’s a clear sign of a government that is far too big and with too much money to spend.
? Want to choose between the potential health benefits of raw milk and the disease risk it carries? Do you have a different view of that compromise?
Sorry, the public has already decided for you what your compromise ought to be.
While the FDA may not be entirely and directly an agency… of the people, by the people, for the people,… it is nonetheless controlled by officials elected by the people. FDA actions are, in most cases, sanctioned by a majority of the people. Concentrating on those few policies that the FDA might pursue in spite of majoritarian desire to impose its will, is a secondary issue. Socrates still drinks the hemlock when the people so decide.
So the fundamental issue that tests American cardinal principles is: Is the milk one drinks an individual decision or a collective one? Most people apparently favor the latter. So minority shut up and drink what you’re told. This is the New America – i.e. same as the rest of the world. Prosperity parity will inevitably follow within a few decades.
For a few days I was worried that all the government resources wasted on this silly effort to track down Osama bin Laden were distracting our intelligence and law enforcement agencies from the really important jobs, like hunting down and destroying producers of unapproved milk products. I certainly hope that the light bulb police are fully funded.
[...] Year-long sting operations by federal milk police. [...]
[...] The federal milk police. [...]
[...] Year-long sting operations by federal milk police. [...]
[...] Year-long sting operations by federal milk police. [...]
[...] Year-long sting operations by federal milk police. [...]
[...] Year-long sting operations by federal milk police. [...]
[...] Year-long sting operations by federal milk police. [...]
[...] Year-long sting operations by federal milk police. [...]