A PATRIOT Act for Food?

by Mark Nestmann

“Control food and you control people.”

~ Henry Kissinger, Former Secretary of State

Leave it to Congress to make criminals out of organic farmers and anyone else having anything to do with the production, distribution, or sale of food. Yesterday, the U.S. Senate enacted S-510, the “FDA Food Safety Modernization Act of 2010.”


It’s the equivalent of a USA PATRIOT Act…for food. Yes, for food. And since a companion act in the House of Representatives has already been enacted, the bill will become effective as soon as President Obama signs it.

S. 510 empowers the FDA to regulate every aspect of food production and processing. Nothing is to be exempted…your grandchild’s lemonade stand is probably a “food distribution facility.” So is your backyard organic garden.


Organic farmers, though, are the most likely target of this bill. For instance, a growing number of consumers purchase raw, unpasteurized milk from dairy farmers. It’s true that this poses a potential health risk. The farmer must apply scrupulous hygienic standards, and also insure cows don’t eat poisonous plants that could contaminate the milk. Pasteurization eliminates most of this risk.


Because of the risks of raw milk, the FDA, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and many other organizations have recommended banning its production. And under the authority of this bill, the FDA could issue regulations to do exactly that.

Certainly, problems do exist in our food supply. The CDC estimates that food-born diseases cause 5,000 deaths in the United States annually.

The rest is at Lew Rockwell