The Milk Police

[DynamicBalance]

The issues of raw milk and health freedom have been studiously avoided by politicians, with the exception of Ron Paul. I am not aware of any other national politician that has had the courage to speak out about raw milk and support the right of people like me to make the educated decision to drink raw milk instead of pasteurized milk.

To me, this is one of the biggest issues of our time, and silence from our elected officials is inexcusable. Do we want to live in a country where people don't have the right to make health choices for themselves?

Laurel Blair, NTP
www.dynamicbalancenutrition.com

https://paul.house.gov/index.php?opt...1867&Itemid=69

On April 20th, after a year-long undercover sting operation, armed federal agents acting on behalf of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) raided the business of Pennsylvanian Amish farmer Dan Allgyer to prevent him from selling his unpasteurized milk to willing, fully-informed customers in Maryland. Federal agents wasted a whole year and who knows how many of our tax dollars posing as customers in order to catch Allgyer committing the "crime" of selling his milk. He was not tricking people into buying it, he was not forcing people to purchase it, and there had been no complaints about his product. These were completely voluntary transactions, but ones that our nanny-state federal government did not approve of, and so they shut down his business. The arrogance of the FDA and so many other federal agencies is simply appalling. These types of police state raids on peaceful businessmen, so reminiscent of our tyrannical federal drug war, have no place in a free society.

The FDA claims its regulatory powers over food safety give it the authority to ban the interstate sales of raw milk, but this is an unconstitutional misapplication of the commerce clause for legislative ends. As we have seen, if the executive branch feels hamstrung by the fact that our framers placed lawmaking authority in the Legislative Branch, they simply make their own laws and call them "regulations." We all know how the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) uses such bogus regulation authority to harass, hinder, and shut down countless other legitimate businesses. Sadly, Congress has been far too lax for far too long as the executive branch continues to encroach on its areas of responsibility and thereby undermines our system of government.

Most Americans understand that if you don't want to drink unpasteurized milk you simply do not buy it. But the federal government solution is pre-dawn raids which destroy the livelihoods of honest, hardworking families in this time of continued economic hardship.

I am outraged by this raid and the many others like it, and that is why last week I introduced HR 1830, a bill to allow the shipment and distribution of unpasteurized milk and milk products for human consumption across state lines. This legislation removes the unconstitutional restraint on farmers who wish to sell or otherwise distribute, and people who wish to consume, unpasteurized milk and milk products.

Many Americans have done their own research and come to the conclusion that unpasteurized milk is healthier than pasteurized milk. These Americans have the right to consume these products without having the federal government second-guess their judgment or thwart their wishes. If there are legitimate concerns about the safety of unpasteurized milk, those concerns should be addressed at the state and local level.

I am hoping my colleagues in the House will join me in promoting individual rights, the original intent of the Constitution, and federalism by cosponsoring this legislation to allow the interstate shipment of unpasteurized milk and milk products for human consumption.

If we are not even free anymore to decide something as basic as what we wish to eat or drink, how much freedom do we really have left?

[Braggi]

A year long undercover sting operation?

Obviously all the other problems in the country have been solved.

This is one of the topics on which Ron Paul and I agree.

Should everyone in the country have the option to make all their own health decisions?

The only argument for that is a Darwinian one.

-Jeff

[DynamicBalance]

A year long undercover sting operation?

Obviously all the other problems in the country have been solved.

This is one of the topics on which Ron Paul and I agree.

Should everyone in the country have the option to make all their own health decisions?

The only argument for that is a Darwinian one.

-Jeff

Hi Jeff,

Glad to hear you agree on this topic. It's an important one. I do believe that everyone should have the option to make their own health decisions. That could definitely be interpreted as a Darwinian argument. On the other hand, it can also be downright dangerous to let the government decide what's best for us when it comes to health.

The problem is that when we let the government (in this case, the FDA) make decisions for us, in many cases they will choose things that benefit big business, not the people. Raw milk is one of those cases. It's clear from the way the FDA is conducting themselves that their concern is not truly with food-borne illness, but rather with local raw milk producers cutting into the profits of the large dairy producers. After all, there are far, far more outbreaks of illness from leafy greens than from raw dairy, but you don't see the FDA drawing their guns on spinach farmers. Corruption at its finest!

Another example is the USDA Dietary Guidelines. For over 30 years the government has been telling us to avoid saturated fat and cholesterol and to switch to polyunsaturated oils for cooking. This is really bad advice that is not based on any convincing scientific evidence, but unfortunately the majority of people have actually changed their diets, effectively letting the government decide for them what is healthy. This has led to our current obesity and diabetes epidemics, but the USDA stubbornly refuses to change their tune. I discuss this topic in my new article (Saturated Fat and Heart Disease: Unraveling the Myth) here on Wacco.

When the government is wrong about things as basic as which kinds of fat are healthy to eat, I can't support ever letting them make decisions for others.

Laurel Blair, NTP
www.dynamicbalancenutrition.com