Illegal to Grow Own Food

Congress is about to make it illegal to grow your own food, or for "any farm" not to purchase and use government mandated chemicals, additives, and pesticides on all food consumed in the United States. Violations are subject to a fine of up to $1,000,000/day.

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UPDATE: Due to a large amount of interest in this post, I got some legal clarification. The bill says it applies to "any food establishment" or "any farm."

Clarification on "food establishment." These are described in the Definitions section of the bill. Description (8) expands the bill to cover "a food establishment that processes all other categories of food products not described." The bill covers almost anything an interpreter wants it to cover.

Clarification on "any farm." A farm is legally defined in the U.S. as "any place from which $1,000 or more of agricultural products were produced and sold, or normally could have been sold during the census year." The use of the word "any" in front of farm eliminates the financial test.

Clarification on fines. Up to $1,000,000 per day. All penalties are final unless you file a petition for judicial review in the United States Court of Appeals within 30 days of each citation and simultaneously serve a copy by certified mail to "the Administrator."

All judicial reviews shall be decided in favor of the Administrator unless citations are found to be "unsupported by substantial evidence on the record as a whole." In other words, you are liable unless you (1) file in the proper US Court of Appeals and simultaneously notify the Administrator for each citation within a 30 day time limit, and (2) you present "substantial evidence" that the Administrator's claims are unsupported as a whole for each citation. Multiple fines are limited to $1,000,000/day.

As a side note, the Legislative branch cannot declare itself a conditional winner of Due Process challenges in advance, as that is a direct violation of Due Process itself. Due Process guarantees U.S. citizens that the Legislature alone cannot restrict Judges from affecting the result of matters concerning the confiscation of life, liberty, or property. But that is the quality of thinking you get from a woefully undereducated U.S. congress.

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HR 875
Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009
(sponsored by Rosa DeLauro whose husband Stanley Greenburg works for Monsanto)

(my comments in red)

SEC. 401. PROHIBITED ACTS.
It is prohibited--

(1) to manufacture, introduce, deliver for introduction, or receive in interstate commerce any food that is adulterated, misbranded, or otherwise unsafe;

(growing an organic tomato in your backyard is now illegal)

(2) to adulterate or misbrand any food in interstate commerce;

(as is transporting your organic food to another state)

(3) for a food establishment or foreign food establishment to fail to register under section 202, or to operate without a valid registration;

(you are prohibited from growing a tomato in your backyard without purchasing a license then submitting to the following:)

(4) to refuse to permit access to a food establishment or food production facility for the inspection and copying of a record as required under sections 205(f) and 206(a);

(growing a tomato in your backyard without regular government inspections and the purchase and use of mandated chemicals and pesticides from government-approved suppliers)

(5) to fail to establish or maintain any record or to make any report as required under sections 205(f) and 206(b);

(failing to document compliance for all food you produce)

(6) to refuse to permit entry to or inspection of a food establishment as required under section 205;

(growing a tomato without submitting to search and seizure of your personal property)

(7) to fail to provide to the Administrator the results of testing or sampling of food, equipment, or material in contact with food, that is positive for any contaminant under section 205(f)(1)(B);

(growing a tomato without submitting samples to the government to test for mandated additives)

(8) to fail to comply with a provision, regulation, or order of the Administrator under section 202, 203, 204, 206, or 208;

(failure to do whatever you are told)

(9) to slaughter an animal that is capable for use in whole or in part as human food at a food establishment processing any food for commerce, except in compliance with the food safety law;

(same applies to farm animals)

(10) to transfer food in violation of an administrative detention order under section 402 or to remove or alter a required mark or label identifying the food as detained;

(failure to comply with any arbitrary restrictions placed on organically grown food)
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(11) to fail to comply with a recall or other order under section 403; orCommentsClose CommentsPermalink

(12) to otherwise violate the food safety law.

(any reason the government wants to jail or fine you)