There are two types of farming;
1. Industrial Farming
2. Local, Sustainable Farming :)
Most food production laws were made to support industrial farming. There's a chance local food production could completely go away soon.
Most food born illnesses are traced back to processed foods, yet the government is regulating local farmers harder than they are processing plants, requiring more permits and things of this sort that run local farmers out of business.
Soon we wont have any other option than to buy from our local grocery stores.
READ THIS! When mad cow disease became an issue, a couple came up with the idea to milk sheep. Tests were done on the sheep and they passed with flying colors. Then, the USDA ordered them to surrender the sheep, and quarantined the sheep because they were "at risk of mad cow disease". They told the couple if they go to the media, or tell anyone about this, the USDA would shut them down.
The USDA spent over a million dollars watching the couples sheep farm. Every car with a "Save Our Sheep" bumper sticker had their license plate written down, and then later were investigated.
The couple took the USDA to court to stop them from taking their sheep, and 17 days before the court hearing, 42 federal agents and USDA officials showed up at 530 in the morning and seized their sheep. The sheep were taken to Iowa and killed, "for a disease that never existed". Tissue samples were taken from the sheep, and every single sheep's test results were negative for mad cow disease.
The USDA then came and starting taking their hay, and parts from their farm claiming it was all "contaminated" and that they needed to properly dispose of it. The husband became suspicious, so one day he followed the USDA trucks. They went straight to a landfill a few miles away and dumped the "contaminated" sheep material... looks like it really wasn't that dangerous after all. So much money wasted.
In the mid 1800s, kids became sick and died from rotten milk that was enriched with flower and chalk to appear fresh. It was at this time that people turned to pasteurized milk because it killed the bacteria in raw milk. Some claim that we are exposed to so little bacteria now a days that raw milk is too risky for us to drink, however most of the bacteria is harmless or beneficial. But because some of the bacteria is potentially dangerous, the selling of raw milk is heavily regulated, making it hard to sell.
"The only farm crop regulated more than raw milk is marijuana. It seems ridiculous" - Steve Smith
DID YOU KNOW: The higher prices of organic farmed food, for the most part, has nothing to do with production, it has to do with the price of regulations.
Most local farms are raided, having thousands of dollars worth of animals and food seized simply because they do not have a permit, which should just result in a fine. Guns are drawn by police officers, accompanied by federal and USDA agents whose permits do not even allow them to seize more than a few testable samples.
Check out Kristy Canty's documentary Farmageddon to see more shocking stories from local farmers.
