It's Illegal to eat what you grow

Thank goodness, that's not actually true. Or is it? What if you hired a chef, had friends over for dinner and then a health inspector showed up, told you that your food wasn't fit to serve and called the police on you? This was food from your own farm/garden and these are your private guests? Sound far fetched? Well, it recently happened to an organic CSA farm in Nevada, USA (Land of the Free?) and it's not the first time I've heard of similar things happening.

Here's the story. in print, written as a letter from the farmer to her guests.

And here's the youtube video that was taken by some guests.



I'm all about following the rule of law and being accountable to public health regulations, but this is a situation that should never have happened.

Just because you grow your own organic food doesn't automatically make it unsafe to eat. Yikes! If this is how growers are treated it's no wonder so many self-sufficient people are doing it on the quiet. Less government interference and no seizure of equipment or fines for growing food. It's happening everywhere. This CSA, Compassion Farm in Lantzville, and many many others being bullied into quitting by local governments and regulations that support the factory farming model where only one giant supplier provides a product. Isn't that a monopoly? To beat the little guys out of business? It's not competition when the playing field isn't fair to all involved. People like to have alternatives such as great customer service, good warranties, organic and fair trade options, that's why little independent businesses can stay in business compared to the WalMarts of the world. But it's becoming harder and harder for farmers to make a decent living. Sigh. Just one more reason why being self-reliant is important I guess.