Georgia's "Food Freedom" Bills Would Protect Growers

You may remember "Cabbagegate" from last year, when a Georgia man was fined more than $5,000 for growing too many organic veggies on his own property. It is in response to ridiculous incidences like this, as well as the growing anxiety about the impact of increased food safety regulation, that several states have introduced "Food Freedom" bills. These laws would eliminate regulations on some of the very smallest food sources out there, from bake sales to community potlucks to your own garden. And yes, Georgia is one of them.

Georgia has actually introduced two laws exempting certain growers from government inspection. The first is the Georgia Right to Grow Act (H.B. 2), and it reads in part,

"No county, municipality, consolidated government, or local government authority shall prohibit or require any permit for the growing or raising of food crops or chickens, rabbits, or milk goats in home gardens, coops, or pens on private residential property so long as such food crops or animals or the products thereof are used for human consumption by the occupant of such property and members of his or her household and not for commercial purposes."

This is the most basic kind of common sense protection that all of us need: The right to grow one's own food. It's baffling to me that some of our citizens do not currently have this freedom, even when it's for no commercial purpose and of no nuisance to their neighbors.

The second bill Georgia has introduced goes quite a bit further. It is known as the Georgia Food Freedom Act (H.B. 12), and it would prohibit any rules or regulations concerning any and all unprocessed food sold directly to the consumer. Any food that is "shelled, canned, cooked, fermented, distilled, preserved, ground, crushed, or slaughtered" would still be subject to regulations, but unprocessed produce (or, presumably, live animals) could be sold for food without government interference of any sort beyond zoning regulations. The bill would remove a great regulatory burden on those producers who least need regulating.

A good deal of food safety advocates agree that when a farmer sells directly to a consumer, there is a basic relationship of accountability created that goes a long way towards protecting consumers. When produce comes straight out of the ground, the opportunities for contamination are minimal, and selling direct is a method that Big Ag generally can't handle. And I think just about everyone can agree that you should be able to grow your own food for yourself and your family without being slapped with a fine.

It remains to be seen how this latter bill will fare when pitted against federal food safety regulations, including the recently passed Food Safety Modernization Act. In the (albeit rather unlikely) event that a farm selling directly to consumers grosses more than $500,000 in a year, which law will take precedence? Just as most people agree that small farmers selling direct don't need much regulation, most would probably agree that a farm that big should perhaps be looked at every now and then by regulators. As the size of the farm grows, so too does it's potential to cause a significant outbreak if something does go wrong. But again, the chances of this becoming an issue aren't too great.

These questions aside, these two Georgia bills are an excellent idea — crucial even. Help Georgia prevent another Cabbagegate. Sign our petition urging the Georgia legislature to pass these two important Food Freedom bills.

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Photo credit: Like_the_Grand_Canyon via Flickr