I just walked in the door from speaking at a homeschool co-op in Bumpass, Virginia and hearing the most unbelievable story that must be shouted from the rooftops.

                  A middle-aged farmer told me his 18-year-old go-getter entrepreneurial son in 2022 wanted to install a slaughterhouse.  This family has a serious farming operation and the son spearheads a deer processing facility on their property.

                  He takes in, breaks down, and packages 1,200 deer in the fall.  Those deer do not need any inspection.  He can do this without ANY government oversight.  The hunters who bring in the deer do not have to submit the carcasses for inspection.  The processing facility need not meet any requirements.  Since this is game, it's completely unregulated except for the hunting licenses purchased by hunters if they aren't hunting on their own property. 

                  This meat has no refrigeration requirements and is often dragged hundreds of yards through squirrel dung, sticks, and rocks on its way to the transport vehicle.  These deer often are outside refrigeration for many hours until they're cooled down.  I hope everyone is tracking this.  Zero government oversight.  And this meat can be eaten, fed to children, used at church dinners and neighborhood gatherings.  The only stipulation is that it can't be sold; it can be given, cooked, used and fed to anyone without restriction except being sold. 

                  This enterprising young man called the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) division that oversees meat processing plants and expressed his interest in moving his facility to inspection so he can do beef, pork, and lamb for farmers who could then legally sell it to their neighbors.  He's already doing more than 100,000 pounds of venison.

                  Realize, for you uninitiated in these affairs, that in the U.S. you cannot sell a single pound of ground beef or a pork chop unless it's processed in a government inspected facility.  You can give it away.  You can buy it.  You can feed it to your children, all without inspection.  But you just can't sell it.  Obviously if someone buys it, that would be an illegal sale on the black market.  And yes, it does happen.

                  The VDACS administer (yes, I have her name) told this young man, who was eagerly ready to comply with all licensing and permits in order to build a community abattoir, that there was no sense in building it.  He incredulously asked why, since this is an extremely needed business service to the local food community and our nation is desperately short of these kinds of facilities.

                  Her answer:  "you can comply with everything we ask, but WE WILL FAIL YOU." 

                  The young man, taken aback, asked why.  The answer was simple:  "We don't want these small plants.  We don't want to mess with them." 

                  I told the dad, as he related the conversation to me, that I'm not surprised at the prejudice but to admit it this boldly was surprising.  This is the elitist arrogance of these government agencies.  Another dream destroyed by tyranny.

                  Whenever people begin defending bureaucratic regulators, these are the stories that come to my mind.  I know, sometimes someone in these agencies wants to help, but the prejudice is alive and well even if it's unspoken.  

                  The fact that he can process 1,200 deer and they can go into the food chain (unsold) without a single government regulation but he can't do even one cow, lamb, or pig for a farmer who wants to sell a pound is outrageous.  This is clearly not about food safety.  It is about controlling market access so the entrenched bigshots don't have to suffer competition.

                  This is why we need a FOOD EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION.  

                  If farmers and ranchers could sell uninspected meat from their livestock, do you believe hospitals would be full of sick people who ate filthy meat?