Pete Kennedy, attorney, says that the Amos Miller trial Monday went very well for the Amish man prosecuted by Pennsylvania food police.  They allege he's selling illegal meat to people; he says his voluntary neighbor friends are not buying anything, according to the legal definition of "in commerce."

             Kennedy says he thinks the judge will require Miller to pay a fine, but it won't be nearly as much, perhaps by a long shot, of what the state wants.

             I appreciated the clear show of support in the comments to my post about this and I want to clarify the argument put forth that this not a governmental overreach, but a big corporate problem.

             In the last few months of his gubernatorial term, then Gov. Tim Kaine (now a Virginia U.S. Senator) visited our farm for a tour.  He and his Virginia State Police armed bodyguard entourage joined me on a hay wagon as Daniel drove the tractor around on a tour.  As an avid environmentalist, Kaine was a quick study and couldn't have been more engaged or receptive to our agricultural techniques.

             As we neared the end of the tour, he asked me point blank:  "What can I do for you?"

             I replied succinctly:  "You and every other elected official have an overriding responsibility to protect the unorthodox from your bureaucracy and the interests, both public and private, that use regulatory power to destroy innovation and diversity in the culture."

             To clarify, he then asked me "Are you afraid of big business, like big poultry or big beef or big chemical?  Do they pose a threat to you?"

             I replied:  "Not in the least.  They only have power when your agencies give it to them through the regulatory process with all the power of the attorney general and armed police.  Without your bureaucrats, these big businesses are powerless."

             That was not the answer he wanted to hear, but it is the truth.  Big dairy is not prosecuting Amos Miller.  Perdue Farms is not prosecuting Amos Miller.  Cargill is not prosecuting Amos Miller.  Make no mistake, the only thing that gives big interests, whether they are businesses or non-profit lobby groups, is the power of the state.  Absent that, these mob interests have no power.

             Our Goliath for food freedom is not Cargill, Monsanto, or Dow Chemical.  Our Goliath is the attorney general and his henchmen and women occupying countless bureaucratic regulatory desks at all levels of government.  This conflict is not big business versus little business.  It's strictly big government versus little business.  You cannot have thriving small business innovation at the same time you have big government.

             When Teddy Roosevelt grew the bureaucracy and invented the food police (Food Safety Inspection Service) it grew big business faster than ever.  Big government always births bigger business to the detriment of small business.  If you get that straight, half of all your political decisions will be easy and right.

             The big issue is not food safety.  The big issue is liberty for people to make up their own minds, exercise control over their own bodies, and spend their money where and when and to whom they want.

             How do we ensure diversity without freedom?