Raw Milk and Presidential Politics…

While raw milk might not be the first thing you think of when comparing candidates in the next presidential election, one of the Republican presidential candidates running for the GOP nomination sure thinks it is worth mentioning.  As part of his platform, Congressman Ron Paul is pledging to overturn the ban on interstate trafficking of raw milk. If you recall, I have written about this issue in the past and advocated that the ban be repealed legislatively. In fact, Congressman Ron Paul is the original sponsor of the legislation I was touting in one of my first blog posts.

To be clear, I am not a supporter of Ron Paul for President.  His views on foreign policy and his off-the-charts anti-government conspiracy theories make me unable to support his campaign. But regardless of what you think of Ron Paul as a presidential candidate, we should give him credit for raising an interesting debate about food policy in the U.S. that most other politicians are unwilling to explore.

Food policy might not seem like it merits a mention alongside heady issues facing our leaders like the economy and foreign policy, but ask yourself this question: what issue impacts as many people as food and nutrition?  This is national issue, and it absolutely should have a place at the table.

Let’s be honest, food is big business in America… and it impacts every American every single day. As both consumers and citizens, I believe we should have a right to know where our food comes from and how it is being processed.  Then we need to accurately assess the long-term health implications of what we are putting into our body.

I think most Americans trust the government to do this for them. I do not and I have good reason. As I have mentioned in the past, according to our government I can’t buy raw milk but I can buy all the Twinkies, Devil Dog’s and Frito’s I want. I still have trouble understanding how we get the thumbs-up from Washington on diabetes ticking time bombs like this, yet we are breaking the law if we buy raw milk.

We can no longer just assume the government and “nutrition experts” have our best interests at heart.  Most of what we are taught about nutrition in America is extremely biased and full of half-truths. I am happy that food policy is finally getting some attention at this level, and I give kudos to Ron Paul for talking about it.  Who you vote for president is your business. I am just glad that we may finally be starting a rational conversation about food in America.