By Matt Agorist
San Lorenzo, CA — A heartening trend is growing on social media showing that people are waking up to the state persecuting individuals over victimless crimes. The latest example of this trend comes from the Alameda County Sheriff’s department posting a photo of a deputy arresting a man for selling fruits and vegetables on the roadside and attempting to justify it. When people read the department’s justification, they lashed out — peacefully — to let them know what they were doing is wrong.
Legality does not dictate morality.
The photo, which has sparked so much backlash online, depicts a deputy confiscating strawberries and mangoes while the man selling them sits on the sidewalk in handcuffs.
What’s going on in the photo is clear as day. However, the sheriff’s department took to penning a lengthy post in a futile attempt to explain and justify it. Naturally, they were owned by Facebook.
“This photograph has stirred up quite a bit of controversy on social media so we wanted to put some context to this picture. Some people have used this photo as an opportunity to criticize law enforcement and drive a wedge between us and our immigrant, minority and low income communities,” the sheriff’s office wrote. “Sometimes photos can be deceptive.”
However, nothing in this photo was deceptive and the sheriff’s department statement even confirmed it.
“Our deputy approached this man to advise him that it was illegal for him to sell produce on the corner. When the deputy asked the man for his identification he became resistive and tried to flee. Our intention here was not to arrest him or get in a confrontation with him. We learned, the man is on federal probation and is expected to follow all laws. This is likely the reason he tried to flee,” the sheriff’s department wrote.
“Justify however you want, if a deed doesn’t have an identified victim, it’s not a crime and you become the criminal. Badges don’t grant privileges of immorality,” one Facebook user wrote.
This poor man had likely been arrested for selling vegetables on the street before which is most likely why he ran. By saying the man ran from a kidnapper as a means of justification for kidnapping him is hardly a good point — which is why this dug the department an even deeper hole.
“This is why the people who hate you do. Even IN context this picture still boils my blood. A guy just trying to make some money. We shouldn’t need “law enforcement permission” to peacefully sell a product to make a buck. Victimless crime has no place in a so-called “free country”,” another user wrote. “Talk about turning hall-monitoring into a career.”
While there was no shortage of comments chastising the department for this victimless crime enforcement, sadly enough there were a few scattered comments by champions of the police state interjecting their ridiculous justification as well.
One Facebook user went so far as to somehow apply the two party paradigm to this situation.
Idiot liberals, do you not understand that what he’s selling is unchecked and possibly unsafe and being sold and taken home n fed to your kids with the possibility of making them sick..oh and I’m sure he’s payin taxes on the money he makes huh, not to mention he’s already on probation for breaking other laws…if you agree this is ok and the police are wrong you need to move to the 3rd world country this belongs in…you people are sad. The Police have a hard enough time without dealing with you idiots. BLUE LIVES MATTER
The comment above illustrates the sheer ignorance which has led to society accepting the enforcement of laws for victimless crimes. The poor uninformed individual who thinks standing up for people’s rights to do as they please without causing harm to their fellow human is ‘liberal’ is sadly just a cog in the wheel that is the police state. Standing against big government reaching into every aspect of our lives with permits, licenses, and fees — is the antithesis of the leftist.
Luckily, commenters like him were few and far between.
For the most part, the nearly 2,000 comments were all from people awake to the police state.
“Legality doesn’t equate to morality. If there’s no victim there’s no crime and until you stop using violence and extortion against peaceful people everyone’s going to hate you,” one person wrote, summing up the problem of policing in America perfectly.
The bottom line is — in modern day police state USA — exchanging goods and services is a crime unless the state gets their cut. We are told that this is for our safety and that we could all die if a brown man sells tainted strawberries on the corner. But nothing could be further from the truth.
“Persistent street vending harms local businesses, especially small, start-up food vendors and poses certain health risks such as Ecoli and other food borne illnesses,” writes the sheriff’s department.
E. coli is certainly something to worry about; however, it is not nearly as deadly as the police. In fact, police kill 30 to 40 times more people every year than E. coli. Also, the overwhelming majority of E. coli outbreaks and other food-borne illnesses come from factory farms and corporations whose representatives and owners are never prosecuted for the deaths related to their products.
Ah, but sell some strawberries on a street corner, and you are an enemy of the state who deserves to be kidnapped and caged.
Thanks for not buying it Facebook users.
Matt Agorist is an honorably discharged veteran of the USMC and former intelligence operator directly tasked by the NSA. This prior experience gives him unique insight into the world of government corruption and the American police state. Agorist has been an independent journalist for over a decade and has been featured on mainstream networks around the world. Agorist is also the Editor at Large at the Free Thought Project. Follow @MattAgorist on Twitter, Steemit, and now on Facebook. This article first appeared here at The Free Thought Project.
Police only hire applicants with demonstrably low IQ’s.
that’s because the low IQ city councilmen hire low IQ police chiefs. So tell me: Why aren’t the High IQ’s working to build a city to their liking? hmnmm? Libertarians in every state should be working on at least 2 or 3 target locations to build prototypes. The nation needs to know what a High IQ city will look like. “Show me; don’t tell me!”…. as that song by RUSH goes (off the 1989 Presto CD)
Although your points are quite valid I have a different perspective. IMO police departments diliberatly hire LOW IQ’S because police departments are Masonic institutions. You can tell by the symbolism. They want obedient enforcers who don’t think for themselves. If you read The Free Thought Project. Com it becomes apparent that they not only want stupid enforcers but they also want them to be sadistic racist power tripping sociopaths. FYI Freemasonry is Satanic/ Saturnist. Your criticism of me being all talk is a complete misrepresentation. First of all, real change start a with debate and discussion. Ideas become reality in time. Secondly, in the past 8 years I’ve distributed well over 20 thousand flyers warning people about different aspects of the NWO. What have you done ?
This second post gets a lot closer to the truth. thanks for it.
The traditional police motif of black and white is symbolic of viewing the world from a ‘black and white ‘ perspective which is how they want police to see the world.
I’m not referring to racism just a general outlook.
>>>>because police departments are Masonic institutions.<<<< Don't you mean to say their bosses are? The city council hires the chief of said "department". Follow the money trail. Why aren't libertarians worknig to remove and replace the Masonic cabal whores with the High IQ candidates from their ranks? And no one accused you personally for being "all talk". But please don't attempt to tell me that isn't a fair assessment of libertarians at large! 46 years of watching an arrogant, extremely critical, pseudo-intellectual debate club circle-jerk is more evidence any reasonable man needs. Then add the Free State Project's incredible gift to the LP-NH, and still zero results
There is a YouTube video of a man who was rejected for the police because he scored too high on the civil service test. Idiots with low IQs will follow illegal orders without thinking. People with higher IQs may hesitate and think whether the law is just or not. The Police State, therefore, will always choose those from the bottom of the barrel.
Mass awareness is the key.
I imagine the fellow was probably selling fruit and vegetables just to survive.
You are probably correct.
The laws requiring that all food sold to the public be certified as safe should be simple and cheap.
Would you eat at a restaurant that did not have certified safe food or did not follow regulations on food safety? Public safety trumps private profits, but those seeking to make a living should be helped to meet the necessary health and safety inspections. 2 million a year get sick from veggies and fruits….so it is not a needless regulation.
Your comment is fair, and I agree, that the City should facilitate compliance with health regulations for those who want to sell on the street, but I suspect the City was also interested in protecting its stores by preventing competition on the street.
It is not the city but the county,and those who comply with health regulations should be protected from unfair competition from those who do not. Would you buy a car with no safety features?
…as I said when this story originally posted…food borne illness is
prevented in the kitchen, where ingredients are kept separate, there is
minimal cross contamination…and vegetables get washed or sanitized
before use. But as a member of a corrupt LEO family… thank god we have
those LEO’s to protect us from ourselves…eh? Ha!
RJ O’Guillory
Many food illnesses begin in the field from fungus, e coli, etc. That is why commercial foods should be inspected for safety. Waiting until they kill you will be too late. That’s pretty funny, eh?
…yes…that is an accurate concern, as is the type of grower, insecticides, fertilizer’s being used, etc., etc. But that is as true in a commercial grocery store as it is for the guy on the street corner. Decades ago, before there were large grocers, and people were allowed to sell their products on the street corner…where did the safety practice come in? Purchasing healthy looking products from someone you hopefully dealt with before, and selling their own-grown product. In Northern California, where LEO’s are too busy chasing meth-heads to worry about fruit-sales, we still see them. But after purchase, the safety of all foods is rooted in the handling, washing / sanitation and cooking…(temps above 165 degrees and cross-contamination-prevention) of that product. Those activities occur in the kitchen and are the last barriers to food-borne-illness. And as someone who taught sanitation for twenty years, as well as taught people how to manage restaurants all over the world, I know that food-borne-illness is not funny at all. I know we joke about going to other places and getting ill…(Mexico for example)…but their food is not necessarily “bad”, it just has different microbes and bacteria than we may be used to, so some get ill. Real food-borne-illness, if it doesn’t kill you…it can blind you, paralyze you…cause surgeries for removal of stomachs and intestines. It can be horrible. So buy good food…(from whomever you like)…wash it well, insure a sanitary environment, prevent cross-contamination…and cook it above 165 degrees. You should be food-safe then. Take care….
RJ O’Guillory
Restaurants cook food they don’t just sell fruits and veggies, big f–king difference……. And YES I would buy fruits and veggies this way without permission (permit) from the f_king government, you need help in the thinking department.
Restaurants sell salads and fruit dishes. Sorry you are so deluded that you don’t understand the need for health regulations. It is not the king who requires complying with health and safety rules but the public itself.
Nonsense, if the food in a restaurant made people sick on a regular basis people wouldn’t eat there. It doesn’t take long for word to get around.
So rather than inspect food to insure no one dies, let a few die first as a quality control? How about the same with airplanes? No safety inspections for an airline that has a few crashes will soon go out of business?
And how about restaurants in tourist areas where the visitors are always different?
Are you serious that there should be no health inspections: how about cockroaches in the kitchen….they won’t kill you, the customers will never know they are eating cockroach shit, but so what?
Your approach has been tried. It is a recipe for disaster. There is no nonsense in inspecting restaurants and if you die from food from a street vendor, how do you know where the food came from.
Absurd, dangerous, juvenile…………..and why license doctors or require a medical training? If a doctor causes too many deaths, world will get around and he will lose customers. Brilliant!
Okay… take a closer look. We are NOT being “protected” from anything. Therefore, while some basic rules should certainly be honored in a limited way, the overall structure of government regulations we see now is a total failure; also both dangerous and destructive. Interesting you should mention “doctors”. Big Pharma is essentially owned by the Rockefeller clan and controls the entire modern medical death industry. The Rockefellers invented patent “medicine” as big business. After using their fortune to snuff all the REAL remedies for physical degeneration, THEY established the AMA so they could more tightly control both the licensing of “doctors” and medical school curriculum. The profoundly slash/burn Big Pharma indoctrinated medical practitioners are nothing but Big Pharma reps 99% of the time. They are taught only to mitigate symptoms with drugs and surgery and not taught anything about actual healing of the body. It’s a deadly fraud but most eager, innocent medical students have no clue regarding what they are being taught… and not taught. ALL of this and the ‘regulations’ of which you speak, are to maintain their multi Trillion dollar medical monopoly while killing us all. What do you think ‘mandated vaccines’ are all about? Soon, these monsters will remove the ‘doctor’ and his/her judgement altogether as mandated ‘vaccines’ will morph into government mandated medical protocols. You do as you like. Personally, I’ll take my chances on my own judgement without any government ‘assistance’; including buying veg. Do you really not understand the structure of all this. The fascist ‘business model’ wherein the BIS and it’s branch banks; the global central banking ‘system’, OWNS the ‘government’ and all of the “laws” they create and enforce in order to enrich and empower themselves while killing all the other ‘tribes’. You don’t get that?
I agree: under corporate fascism, the government regulatory agencies have been partially, if not completely, controlled by corporations through legal bribes and the revolving door.
This only stresses the need for a government based not on money but on service to the people.
The problem is not government but the lack of democratic, accountable government. Nevertheless, every government worker in health and safety I have met is committed to their mission. Inadequate health and safety is not good enough, but it is better than none at all.
I agree the system has been corrupted but on the local level of health and safety, it still serves a vital purpose. I advocate ending the role of money in politics and the creation of democratic Republic. Then government officials and reps will be compelled to serve the interests of the people.
Do not throw away the baby with the dirty bath water. We must all work to dismantle corporate fascism and replace it with democratic rule.
I agree with you there, without inspections we would be left holds harmless to the business elites profit margins and not public safety guidelines. Only thing that is needed is to stop the pandering for the FDA by the business moguls sending their special interests lobbyists to make it easyer to poison us by looking the other way…I say we outlaw lobbying in the US. it would solve a lot of backroom deals that screw the people.
Lobbying is free speech; to end the corruption of the revolving door and legal bribery, we need to outlaw money in politics, change the Citizen’s United ruling that money is free speech. When representatives no longer are beholden to their large sponsors, they will be compelled to serve…the People.
Then lobbying would be not with fat checks but with persuasion based on logic, evidence, and the interests of the People. If lobbyists without money cannot persuade, the whole profession will dry up.
Very sad because the GMO fruits/veg the government wants so desperately to sell you are literally poison. Meanwhile, all of humanity has been buying farm fresh produce for thousands of years. Btw, the veg marked ‘organic’ coming from Turkey are not organic at all; no standards whatsoever and the government does everything it possibly can to undermine organic foods, misinform the public about what a healthy diet really is and to push as much poison upon us as possible. Do the research.
This is right up there with needing a permit to go sledding, to sell lemonade and now a permit to mow a lawn; being arrested/fined for feeding the hungry or sheltering the homeless. It’s insane; definitely police state. But only if we allow it; accept it. Also the comment about the quality of the veg is very telling; i.e. the completely irrational belief we “need” big gov to make all our decisions and “protect” us. What UTTER nonsense! No entity upon earth poses a greater threat to all of humanity than the Global Central Bank OWNED “government”. The Bank/Gov’s only goals are to enslave us, rob us of all our assets, deny us our God given human rights and ultimately, kill us with poisoned water, GMO food-like substances, subject us to the medical death industry, forced vaccines, destroy families through social engineering, endless propaganda…. it was the USDA that unleashed GMO, glysophate and more upon a hapless uniformed public. The EPA, USDA and FDA are all run by Monsanto. Meanwhile the idiot who believes the police should “protect” us from vegetable sellers needs to learn how to THINK.
actually, this episode is peculiar because it involves public property. …which in itself, is THE problem.
…as I said when this story originally posted…food borne illness is prevented in the kitchen, where ingredients are kept separate, there is minimal cross contamination…and vegetables get washed or sanitized before use. But as a member of a corrupt LEO family… thank god we have those LEO’s to protect us from ourselves…eh? Ha!
RJ O’Guillory
Good post! Licensing trivial things in society like teenagers mowing lawns is not about the money the local governments will collect. It is about injecting authoritarianism into every aspect of our lives. They are the final bricks in the wall which complete the creation of the AmeriKKKan Police State.
Where are your papers?
The police are trying like hell to generate as much revenue as possible.They know that the pension time bomb will soon be going off,possibly leaving elderly cops to sell vegetables on the corner.They will rob anybody of anything to prevent that from happening
I am from the left, on the anarchist libertarian socialist side and have for decades protested the Police State.
However, food sold to the public should be in some way regulated, since vegetables are the largest part of food-borne illnesses, with over 2 million reported cases. “Altogether, the CDC estimates that food-borne illness causes 128,000 hospitalizations and 3,000 deaths each year in the United States. What many people don’t realize is that raw fruit and vegetables can also be risky. In a study of more than 100,000 illnesses linked to food between 1990 and 2006, they caused more problems than poultry and beef combined. Buying organic produce will reduce your exposure to pesticides but not necessarily to bacterial contaminants.”WP
From my experience, those selling fruits and vegetables from unregulated stock often are selling the most contaminated by pesticides, etc. The risk to public health is a valid reason, even for an anarchist, to require that all foods sold to the pubic be screened for health and safety. The law that prohibits “illegal” selling is intended to protect pubic health. It is not police abuse to enforce laws protecting pubic health and safety.
That said, I remain a foe of the Police State, seeking to reduce police work to only those just laws which protect us from harm, whether pollution, tainted food, or discrimination.
Local police obeying municipal laws are not Big Government but part of self-government, the ultimate agenda of anarchism. The laws should be just, and requiring that foods served in public accommodations or sold to the public be screened for contamination is not only justified but necessary.
In this case, the man ran, and the police would no doubt have forced him to get a license certifying that his produce was safe. Here is one possible solution: allow roadside stands to either have certification or to sell only certified produce, such as organic.
That a roadside vendor may suffer financially from being forced to certify his food is not contaminated is outweighed by the right of the public to safe foods.
And allowing those who skirt food safety laws penalizes those who do not.
If we want good policing, we must resist bad policing and support the police when they fulfill their duty to protect the public. San Lorenzo is a small town of 21,000, with a majority minority population (ie diverse) and being unincorporated, is policed by Alameda County Police. It was formerly farmland.
Here is the agenda of the Alameda County Environment Department: “The food safety program monitors all retail food facilities in the county (excluding the City of Berkeley) to ensure a safe and wholesome food supply for the public. Food facilities include restaurants, markets, bakeries, liquor stores, bars, certified farmers’ market, food service at fairs and festivals, catering trucks, hot dog carts, ice cream trucks, produce vehicles, and food vending machines.”
>>>Local police obeying municipal laws are not Big Government but part of self-government,<<< Oh, I see. Local COLLECTIVIST/COERCIVE tyranny is now somehow considered "self-government". WOW!!! And what's worse, this RuffDork believes a government can be trusted to assure food safety. Oh, Dearest Californians. PLEASE SECEED FROM AMERICA. We promise you there won't be a civil war this time.
Are you familiar with Alameda County, whose biggest cities are Oakland and Berkeley, both anti-establishment communities with a long history of opposing oppressive government?
If California “seceeds” from America, we can stop subsidizing Red States and keep our 6th largest economy in the world serving Californians. Since most vegetables and fruit come from California, we can also raise our export prices and grow even richer.
Self-government is democratic government; no state is more democratic than California, which is why it is the most successful state. We would be happy to join with Baja, Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia in the 4th largest economy in the world, the Left Coast.
Ruffdork is ad hominem admission of failure to form rational response. Hilarious!
Ruff. We are so far apart on our definitions of “oppressive government”, it’s not even worth discussing anything futher between us.
The solution is not to run away but to define terms:
by oppressive government, I mean one which does not serve the interests of the public (or “General Welfare” as stated in the Constitution). A government which serves the minority, the oligarch, the wealthy, etc is oppressive. A government which is chose and accountable to the majority (with minority rights intact) is not oppressive. A democratic government IS self-government: majority rule/minority rights. Alameda county has a strong tradition of self-government, being a hub of activism against criminal wars, segregation laws, the Patriot Act, etc etc.
Regulating food is not oppressive because it serves the general welfare.
dude. Spare me the collectivist gibberish.
Explain how using an identifying nickname for someone has anything to do with the argument I post regarding the subject matter. Whether or not you are a dork, does not change 2 + 2 = 4. It does actually identify your inability to recognize it, however. And this response of yours, does prove my point.
He’s a troll. He always does this, claims to be a life time adversary to the government, then proceedes to tell you how necessary government is, lol.
Wow. Are you telling me THAT is the best zionazi counterfeit eCurrency can purchase these days? Amazing.
Let’s look at the facts: since the government/police state has been making and enforcing laws to make us safe, North Americans have become the 3rd (US) and 4th (Canada) most sick and disabled people in the world. Prior to all this pretext of keeping us ‘safe’, we had little to no disability amongst children and the elderly. I prefer to make my own decisions, thank you! All laws are about control…the more laws, the more control. Slaves Behave! or there is a law somewhere that will punish you for being human and acting human.
The reason the US ranks last in health but pays twice as much for healthcare is twofold:
1. The corporate interests (drugs, etc) have hijacked government regulatory agencies (telling us GMOs, factory farmed meat, etc are healthy) and
2. Lack of healthcare for tens of millions (Trump plan kicks off 23 million more!). Even poor nations like Cuba and Costa Rica have universal healthcare and better health outcomes because their governments are not controlled by for profit private parties putting profits above people.
Both features of the US healthcare failure . are based on a healthcare system based not on public health but private profit.
This is the consequence when democratic government is undermined by plutocratic government, or corporate fascism, in which private profits replaces public welfare as the agenda of government.
If you eat at a restaurant where food safety standards are not enforced, you are not making an informed choice but rather betting the restaurant cares more about your health than profits. If you trust profit makers to assure your health, you are a slave to an irrational assumption.
Us is not the 3d most sick in the world but the 34th among advanced high income nations.
Canadians, with universal healthcare at only 60% the cost, are much healthier. Canadians as a result are richer and healthier and live longer, being among the healthiest in the world.
“This report tells us Canadians are experiencing good health on a number of measures – almost 90 percent of Canadians reported having good to excellent health. If you feel healthy, then you likely are healthy. Canada’s average life expectancy of 82 years ranks us as among the healthiest nations in the world. “http://www.healthycanadians.gc.ca/publications/department-ministere/state-public-health-status-2016-etat-sante-publique-statut/index-eng.php
Canada has both a more democratic government an universal healthcare. QED.
Dale, you are dreaming in technicolor. We have thousands of people denied surgery so that the medical cartel can keep them on opioid painkiller for years…all while the hospital surgery rooms are kept unused for 4/7 days each week year around.
When you write:
“Canadians, with universal healthcare at only 60% the cost, are much healthier. Canadians as a result are richer and healthier and live longer, being among the healthiest in the world.
“This report tells us Canadians are experiencing good health on a number of measures – almost 90 percent of Canadians reported having good to excellent health. If you feel healthy, then you likely are healthy. Canada’s average life expectancy of 82 years ranks us as among the healthiest nations in the world. “http://www.healthycanadians…
Canada has both a more democratic government an universal healthcare. QED”.
I know that you have no idea what you are talking about whatever. Canada has the 4th unhealthiest population, the USA has the 3rd and this was from an International WHO study published last year. Canada has the most obese kids in the world and we have the most expensive healthcare system…based entirely on drugs and surgery.
Please stop trolling until at least you can be a bit believable.
Grace, trolls don’t present citations and soucrces; trolls make assertions that easily refuted.
The facts: iAccording to data from the 2016 Best Countries rankings – a characterization of 60 countries based on a survey of more than 16,000 people from four regions – Denmark has the best public health care system in the world. ranked the world’s healthcare systems……………
Canada is rated as having the 3d best system (not worst), right behind Denmark and Sweden.
According to the WHO, Canada is ranked 30th best of 190 nations.and the US is ranked 37th. https://producaoindustrialblog.wordpress.com/2017/01/15/world-health-organizations-ranking-of-the-worlds-health-systems/
Of we judge by longevity, the World Fact book, Canada ranks 19th at 81.9 yrs, and if it raised that by one year, it would rate 7th.https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2102rank.html
The world average is 71.5 yrs. The WHO ranking of life expectancy for 2015, puts Canada at 12th best. and if it rose by 6 months, it would rank 4th best.
Trolls don’t do research and present facts and sources, Grace. “Please stop trolling until you can be a bit believable.” Look in the mirror and repeat that to yourself.
Dale, what you have done is use UN Agenda 21 propaganda material, twisted it all around until it fits your dream state and then suggested to the rest of us that Canada and the USA are healthy countries. Despite spending the most on healthcare, we are not even in the top 20 healthiest industrialized countries. If they had not included the countries where there is no food and/or water, and that is why the people are healthy, it would be immediately clear that Canada and the USA are very, very close to the bottom.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2015/04/03/24-7-wall-st-healthiest-countries/70859728
well… selling vegetables is not allowed, you cannot compete with the drugs pushers that’s unfair to them, give him jail for life….
It is allowed under regulations that provide for inspections to protect pubic health. All that is required is that the vendor comply with inspection laws. Produce does not compete with drugs….that’s a red herring. Unregulated businesses do take away businesses that observe health and safety rules.
He’s highlighting that they are going after “safe” targets who have no victim/crime rather than going after actual criminals like drug gangs, those guys have guns ya know.
Each year, thousands die from food poisoning and millons get sick. Selling uninspected food is not “no victims/no crime” but the unacceptable practice of selling food whose safety is not regulated. We can both have food inspections and go after violent criminals; there is no either/or; it’s both/and. More of the general public die of food poisoning than by gang violence. Gangs,who are based on the idiotic War on Drugs, mostly kill each other, and only 6% of homicides are by gangs compared to 54% by friends and family.
Police are expected to enforce all laws; the caveat is that these laws truly protect the public interest, such as insuring that foods are not tainted. Most street vendors sell the cheapest foods, which often are the most tainted with pesticides, etc.
It is not illegal to sell produce, only to sell it without inspection.
Dale babe,, I think we got other more serious problems IMHO. Everyone know the produce guy on the corner is not having his food inspected and understands the risks, which are pretty low.
Terrific article, Mr. A. Captures the essence of modern America… especially exposing that “conservative” viewpoint. The Left and the Right, vying for control over our daddy and mommy government. Perfect illustration. Meanwhile, we have to stop looking at the cops as the ROOT of the problem. It’s the city council. And THAT is where minarchist libertarians need to focus. They are all non-partisan races. Small cities cost small amounts of money to be a viable candidate. The controlling majority decides who will be the police chief and his policies. They can also erect a Metro Court, where Jury Nullification instructions can be PLASTERED ON THE WALLS! They also decide what is “public property”… or not. I can’t believe how the LP is missing the boat in NH with all the folks the FSP brings to their doorstep. I have been trumpeting this concept since 1989, and it’s fallen on deaf ears. They understand the obvious benefit of concentrating libertarians in one state… but not one city? sheesh! What do you think Ayn Rand intended by including Galt’s Gulch in Atlas Shrugged? duh.
In Canada, no one can be interfered with since 1982…not their home, their privacy nor their freely chosen means of gaining a living. AND NO ONE IS FORCED TO PAY TAXES. However, don’t get into too big a hurry to come to Canada…despite it’s claims, it probably ranks wayyy up there with the worst of the worst human rights offenders. The government doesn’t care about the law that prioritizes individual freedoms and that it signed onto in 1976. In the province of Ontario alone, the government gave itself permission to seize children if the parents do not support a child’s ‘gender expression’…you know, that ‘expression’ that comes after social psychologists and mind-benders are through indoctrinating them for 8 hours in the school.
With all due respect, this is nonsense. If you means of gaining a living is selling tainted food, you will be stopped. Canadians pay taxes……..”EDMONTON — Alberta has put forward legislation to prohibit discrimination based on gender identity and gender expression.
The changes are part of a bill introduced Thursday that, if passed, will become part of the Alberta Human Rights Act.
“No Albertan should be denied basic services for being true to themselves,” Justice Minister Kathleen Ganley told reporters.
“This change will increase access to justice and make it clear that discrimination on the basis of gender identity and gender expression is against the law.”
Once the bill passes, Alberta will join Saskatchewan, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, Ontario, Manitoba, and the Northwest Territories, which have similar bans in place.
Gender identity refers to a how a person views him or herself. Gender expression is the way people express their gender, such as through dress, demeanour and behaviour.
Ganley said consultation on the bill reinforced concerns that transgender Albertans face discrimination and threats to their well-being.” calgaryherald.com.
In Ontario,” The Supporting Children, Youth and Families Act of 2017 — was overwhelmingly passed in Ontario with a 63 to 23 vote.
The new law stipulates that children’s services workers and family judges take into consideration a child’s “race, ancestry, place of origin, color, ethnic origin, citizenship, family diversity, disability, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression” when determining whether or not a child will remain with their parents or foster families.
Michael Couteau, the Minister of Child and Family Services, and who initially introduced the bill, said that he would consider parental discrimination on the basis of gender identity “a form of abuse when a child identifies as one way and a caregiver is saying ‘No, you need to do this differently.’”
He continued, “If it’s abuse, and if it’s within the definition, a child can be removed from that environment and placed into protection where the abuse stops.”
The new law now requires a parent or legal guardian to “direct the child or young person’s education and upbringing in accordance with the child’s or young person’s creed, community identity and cultural identity.”
Children have rights, and it is the duty of government to protect them.
Order followers are a big part of the problem…
Look, when you have local and state governments like we do in California, ALL businesses are subject to regulation and taxation. People work their butts off for years to buy a small farm or retail business, and they pay all the fees, get all the licenses and insurance, inspections, etc., that you have to do to run a legitimate business. Your pricing is going to reflect your costs. How do you feel when you see some guy running an impromptu produce market on a street corner? Ripped off? Well, YEAH! Should he be cuffed? No! He should be immediately fined and made to pay for licenses and such, and if he can’t comply, then he needs to have his business confiscated. OR, deregulate ALL small businesses and let them do whatever they want to level the playing field for all. But don’t defend the pirate businesses to me. I know how much you pay in California to run a small biz. I paid! So should Sidewalk Greengrocer!
The man was on probation and needed an income. Would he have easily found an employer in his locality? – Probably not.
So he used his inalienable human right to grow fruit and vegetables and sell them on for a profit.
What else is a man in his situation to do? – NoWayOut.
No one is justified in breaking a just law (ie health inspection of food) and putting the public at risk.
If I had to sell on the street corner, I would sell organic food, which commands a higher price and is a growing trend. The most tainted foods are sold at a discount to unregulated vendors.
We all have a right to make a living but not by circumventing necessary health laws. The public has a right to safe food. He could get his food inspected or sell organic, which is marked certified. Selling fruit is NOT the only way to make a living in the US. He could work as a day laborer, for instance. What he is not allowed to do is sell uninspected food in a context where it is very possibly contaminated and therefore sold at a discount to unregulated vendors.
All my sympathy is with those forced to do such jobs, but there is no right to sell uninspected food and so all my support goes to enforcing laws which for the sake of the right of all of us to safe food requires food safety inspections. The needy should be provided financial aid and job training, and that would alleviate the problem short of allowing uninspected food to be sold to the public.
What was he thinking off? The Police are in business to create discourse so as to keep themselves Courts and folk that work in Prisons preferably Private Prisons busy. Ah mean they are not Charity Institutions, and have to create especially are now part of NAU North Amikano Utopia. Serve & Protect Private Pensions. He is not even an illegal migrant.
The E-Coli excuse is sheer BS. First of all, this man did not grow the produce nor did he sneak it over the border. He bought the produce from an approved wholesaler who also supplies many of the local grocery stores in the vicinity. The goons and the goon supporters are reaching into their bag off hyperbolic lies when they bring up the “E-Coli” yak.
There are many laws which treat citizens as criminals when there is clearly no victim. For a crime to be a crime, there must be a victim. In this case there were no victims. This is similar to seat belt laws or motorcycle helmet laws. These are “laws” that have been instituted at the behest of insurance companies. When the so-called “laws” reach this low level, you can be assured you are living in a complete police state.
False. Utterly false. Fresh produce carries no risk of food borne illnesses, and pulling in “Ecoli” to the discussion is a red herring.
Produce may have excessive pesticides. Such are often sold cheap and under the counter to unregulated vendors. E coli is common on produce.from both manure and wildlife contamination It has caused many deaths and sicknesses. It is not a red herring but a confirmed killer.
http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2010/07/a-new-field-study-by/#.WUAl0GjyvIU
The EU has stricter laws than the US and yet “According to the European Pesticide Residues Committee, apples, peas, and grapes are sometimes covered in crop spray that is above the maximum levels allowed under EU law. The findings come from tests of more than 4,000 samples of food and drink.
The levels of pesticides varied considerably, with imported fruit and vegetables tending to have higher levels.”
Also, most corn, soy, and other produce are grown with GMO seeds and use glyphosate as a herbicide, which is ingested by the produce. The IARC reports that glyphosate is “convincingly” carcinogenic in lab animals and “likely (ie over 50%) carcinogenic in humans.”
The most contaminated fruit and vegetables end up being sold by unregulated vendors because this bypasses health inspections and they are sold at discount prices..
You can gamble with your health; I will stick with organic.
Sure. Pesticides are omnipresent. Produce leaves the farm here clean, but what happens in the packing houses, warehouses, supermarkets, restaurants… you won’t ever see any bugs in any of those places.
Not so. The biggest threat is from imported produce. There is no market for poisoned produce in the US that I have ever heard of. We still have a number of traveling fruit sellers who deal with us. They provide a real service. There is no reason to suspect that they are doing anything wrong. For years a couple of brothers from Georgia have been running back and forth all season – Michigan cherries to their fruit stand in Georgia, Vidalia onions to their fruit stand in Michigan. Good for them.
We sell seconds cheap, due to blemished but not under the table.
The bad behavior comes form the large corporate players, not the independent guy or gal trying to turn a buck on fresh fruit and vegetables.
Of course. We are all aware of that. That has nothing to do with this issue. You keep switching back and forth from pesticides to E. Coli. You need to learn a lot more about agriculture and food safety and then put together a coherent narrative.
No kidding. Your point as it might relate to this discussion?
Not true, sorry. Health inspections go on at the point of going or the point of packing. Food preparation is a different story. You are confusing the two, apparently.
What sort of remark is that? Modern life is a nonstop gamble with your health. Promoting “organic” does not magically change that. How did “organic” get into the discussion, anyway? How do you know the street vendor is not selling organic? I find that to often be the case, since organic growers tend to be small scale with little distribution.. How do you know that the fruits and vegetables sold on the roadside stand were not subjected to the same inspection regimen as any other produce? That is just about always the case, in my extensive experience. In addition, the use of manure on organic farms increase the risk of E. Coli problems. Responsible organic growers know that.
As I said it is imported produce that presents the greatest risk. A few years ago I was involved in a survey of produce labeled “organic” in upscale Colorado markets. Almost all of it was imported, and in every case there was no serious inspection or certification regimen in the originating county.
“According to Gaetan Lafortune, senior economist at the OECD Health Division, life expectancy is perhaps the best way to measure the health of a nation.” That is from the USAtoday article.
WHO ranked Canada 12th for longevity out of 190 nations, and with an increase of 6 months, it would be 4th best.
The grey/black market in tainted food is widespread. I have gotten sick from buying oranges roadside cheap but which reeked of pesticides so intense I could not be near them let alone eat them. Farmers with heavy infestations will exceed safe pesticide levels and then sell at a discount.
Much, if not most, produce is grown with GMO seeds (corn and soy are 90%) and they are sprayed with glypohosate,which the IARC of theWHO has declared carcinogen, tho they are legal due to Monsanto running the USDA.
97% of meat is factory farmed and also contains glyposate from feedstock.
The only safe way is to eat organic or grow it yourself without chemicals. The guy on the street corner may well have bought his stuff at a discount from a producer who can’t sell it thru the regular markets because of its high insecticide level.
You can eat what you want and ignore the realities of the private market in tainted food and pretend it doesn’t exist. Yet 2.2 million got sick last year from tainted food,
“Contaminated Food Causes More Than 3,000 Death Each Year. Contaminated food sickens 48 million Americans, resulting in more than 3,000 deaths and more than 100,000 hospitalizations each year.” reported from official data by Huffington Post.
Good luck gambling with your health.
OK.
Of course. The best example of that in recent years, perhaps, is the fake honey that completely dominates the market here in the US. Fake “organic” produce is another example.
I have never seen that, and I am looking for it. I am not very familiar with citrus, though. The weirdest ag stories always seem to be from Florida or California. Did you know about the massive fake orange juice scandal a few years ago? Half or more of the juice in the supermarket was fake – beet juice with artificial coloring and flavoring. The feds settled with the industry out of court, fining producers $$$ millions. However, part of the agreement was that the perpetrators remain anonymous.
Yes, but I am not in the corn and soy region, nor in the cattle sector. I agree that from Ohio to Colorado, from SW Minnesota to Texas, it is hideous with the GMO row crops and CAFOs. I toured the entire area a couple of years ago looking for surviving native plant communities, with little success. I was horrified.
I haven’t seen that. Where are you seeing that? I have never heard of such a thing as “a producer who can’t sell it thru the regular markets because of its high insecticide level.” Who would stop them, and how?
Me?
Again, me? Why are you sniping at me?
Good review imo. Check it out, comrade.
https://disq.us/url?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmronline.org%2F2017%2F06%2F13%2Fwhat-is-to-constitute-the-new-yes-is-the-problem%2F%3A3fMbN6WiUJbWKpq_091LuiZzgdE&cuid=97631
Check out Bellamy’s review of Klein’s new book. (I sent the link – from Monthly Review – that Tony Logan sent me, but TD has it, for some reason, ‘pending’.
Thanks, will do.
I am suddenly getting a bunch of “pending” notices.
On edit – I just read the article, and read Klein;s book a couple of weeks ago. Klein’s criticism of Capitalism in This Changes Everything is so mild…yet liberals flipped out it, seems.
I haven’t read it, but the idea of anti-capitalism or – eeek! socialism has been so maligned, that people literally fear the mention of the word – without even bothering to understand what it means.
As I probably mentioned before I don’t see that. It is a small but influential group of liberal and progressive intellectuals with disproportionate access to the media who keep telling us that this is true- “those rubes out there will never go for socialism!!” They are lying. They are the ones opposed to Socialism and they hide that by claiming that “the people will never go for that so it is unrealistic.” They camouflage their advocacy by couching it as observation.
“Hey, don’t get me wrong I am all in favor of (insert any and all left wing politics ideas) BUT (followed by a supposed “practical” and “realistic” statement, an observation as to why no left wing ideas will ever work.)
In fact that is the heart and soul of liberal and progressive thinking – supposed support of the Left, followed by a bunch of reasons to not support the Left – “too purist, don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good blah blah.”
I agree that you identify a great hurdle. But I am talking about something different.
“It is a small but influential group of liberal and progressive intellectuals with disproportionate access to the media who keep telling us that this is true- “those rubes out there will never go for socialism!!”
Yes, you see – they are correct – people won’t go for socialism as long as they are prohibited from knowing what it is or might mean. They are prohibited from knowing what it is or might mean by all of the stigma on the word itself.
I would say a first order of business is to remove the stigma from the word.
We disagree on this. The battle is not about a word, because we are not marketing and selling a product with a brand name attached. We don’t need the word. The struggle is about material interests, not ideals and beliefs. It is only in intellectual circles, academia, where this “prohibited from knowing what it is or might mean by all of the stigma on the word itself” has anyt relevancy, and it does nit matter there anyway.
Back in 2008 when the economy crashed, I was surprised how many rural white people were expressing support for Obama. Jokingly, I would say “yeah bit Limbaugh says that Obama is a Socialist!” Invariably the response was “maybe that is what we need. No one is scared off by the word, except those who are out deadly enemies and will never come around, and college-educated.
70% of the people in the country are invisible to 90% of the people involved in these discussions, who write all of the articles, who run the organizations, and who appear in the media. It is important to keep that in mind, I think.
We sallied out into the town. Just at the door of the station stood two soldiers with rifles and bayonets fixed. They were surrounded by about a hundred business men, Government officials and students, who attacked them with passionate argument and epithet. The soldiers were uncomfortable and hurt, like children unjustly scolded.
A tall young man with a supercilious expression, dressed in the uniform of a student, was leading the attack.
“You realise, I presume,” he said insolently, “that by taking up arms against your brothers you are making your-selves the tools of murderers and traitors?”
“Now brother,”answered the soldier earnestly, “you don’t understand. There are two classes, don’t you see, the proletariat and the bourgeoisie. We…”
“Oh, I know that silly talk!” broke in the student rudely. “A bunch of ignorant peasants like you hear somebody bawling a few catch-words. You don’t understand what they mean. You just echo them like a lot of parrots.” The crowd laughed. “I’m a Marxian student. And I tell you that this isn’t Socialism you are fighting for. It’s just plain pro-German anarchy!”
“Oh, yes, I know,” answered the soldier, with sweat dripping from his brow. “You are an educated man, that is easy to see, and I am only a simple man. But it seems to me…”
“I suppose,” interrupted the other contemptuously, “that you believe Lenin is a real friend of the proletariat?”
“Yes, I do,” answered the soldier, suffering.
“Well, my friend, do you know that Lenin was sent through Germany in a closed car? Do you know that Lenin took money from the Germans?”
“Well, I don’t know much about that,” answered the soldier stubbornly, “but it seems to me that what he says is what I want to hear, and all the simple men like me. Now there are two classes, the bourgeoisie and the proletariat…”
“You are a fool! Why, my friend, I spent two years in Schlüsselburg for revolutionary activity, when you were still shooting down revolutionists and singing ‘God Save the Tsar!’ My name is Vasili Georgevitch Panyin. Didn’t you ever hear of me?”
“I’m sorry to say I never did,” answered the soldier with humility. “But then, I am not an educated man. You are probably a great hero.”
“I am,” said the student with conviction. “And I am opposed to the Bolsheviki, who are destroying our Russia, our free Revolution. Now how do you account for that?”
The soldier scratched his head. “I can’t account for it at all,” he said, grimacing with the pain of his intellectual processes. “To me it seems perfectly simple – but then, I’m not well educated. It seems like there are only two classes, the proletariat and the bourgeoisie…”
“There you go again with your silly formula!” cried the student.
“…only two classes,” went on the soldier, doggedly.
…And whoever isn’t on one side is on the other…”
from Ten Days that Shook the World
by John Reed
https://www.marxists.org/archive/reed/1919/10days/10days/
Inspections under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act
Inspections are the core of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) compliance monitoring program. FIFRA inspections are conducted by federal, state, and tribal inspectors.
FIFRA inspectors:
conduct inspections to monitor compliance and detect violations
collect evidence necessary to take appropriate enforcement actions
Types of Inspections
Producer Establishment Inspections
Use Inspections
Worker Protection Standard (WPS) Inspections
Marketplace Inspections
For Cause Inspections
Import and Export Inspections
Experimental-Use Permit Inspections
Certified Applicator License and Records Inspections
Restricted-Use Pesticide Dealer Inspection
Cancellation and Suspension Inspections”
Inspections under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act
Inspections are the core of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) compliance monitoring program. FIFRA inspections are conducted by federal, state, and tribal inspectors.
FIFRA inspectors:
conduct inspections to monitor compliance and detect violations
collect evidence necessary to take appropriate enforcement actions
Types of Inspections
Producer Establishment Inspections
Use Inspections
Worker Protection Standard (WPS) Inspections
Marketplace Inspections
For Cause Inspections
Import and Export Inspections
Experimental-Use Permit Inspections
Certified Applicator License and Records Inspections
Restricted-Use Pesticide Dealer Inspection
Cancellation and Suspension Inspections
If you eat meat or dairy or conventional veggies,etc. you ae ingesting the carcinogen glypohosate:
“GMO Foods List: Top 10 Worst Foods
Corn. One of the most prominent GMO foods, avoiding corn is a no-brainer. …
Soy. Found in tofu, vegetarian products, soybean oil, soy flour, and numerous other products, soy is also modified to resist herbicides. …
Sugar. …
Aspartame. …
Papayas. …
Canola. …
Cotton. …
Dairy.
Zuchinnia and yelow squash, etc.”
Even pasture fed beef is allowed 20% external feed, which is almost always GM)O alfalfa.
Only organic,certified, is safe.
I eat only organic whole plants as the China Study shows that meat and dairy casuse cancer and other diseases. Take care…..I am not sniping; I am offering you the gift of knoiwledge, as I have studied this issue for over 50 years and written about it frequently. .
Not sure what your point is about FIFRA, administered by the EPA. Produce safety is handle by the USDA and state ag departments.
Is Your Workout Gear Ruining Farm Fields?
In a glittering example of industry setting its sights on solving the great problems of humankind, you can now buy workout clothes spiked with “moisture-wicking” nano silver—microscopically tiny silver particles that kill bacteria and (as one company puts it) “help counter the formation of unpleasant sweaty odours.”
But what are the consequences of our allegedly stench-free gym sessions? Before the apparel industry started spiking socks and even underwear with silver bits, you might assume the Environmental Protection Agency had thoroughly vetted the technology for unintended ecological consequences. Turns out, not.
In a new report, the Natural Resources Defense Council looks at the EPA’s system for vetting new pesticides, a category that includes nano silver, since it exists to kill pesky bacteria. Result of NRDC’s analysis: About 65 percent of the 16,000 pesticides legally in use made their way through the EPA without undergoing rigorous vetting for potential human and environmental harm, as they are required to under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). The always-ahead ETC Group first sounded the alarm about nanotechnology a decade ago, in a 2003 report titled “The Big Down.”
How did they get by? The EPA, it turns out, has been massively overusing a loophole known as “conditional registration” to green-light chemicals without much review—and that’s precisely how nano silver entered the apparel market. Here is how conditional registration was supposed to work, NRDC reports:
By law, to grant an active ingredient conditional registration, the EPA must determine that 1) the registrant did not have sufficient time to generate the required data because not enough time has passed since the data requirement was imposed; 2) the use of the pesticide during this time will not cause any unreasonable adverse effect on the environment; and 3) the use of the pesticide is in the public interest, such as to prevent a disease outbreak.
Congress intended conditional registration to be used “in special situations such as allowing new pesticides on the market to address a public health emergency,” NRDC reports. Instead, it’s being used to give the go-ahead to products that make your socks and underwear smell better after a gym session. And companies were meant to quickly produce data to prove that the provisionally approved products are safe and ecologically benign. Instead, well, here’s NRDC:
The EPA’s database is seriously disorganized. Once a pesticide is conditionally registered, the EPA does not have a system to track the data it had requested as a condition of the registration. In addition, the agency does not follow whether those data were received, what the data show regarding the pesticide’s potential for harm or other aspects of the registration decision, or what, if any, changes were made in response to the received data. These problems suggest that conditional registrations may last many years with no trigger to remind the EPA to review the status of the required studies or assess their meaning.
As nano silver becomes more ubiquitous in consumer products, major questions about it have arisen. For example, it—surprise, surprise—leaches from clothes when they’re washed, ending up in the wastewater stream and eventually in farm fields, where it could cause “long-term damage” to vital soil microbiota. But as NRDC shows, the EPA has no good system in place to assess these and other concerns about nano silver.
NRDC also points to the bizarre path through the EPA taken by Bayer’s now-ubiquitous neonicotinoid pesticide clothianidin, widely used on the vast US corn and soy crops and widely suspected of harming bees, birds, and nonpest insects. The USDA granted it conditional registration in 2003, dependent on, “among other things, the submission of a field study of the effects on bees by 2004.” Bayer came up with the field study three years late—and it was “so poorly undertaken that the EPA considered it to be invalid,” NRDC writes. The EPA’s response? Puzzlingly, it granted clothianidin full registration in 2009, even though Bayer had never completed the requirements of conditional registration. (If you want to dig into the details, check out this article I wrote on the topic in 2010.) Meanwhile, evidence of disastrous ecosystem harm from Bayer’s product has been piling up.
Given that 65 percent of pesticides now on the market came in under partial registration, it’s fair to say that what Congress intended as the exception has become the de facto rule, a “wide loophole that pesticide manufacturers use to get many products onto the market before they are proven safe to the public.”
– Tom Philpott
http://www.motherjones.com/food/2013/04/report-epa-really-sucks-vetting-toxic-chemicals/
Fake honey? Good lord.
I am surprised how little known that is. A producer in China was making massive amounts of fake honey and flooding the global market through Australia. Even the honey from China that is real, or somewhat real is often contaminated.
The Scandalous Honey Trade
Chinese honey tainted with heavy metals or banned antibiotics is flooding global markets.
Known as “honey laundering,” one of the most pervasive international food scandals of our time is centered on illegal honey trading. A scandal to rival the United States’ “Watergate,” the honey laundering scandal has been dubbed “Honeygate” by authorities.
When cheap, subsidized Chinese honey started flooding the global markets, many local honey producers went out of business because they couldn’t compete with the artificially low prices. The US responded by laying a stiff tariff on Chinese honey. Chinese honey producers evaded the tariffs by smuggling their honey into the US labelled as honey from somewhere else. You may be buying tainted or fake Chinese honey without knowing it, since the origin of the smuggled honey is purposely obscured or mislabeled.
https://ethicalfoods.com/the-scandalous-honey-trade/
Your Honey isn’t Honey
After my post revealing the shocking truth about olive oil adulteration, I received a number of outraged comments along the lines of this one: “Is nothing sacred? First honey, and now this?!!!”
My interest was piqued. Honey? Since when was my honey fake? Oh, I’d known about the fake “honey” they serve in single-serving packets at restaurants and cafeterias. That’s because I read the ingredients label. Almost all of them fessed up to being what they are — honey-flavored corn syrup. But I didn’t know that the vast majority of the major labels of honey sold in the U.S. aren’t real honey. Thankfully, I always buy mine from one of two local farms. My favorite is from a little old lady who keeps bees just a few miles from me. The other is from a farm in the town next door. According to my recent research, that means I’m safe. But those rows and rows of non-local honey from major distributors found in the supermarket? Those aren’t safe. In fact, they’re almost guaranteed to be fake.
According to the FDA (as well as the food safety divisions of the World Health Organization and the European Commission), the one test that authenticates honey is the presence of pollen. If the liquid gold doesn’t contain pollen, it isn’t honey.
This prompted Food Safety News to test more than 60 different samples of store bought honey for pollen. The results were damning: 76% of supermarket honey had no pollen. When buying from drug stores like Walgreens, Rite Aid, and CVS, the failure rate went as high as 100%!
http://www.foodrenegade.com/your-honey-isnt-honey/
Honey Is World’s Third Most Faked Food
For my new book Real Food, Fake Food, I have spent the last few years crisscrossing the country and the globe, visiting food producers and counterfeiters, restaurants of every ilk, and meeting with experts in all sorts of related fields. What I came to realize was that just as designer handbags and high priced Swiss watches are targeted by counterfeits, so are the world’s greatest Real Foods, from champagne to caviar to lobster. In many cases, Americans consumers, even food lovers, have simply never tasted the Real things. I want readers to avoid rip-offs, but even more, I want them to celebrate how delicious and wholesome the world’s Real Foods can be.
Unfortunately, it’s not just luxury foodstuffs that get knocked off. Many household staples, from juice to honey to coffee, are routinely faked. The following never before published excerpt from my new book Real Food, Fake Food (Algonquin) explains how the golden honey bear in your cabinet may be deceiving you.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/larryolmsted/2016/07/15/exclusive-book-excerpt-honey-is-worlds-third-most-faked-food/#1d9bafef4f09
Are Canadians paying for fake imported honey?
Saudi Arabia and Myanmar have little in common, except that Canadian companies are importing honey from both of those countries.
Myanmar exported $388,000 worth of honey to Canada between Jan. 1 and the end of March, while $238,000 worth of honey came from Saudi Arabia, according to federal government statistics. In comparison, Canada imported $1.1 million in honey from the United States during that same period. The import data is making Canadian beekeepers suspicious because Saudi Arabia is one of the world’s larger importers of honey, and Myanmar is a tiny player in the global honey industry.
“What we’ve seen is, in the latest import stats, is that countries that are unusual, have unusually high imports into Canada,” said Rod Scarlett, executive director of the Canadian Honey Council. “It’s countries that really don’t produce a lot of honey.” In addition to Saudi Arabia and Myanmar, honey came into Canada from places like Zambia and Moldova between Jan. 1 and March 31.
Canadian beekeepers are concerned about the imports because honey prices have plummeted over the last year. Bulk honey was $2.20 to $2.30 per pound last spring. It now is selling for approximately $1.30 per lb.
It’s possible, but difficult to prove, that the honey from these unusual countries originated in China, the largest producer of honey in the world.
China has a reputation for poor quality honey loaded with contaminants, as well as for producing fake honey from corn syrup and shipping its honey through third party countries to reach desirable export markets, thus avoiding a “Made in China” label on the product.
“A review of Thailand’s honey trade over the past 10 years reveals a correlation between sharp increases in export and increases of imports of honey from China and its surrogates,” Ron Phipps, a global honey expert, said in his recent honey market report for the American Honey Producers Association.
“Both Thailand and Ukraine, the number of hives and level of beekeeping activity does not justify the quantity … of honey exported.”
Scarlett said the imported honey, which could be corn syrup blended with honey, steals market share from domestic honey and drives down prices for Canadian beekeepers.
“It (imported honey) can be at least 50 cents a lb. lower,” he said, adding that honey is part of a broader trend where phony food, such as fake olive oil, is becoming more common.
Scarlett said the Canadian Food Inspection Agency may need to shift its priorities and focus more on fake food.
“So that they do look at food fraud and consumer protection.”
The North American honey industry is fighting back against importers that buy honey from questionable countries and brokers. A consortium of companies, including Bee Maid Honey in Canada, has developed a labelling initiative called True Source Honey. The group is committed to buying authentic honey from known beekeepers and brokers. The initiative has a voluntary traceability program with third party auditing.
http://www.producer.com/2016/07/are-canadians-paying-for-fake-imported-honey/
“harmful bacteria that may be in the soil or water where produce grows can come in contact with fruits and vegetables and contaminate them. Fresh produce may also become contaminated after it is harvested, such as during storage or preparation.”
Also farmers with serious pest infestatations may overspray and then sell produce at discounted price to unregulated vendors. FDA regulations require inspections to insure food safety and those who go around the rules then sell thru the grey market. 3000 die a year from food poisoning, 50,000 since 9/11. Don’t take seriously those who claim fresh produce cannot be contaminated……for most safe food,eat organic, certified.
Legitimate police function is to protect public. When legitimate functions are scoffed at, the illegitimate police operations, brutality, etc. are degraded. If you sell food, have it inspected.