Constitutional amendment; right to acquire farm-produced food. (HJ519)

I do not approve of any constitutional Amendments for the "right to acquire farm-produced"

This seems like a hell of a weird thing to put in the constitution. Just pass a law—that'll work just as well.

I agree with Waldo and Josie.

This should NOT Be a Constitutional Amendment. I can not support something so odd to be put in the constitution. Surprised any Member would put this forward and don't think it has a chance and will be DOA.

Just pass a law.

It should be a Constitutional Right as well as Civil right to purchase food from where ever you want.

The previous responses are indicitive of "Big Food" or "Big Dairy" supporters.

The days of the small and medium family farm/dairy are passing before our eyes, do not let small and medium family farms vanish from Virginia!

Support this bill or see the fibers that bind Virginia's agricultural community break.

It is not taking any rights away, it is allowing them for all of the Virginians who want them.

I support this 100%. I doubt our founders ever thought there would come a day when you would have to tell the government that they have no right to tell people what they can eat and who they can buy it from.

Our small family farms are being put out of business by costly regulations. There use to be small family run slaughter house and smoke houses all over Virginia. They are gone now thanks to the heavy hand of the government.

So you want to see our rural farming communities thrive again? Let us be free to do what we do best, produce safe, nutritious food from our land the way our forefathers did.

As you know Constitutional Amendments are purposely hard to bring about, where statutes are changed year to year. This bill is based in common law and needs to be written in the Constitution where it can't be changed on a whim. A right is anything a people can do without permission from another. Two people have a right to enter into an agreement. Right now consumers have the ability to buy anything, but producers are regulated as to foods what they can sell. Some of those regulations, having no scientific fact to the contrary, are based totally on corporate greed and control. Right now the corporate oligarchy is gaining ground in dictating what we choose to put in our bodies. That choice is our God given right.
Look at the history of food, farms and the national health. Ever since the late 1800's, with the corporations steadily gaining control, national health has been steadily declining, with the worst decline in the last 40 years with the sudden increase of industrial farming and genetically modified crops. Secrets are being kept from the people by the government and the corporations, we have the right to know what is in our food. People have become disconnected from the earth and disillusioned about how food is produced and what real food is. And it's not what you find in the chain grocery stores.
This country became great because of small farms and backyard gardens, where the producer had intimate knowledge with the consumer. This was a brotherly love relationship. Common law says that if I hurt you, then I must make you whole. Producers dared not hurt their customer because they knew them and he could loose the farm in order to make an injury whole.
This bill is not weird as it puts in black and white the God given rights two people have. It does not invalidate regulations that protect us from bad or toxic food. It does not change any inter or intra state regulations. It simply states that you, the farmer and I, the consumer have the right to negotiate, on your farm, on what you have produced, and that if we both agree that I can buy from you.
This bill needs to pass.

This bill is strange only to those who are unaware of the efforts being put forth by both industry and government to limit your personal choice as to what you are allowed to purchase to eat. This is a bill about personal liberty. for both the consumer and the farmer. This is a bill about independence. There is a reason why there is so much opposition to this bill from "Big Ag," and the reason is $$$$!

It is sad that we are faced with a time where the government is allowed to intervene in our personal choices. I should be able to purchase whatever I feel like from whomever I want. When did food from farmers start being treated like a controlled substance.

Richard Altice, Matthew French, Linda Hosay, Bumpass Farmer Dave - you have all pointed out the multifaceted reasons this right NEEDS to be Constitutionally mandated. Our Founding Fathers are rolling over in their graves at the current state of national food freedom and our inability to protect our right to farm in a healthy way and negotiate (on our farms) what we have produced with a potential consumers/customers. This is indeed a covenant relationship - a brotherly love relationship as Mr. Altice wrote. This resolution needs to pass and the amendment needs to be added to our constitution.

Richard Altice, Matthew French, Linda Hosay, Bumpass Farmer Dave - you have all pointed out the multifaceted reasons this right NEEDS to be Constitutionally mandated. Our Founding Fathers are rolling over in their graves at the current state of national food freedom and our inability to protect our right to farm in a healthy way and negotiate (on our farms) what we have produced with a potential consumers/customers. This is indeed a covenant relationship - a brotherly love relationship as Mr. Altice wrote. This resolution needs to pass and the amendment needs to be added to our constitution.

A primer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaAQRfxpSjI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Oq24hITFTY

A key to our declining health in North America is fructose and how it processes in our liver and pancreas. Its added to everything - intentionally structured to find our "bliss point" so that we crave more and more! The predatory corporate strategies and tactics to addict the masses, attacks on scientific dissenting voices, subversion of sensible regulation and legislation (intentionally creating vast food deserts in rural area's and inner cities and blocking citizens ability to opt-out of eating the easy and cheap processed foods) these are the reasons why the State needs to make purchasing from farmers a right. The federal regulatory agencies craft roadblocks to access simple clean food that's easily available right in our own neighborhoods - but for the most part its illegal to do so... Constitutionally stating that its a right to farm clean and in symbiotic harmony to feed our families and neighbors - and to buy from our farmer neighbors allows citizens a gateway for food liberty. This needs to be a Virginia Constitutional Amendment.

A key to our declining health in North America is fructose and how it processes in our liver and pancreas. Its added to everything - intentionally structured to find our "bliss point" so that we crave more and more! The predatory corporate strategies and tactics to addict the masses, attacks on scientific dissenting voices, subversion of sensible regulation and legislation (intentionally creating vast food deserts in rural area's and inner cities and blocking citizens ability to opt-out of eating the easy and cheap processed foods) these are the reasons why the State needs to make purchasing from farmers a right. The federal regulatory agencies craft roadblocks to access simple clean food that's easily available right in our own neighborhoods - but for the most part its illegal to do so... Constitutionally stating that its a right to farm clean and in symbiotic harmony to feed our families and neighbors - and to buy from our farmer neighbors allows citizens a gateway for food liberty. This needs to be a Virginia Constitutional Amendment.

This change is long overdue. Government intrusion into our lives is getting totally out of hand. No one at any government level should be able to tell us what we CHOOSE to eat and from whom we purchase it. The "mandated" healthy lunches imposed upon our school children is a perfect example of a horrible policy. Kids won't eat it therefore they don't buy it. Most school cafeteria's are self supporting and have their own budget process. Therefore, when no one buys the lunches, they have less money. I grew up on a farm and know the exceptional difference in eating fresh, home grown, versus store bought and shipped from all over this country and other countries. Yes it needs to be a constitutional change otherwise another body of future lawmakers can just reverse it. This is truly a case of small farmers vs big agriculture. If you are a citizen of this country and this great state of Virginia, you should be able to buy your food from whomever and wherever you wish. If any of you naysayers had ever had a homemade biscuit with homemade butter and homemade strawberry jam,along with a cold glass of farm fresh milk, you would totally support this law.