The Heavy
Hand of Wyoming Bureaucracy is Threatening Food Freedom
According to the Food Bank of Wyoming, Wyoming has at least twelve areas
designated as “food deserts”. These are geographic areas where access to
affordable, healthy food options is limited or nonexistent because grocery
stores are too far away. Swaths of Goshen, Carbon, and Fremont Counties are
often listed among these geographic areas.
In a state with more than 10,000 farms and ranches spanning nearly 30 million
acres of land (much of them are small, family-run operations), we can and
should tackle our food desert problem with true food freedom reform.
The same areas infamous for their designation as “food deserts” also produce
the most healthy, local foods. But the law currently prohibits many direct food
sales through a confusing web of red tape, zig-zagged across the food industry
by state and federal bureaucrats. Where people should be able to access
farm-to-table foods, they’re forced under the fluorescent lights of a nearby
Loaf-n-Jug or a distant grocery store; shelves stocked with inflammatory chemical
concoctions masquerading as real food.
In Park County, a beloved dairy operation has been barred from selling lattes
with healthy, fresh, real raw milk – based on their geographic location. What’s
safe being sold at a farmer’s market or from their home kitchen is magically
transformed into a public health hazard when sold and consumed in other
locations.
In Cheyenne, a family-run farmstand had its meat freezer locked up by the state
– but when the ranchers are able to drive for hours and camp out while the
sales occur, the meat becomes safe for consumption. This aforementioned web of
nonsensical regulations and the heavy hand on our farmers are tripping hazards.
They keep no one from getting foodborne illnesses and harms our producers and
consumers. In Wyoming, we still believe families not unelected bureaucrats
should decide what’s on their kitchen tables.
Food freedom isn’t a slogan. It’s a huge piece of the puzzle to solve our food
desert crisis and the chronic health epidemic in Wyoming. In the Cowboy State,
we’re known for “bucking the system.” Let’s do that by embracing the thinking
of Hippocrates, namesake of the Hippocratic Oath, who famously (and rightly)
stated, “let food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food.”
Rep. Rachel Rodriguez-Williams (R) HD50
Representative Rachel Rodriguez-Williams serves House District 50 in Park
County. She served as the Chairman of the House Labor, Health, and Social
Services Committee. She is the Chairman of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, a member
of the Wyoming Republican Caucus, and the SBA National Pro-Life Women's Caucus.