Free Republic

Though it’s a watered-down version of the long-discussed PRIME Act authored by the Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie, the House has passed an important measure to start returning the regulation of intrastate food production to state and local authority. In practice, the return of meat production to local control will be a victory for producers and consumers, restoring flexibility and real community markets. But first, go back to 1942, when the farmer Roscoe Filburn grew wheat on his Ohio farm that he only intended to use on his own property. Penalized for violating the federal Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938, Filburn...

Just a few closures of meat packing plants are putting the entire meat industry on the brink of collapse. A congressman who also raises cattle sounded the alarm for years that burdensome regulations needed to go. Now will Congress act in time? Representative Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky) is gaining bipartisan support for his PRIME Act, which stands for Processing Revival and Intrastate Meat Exemption Act. The bill has been sitting in the House and the Senate for nearly a year, meaning it could be fast tracked to President Donald Trump if the political will is there. The legislation lifts restrictions on...