Flutterby™! : or immoral or fattening

I linked to Polyface Farms in the review of Omnivore's Dilemma, but didn't dig much into it. crash pointed out Everything I Want To Do Is Illegal (pdf) and extracted the text from it. Well worth a read.

One of the things I've wondered is if someof the extreme apparent economies of scale we see, from Wal*Mart to ADM aren't really only profitable because there's bias in our legal system to support the big players. Joel Salatin offers some convincing examples of this in the agricultural industry, and there (and elsewhere) makes a good case that government health and food safety regulations compress both the top and the bottom; that they bring everyone down to a level slightly above shyster, and while they may raise the lowest level just a bit, they remove a lot of choice and a lot of opportunity for quality for educated consumers.

All the more reason to be sending regular missives to your legislators.