We have been living and investing in a low-inflation environment with falling interest rates for more than 20 years. Currently, all the evidence indicates we are headed for higher inflation and higher interest rates soon.
The recent salmonella outbreak this August in the egg industry with the assault on salt as a food additive in restaurant cuisine brings into question the appropriate role of government intervention into the lives of its citizens. Government should protect against catastrophic events and provide information for the general welfare, while allowing the citizens to exercise personal responsibility in food choice. In short, ‘We the People’ should look to the Magna Carta, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and other great documents of Judeo-Christian socio-political philosophy for nutritional inspiration and establish the subsidiarity of sustenance with common sense.
The principle of subsidiarity simply states that a higher entity in the social order may not do for the lower order what it is capable of doing for itself. This idea was definitively pronounced in 1931 by Pope Pius XI in his encyclical, Quadragesimo Anno. In other words, government should keep us safe from cataclysmic occurrences, but should let the individual be free to do for himself.
For instance, the salmonella outbreak demonstrates the correct placement of governmental intercession in the public food supply. On August 13, Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms in Iowa recalled more than a half-billion eggs linked to as many as 1,300 cases of salmonella poisoning. Salmonella is the most common bacterial form of food poisoning. Symptoms of salmonella are typically acute and include diarrhea, abdominal cramps and fever within eight to 72 hours of eating a contaminated product. It can be life-threatening, especially to those with weakened immune systems. FDA, USDA and CDC oversight of food manufacturer and distributor sanitation is critical in preventing these unseen and unwanted dietary hitchhikers. Bacterial food poisoning is something which one could unwittingly ingest and become acutely ill. Food sanitation is a public safety issue, and here the higher entity must intervene.
Salt, or sodium chloride, presents a different issue in nosh regulation by the powers that be. Salt has been in use in the food chain since antiquity and is referenced throughout the Bible. Today, an elevated sodium intake is just one of numerous factors along with obesity and a sedentary lifestyle linked to hypertension (HTN) which is a contributing component to cardiovascular disease. Obesity, on the one hand, is viewed as an unforeseen disease with the victim assuming little personal responsibility. Only recently did fatness earn the label of epidemic rank. It can be overcome quite effectively by not eating to caloric excess. The salt specter, however, has achieved almost omnipotent status as the cause of chronic HTN with a magical ability to invade the peoples’ food and in great need of legislative management.
On March 5, New York Assemblyman Felix Ortiz, D-Brooklyn, introduced bill A. 10129, which stated in part, "No owner or operator of a restaurant in this state shall use salt in any form in the preparation of any food for consumption by customers of such restaurant, including food prepared to be consumed on the premises of such restaurant or off of such premises." The legislation would have fined restaurants $1,000 for each violation.
"The consumer needs to make their own health choices. Just as doctors and the occasional visit to a hospital can’t truly control how a person chooses to maintain their health, neither can chefs nor the occasional visit to a restaurant. Modifying trans fats and sodium intake needs to be home based for optimal health. Regulating restaurants will not solve this health issue," stated Jeff Nathan, the executive chef and co-owner of Abigael's on Broadway. Here, Chef Nathan articulates the principle of subsidiarity with the lower order being capable of doing for itself by assuming personal responsibility for food intake choices. Ingredient policing and banning is not the appropriate role of government in the communal food chain. This decision should be left to the individual ingestor.
My Food My Choice.org was founded January 11 in response to government’s restaurant ingredient incursions. It is “a grassroots coalition of chefs, restaurant owners, consumers and organizations that promotes the advancement of consumer choice in the marketplace and an environment of economic vitality.” The Web page features articles and videos countering the idea that nanny state food regulation is the solution to America’s nutritional hurdles. “Stop the food police before it's too late. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Health Czar Thomas Farley have declared war on sugar, cigarettes, trans fats, calorie counts . . . and now salt. This bureaucratic agenda is not based on sound science, but on political science and alarmism. Sign the petition today and save NYC's incredible and diverse cuisine and protect your right to make your own food choices. Tell Mayor Bloomberg to stop his initiative to reduce sodium and leave health decisions to doctors and patients and food decisions to individuals,” announces the group’s mission statement. Their petition touts over 900 signatures and over 2000 Facebook Fans.
Constitutionally, the government should support and defend against all bacterial food-borne enemies, foreign and domestic. It should provide nutritional information to promote digestive tranquility. It should not redistribute ingredients. The people have the freedom of salt and the right to keep and bear sugar. Trans fats should be protected from unreasonable search and seizure. Calories should be ordered to form a more perfect personal food selection. We the People should ordain and establish a subsidiarity of sustenance to protect our victual liberty.
-Kelly Kathryn Llobet is a writer living in Baltimore, a veteran Navy spouse and a proud mother of five.
