Proposal would exempt Utah food from federal regulation
Rep. Bill Wright, as he puts it, “grew up in the dirt,” raising dairy cattle since he was a boy.
But now he fears farming is in jeopardy, threatened by the heavy hand of federal regulations that could drive farmers out of business and jeopardize Utah’s food supply.
So in the latest bid to flex the state’s muscle, Wright is proposing legislation that would exempt food grown and consumed entirely within the state from any federal regulation.
“Within the state, it’s state’s rights. We already have regulations over those items,” Wright said in an interview. “We function well now. We don’t think they have a right or authority to regulate those items that are not interstate commerce, as long as they’re grown within the state, packaged in the state and remain in the state.”
The bill is in large part a response to the Food Safety Act, which Congress passed late last year and, Wright said, could greatly expand the Food and Drug Administration’s powers and subject all sorts of agriculture — from farmers markets to a person’s garden — to new, onerous federal rules.