National Grocery Reform
By Richard E. Ralston
November 9, 2007

http://www.afcm.org/nationalgroceryreform.html

One of the great scandals of our age is the fact that America spends
more on food than any other nation. Many political leaders are now
calling for urgent reform to bring spending on food under control.
Even worse, while the result of this uncontrolled spending includes
the fact that many Americans are overweight, some Americans do not
have enough to eat.

Leading liberal candidates now point to what they see as the heart of
the problem: corporate "greed" in the form of grocery stores and
restaurants operating on a for-profit basis. They promise to replace
all private grocery stores with a national system of government
commissaries, which will allegedly operate far more efficiently
without the administrative overhead required to make a profit.

As it will take some time to organize the national network of commissaries,
initially groceries will be available only at offices of the Department of Motor
Vehicles and U.S. Postal Service. These offices apparently have a proven track
record of operational efficiency and excellent customer service, and will be a
model for the development of a government commissary system.

Liberals would achieve further efficiencies, so they claim, by
prohibiting all advertising of food and food products. This wasteful
expense to provide consumers with unnecessary information has proven
to be just a way for food stores and manufacturers to inflate prices
and fatten business profits. Consumers will find shopping to be much
easier if personal preference is eliminated in favor of whatever
foods government makes available.

To achieve savings by eliminating the profits of food manufacturers,
the U.S. Department of Agriculture will assume ownership of all of
these firms, purchase all crops from farmers (until such time as
agriculture can be reorganized into government operations) and
manufacture an appropriate amount of food.

In spite of the efficiencies and cost reductions that government
management will achieve, there is some concern that food might not be
affordable for everyone. And food is surely a "right," as it is
necessary for human survival. Therefore all groceries made available
in government commissaries will be free of charge.

This will be financed by an increase of 15 percent in income taxes, except for
those making over $80,000 a year, whose taxes will be increased by 75 percent.
Because the supply of food is not unlimited, a fixed amount of ration coupons
will be distributed to insure that each consumer can obtain an equal amount of
food.

All private restaurants will be closed because of the need to
equalize availability of food, and limited cafeterias will be
operated in the government commissaries. Liberal political candidates
point to the excellent example of school lunch programs as a model,
and the proven results demonstrated by several generations of well-
nourished, trim and fit students.

So far, conservative leaders are at a loss after hearing these
proposals. Some of the more courageous conservatives are responding
with proposals for Mandatory Food Purchasing. All citizens, including
those who go to bed hungry every night, will be required to purchase
membership in new Food Management Organizations.

Private grocery stores and restaurants would still be permitted but under strict
price controls to insure that all consumers can afford their FMO memberships. To
further control costs, the purchase of certain cuts of meat and imported gourmet
foods could require the FMO's advance approval.

Across the political spectrum, there is a developing consensus that
the only appropriate response to the fact that some consumers cannot
afford groceries is to impose a single, regimented, government-
controlled food system on all citizens.

Advocates point to public education as an example of how forcing all but the
children of the most wealthy citizens into the gray, sterile desert of a poorly
performing public education system is the only way to insure that poor children
receive any education at all.

Rumor has it that the clincher for those proposing socialized grocery
plans was stated recently by one of the presidential candidates:

"The ideal thing about these proposals is that if we can somehow get this to
work for groceries, we can apply it to health care."

Richard E. Ralston is Executive Director of Americans for Free Choice
in Medicine.