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Today, elected officials and regulators are cracking down with increasing relentlessness on the lives and livelihoods of the farmers, chefs, artisans, restaurateurs, food truck operators and others who raise, produce, make, cook and sell the food we eat-and in the process, undermining their right to earn an honest living and provide for themselves.

The Attack on Food Freedom-the first in a new series of independently authored reports published by the Institute for Justice, “Perspectives on Economic Liberty”-discusses this assault on food freedom and economic liberty, and identifies three ways in which government regulators undermine both rights: overzealous food safety regulations, bureaucratic hoops, and the “new” public health.

Authors Baylen Linnekin of Keep Food Legal and Michael Bachmann trace the origins of food freedom back to this nation’s founding. As the report discusses, had the British never clamped down on the rights of American colonists to earn a living through a variety of food-related pursuits, the cause of American Independence may never have arisen. The authors then trace the constitutional and convoluted history of food freedom, concluding with a pending court case that will have serious implications for food freedom and economic liberty.

Today’s bans and strict regulations ultimately limit the choices available to eaters-which includes quite literally everyone-and in the process, prevent food entrepreneurs from earning an honest living.