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I found this gem... take a look. Kaya #78 @7 Wed Sep 30 17:23:29 1992 (The following modest proposal was first posted several years ago to one of the talk.politics groups. For those who enjoyed the saga of BioHarvest, I hope you'll like this, too.) Access to Food Must Be Equal! The Bush Administration is proposing radical changes in the way food has been purchased by Americans for the past hundred years. Agriculture Secretary Clayton Yeutter is floating the idea of a "voucher" system for groceries which would allow families to make their food and beverage purchases at any supermarket, regardless of location. Allowing this kind of choice would destroy the system which has made America so competitive today! Equality of access to food, regardless of income or personal wishes, has long been the hallmark of our food distribution system. Every family knows which food district it is in and where its assigned supermarket is, just as it knows which school district it is in and which schools are in the district. Citizens elect members of the District Food Boards, thus assuring democratic input into the food distribution process. And parents are urged--without much success, I might add--to join their regional Grocer-Parent Association (GPA) to further ensure a wholesome food selection for their children. It should be noted that temporary shortages of such basic products as milk, real, and high-fiber bread have almost become a thing of the past, despite criticism from so-called libertarians that a free market would eliminate all shortages (doubtful). It is true that some luxury food items remain unavailable, but is it fair for some to eat quiche while others can't get sushi? And we applaud the recent progress by State Food Boards in eliminating unhealthful foods from the diet of Americans. This progress would likely be undone if people were free to choose their food stores. Consider the implications of free choice of supermarkets. The "food voucher" system proposed by these nutritional anarchists would surely encourage some supermarkets to offer needless luxuries and variety of choice so as to lure gullible families into spending their food vouchers at these stores. What would then happen is that some stores would begin to cater to the tastes of these consumers and so become more popular. This would draw even more shoppers, resulting in a kind of spiraling prosperity for these opportunistic, greedy stores. However, the remaining stores--no doubt disproportionately located in inner cities and other poor areas--would suffer lost business and so would be less able to provide the luxuries sought by selfish shoppers. Some of these stores would obviously close, thus causing hunger and unemployment in the affected regions. People of color and victims of the class struggle would thus carry the burden of rampant capitalism, as they have for thousands of years. Every American has the right to an equal share of the pie, regardless of their income or personal spending habits. Say no to deregulation of supermarkets! Competition just isn't the American way.