The Historical Context of Farming Regulation in the United States

Historically, regulations in the United States were initially established to control big corporate farmers in the late 1800s due to concerns about the new industrialized and mechanized food supply. The FDA and state agencies were meant to ensure accurate labeling of products but eventually expanded their authority to dictate the contents and properties within the packages. This shift towards regulatory power led to opposition from left populist movements, which aimed to prevent power centralization into bureaucratic hands, favoring instead redistributive policies. It was understood by figures like Thomas Jefferson that maintaining small independent farming was crucial for sustaining constitutional democracy and preventing the loss of constitutional government.