Food

To provide food to everyone, give every human being “FOOD AUTHORIZATION CREDITS for EVERYONE” (FACE).  These credits can be stored on cards and will be accepted at any grocery store or food outlet anywhere in the world.  However, they will not allow an individual to purchase anything but good, nutritious food.

A commission can be established that consists of the nation’s top health and nutrition officials.  The commission can authorize which foods can be acquired with the FACE card.  Nothing that causes the human body any harm will be acceptable; this means no soft drinks, no processed foods, no candy, and no desserts—nothing that negatively affects a healthy body.  If a person wants other foods that are not purchasable with the FACE card, that person must go to work and earn the money to buy what he or she desires.

The FACE commission will be responsible for the quality and safety of the food it authorizes.  It will oversee quality inspectors, whose primary job will be to inspect the production of all of the food that is authorized.

Here’s an example:

A farmer who wants to grow a food product that is acceptable for the FACE program must apply to get that farmer’s product approved.  A commissioned inspector will visit the farm and inspect the means of production and the quality of the product.  (NOTE: According to Article I, Section 1(c) of our Proposed Constitution, the farmer’s production methods must protect Earth’s environs.)  If the food does not meet FACE standards, the farmer’s application will be denied.  The inspectors will ensure safety and quality from the farm to the grocery outlet, to the mouth of the consumer.

Any packaged product manufactured (processed food) by any company will be required to go through the same strict approval process.  To avoid commissioner or inspector fraud and corruption (possibly by the acceptance of a “kickback payment” to encourage the approval of a particular product), a violation of FACES rules will be viewed as a crime against humanity and punished appropriately.  Both FACE commissioners and inspectors will be compensated sufficiently to make their job a suitable career choice for which the most educated people will compete.

FACE can also be approved to be accepted at any authorized buffet restaurant, to support those who do not have the desire or ability to prepare food for themselves.  The card will authorize a daily purchase amount.  These authorized restaurants will be inspected and approved based on the quality of the food that they offer, which must also be nutritious and meet established FACE standards.  After meeting this threshold standard, competition among restaurant entrepreneurs will lead to contests, in effect, to see which will have the best tasting food and most inviting atmosphere in which to entice those with FACE cards to eat.

An example of this using current market trends for buffet-type restaurants, one spends about $10 US dollars for an all-you-can-eat meal.  These restaurants are obviously making a profit in offering a meal for that price, and competing among the several restaurant chains to gain customers.  Because their customer base will expand significantly once the FACE program is in place, there will be greater competition to offer the most nutritious foods and to win a government supported FACE contract.

​The same scenario of competition will exist among the other food producers who ship their products to grocery outlets.  The rules that govern FACE will not allow monopolization by any one company.  The producer that offers the best food at the best price will get the authorization.  Authorizing any particular food or restaurant will be as simple as a few key strokes on the FACE central computer, similar to how credit card companies typically monitor the use of credit cards and adjust usage depending on the credit worthiness of the cardholder.

​With the increased competition to create a business that produces food products and services that meet FACE approval, the quality and presentation of nutritious food will increase significantly through free-market competition.  The food producers will continue to be paid by the food retailers just as they are in our current free markets.  The food retailers who are authorized to accept the FACE card will be reimbursed similar to the way that the current United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) reimburses the retailers who accept its Food Stamps.  The USDA food stamp program is a practical example of how the FACE program would work (although not allowing non-nutritious foods to be purchased).

Because we are accustomed to eating what we want, when we want, and because we can only purchase good, nutritious foods on this plan, the incentive to work will increase, NOT decrease.  Those who choose not to work will only be eating the foods that will ultimately increase their overall physical and mental health.  No longer will a person with integrity hold a sign that reads, “Will Work For Food.”  If one does hold such a sign, the remorse felt by the rest of us in passing by without giving up our money for something that is guaranteed by law will diminish.

​Additionally, no one can abuse the FACE program by purchasing too much food and trying to sell it for money.  Those to whom one might sell the food could question, “Why should I pay you money for food that I can get free just like you did?”

​There will be no extensive application process or monitoring of personal means and finances to obtain a FACE card.  If you meet the criteria set by this Constitution, you get a card!  If you are rich or poor, you get a card!  The money that a person would usually spend on food will be redirected into purchases that support a free-market economy.  A person who utilizes FACE will have more money to buy other things that support their individuality.

​Because our current economy is already a worldwide conglomerate, where the economic structure of one nation directly affects that of all other countries, it would not be hard for other countries to implement the FACE program throughout the world.  If food retailers knew that 5 million starving Africans were going to be carrying their own FACE card, they would scramble to set up their businesses for profit in Africa; thereby hastening the process for these people to start using their cards.  In time, the world’s food production would increase, not only to match the quality and nutrition levels set by FACE, but by the demands of the card-carrying people.  Food production and retail grocery stores and restaurants would replace weapons manufacturing as the number one profitable business in the world.  Just imagine that!