Lawmakers Fail to Restore Paleo Bloggers Free SpeechSara Burrows North Carolina legislators proposed a law that would have restored Paleo Blogger Steve Cooskeys freedom of speech by allowing him to continue writing about his diet and recommending it to others, but the bills sponsors gutted it at the last minute, with no explanation. The bill originally would have abolished the North Carolina Board of Dietetics/Nutrition, which threatened to send Cooksey to jail for dispensing nutritional advice without a license. The board was one of dozens of wasteful boards and commissions state legislators planned to eliminate in a bill whose purpose was to reduce the size of government and strengthen free enterprise. But just before it reached the Senate floor on Feb. 6, the bills own sponsors changed their minds and decided to spare the nutrition board. Bill sponsor Senator Bill Rabon amended the legislation so that it preserved the states law requiring a person to have a license before sharing his opinion about what people should eat. Instead he proposed to fire the seven current board members and replace them with five new ones. It is unclear whether the new members will be more sympathetic to freedom of speech. Thats because the NC Dietetics Board is part and parcel to a national trade group called the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, which is sponsored by food industry giants like Coca Cola, Pepsi, Kelloggs, General Mills and Nestle, who are not interested in holistic nutrition. Foster believes the Dietetics Board caught wind of the proposal to eliminate the states nutrition licensing law and pressured bill sponsors into dropping it. The American Dietetics Association The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics formerly and more commonly known as the American Dietetics Association has lobbied for mandatory licensure of nutrition-related occupations in all 50 states, and has been successful in about 35. In North Carolina, those wanting to practice nutrition must take ADA-sponsored academic courses and pass an ADA exam to be licensed in the state. In other words, no one can offer any advice about nutrition to anyone in the state friends and family included unless they have been educated by a national trade group that is funded by Pepsi, Coca Cola, Mars, Nestle and dozens of other highly processed food manufacturers. In a letter asking state senators to do away with the Dietetics Board and the licensing law that keeps her silent and unemployed, Foster explained that the law enabled dieticians sponsored by junk food companies to monopolize not only the occupation of nutrition, but the information North Carolinians are allowed to hear about nutrition. A graduate student working on her doctorate in holistic nutrition, she said she was shocked to learn that she would not be able to practice her trade in the state or in any way identify herself as a nutritionist. Citizens in states where the ADA has gotten licensing laws passed are deprived of access to alternative theories about diet, Foster said. She added that companies who donate enough money to the ADA including Coca Cola, Pepsi, Kraft and Nestle are entitled to provide continuing education courses to the organizations members. Diabetes patients are entitled to a second opinion, Cooksey said, and theyre not going to get it from an ADA-registereddietitian. Free Speech Case Cookseys battle with the NC Dietetics Board is now the subject of a major free speech case, which the non-profit libertarian law firm Institute for Justice plans to appeal all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary. Cookseys lawyer Jeff Rowes, a senior attorney at the Institute, said if the bill had passed in its original form it would have eliminated the need for the lawsuit, as the defendant the NC Board of Dietetics would have ceased to exist. The Legislature should move forward with the elimination of the dietitian-licensing scheme, but, barring that, getting rid of the current board members, who were involved in the suppression of Steve Cookseys dietary advice, is still a good start, Rowes said. Unless the original version of the bill is restored and passed, Institute for Justice plans to proceed with Cookseys First Amendment case, which is now pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, he said. Neither Senator Bill Rabon nor Senator Tom Apodaca both primary sponsors of the bill would return calls or emails as to why they flip-flopped on their own proposal. Foster said lawmakers were initially keen on her proposal to do away with the Dietetics Board when she met with them in December, as it fit into their larger mission of eliminating unnecessary government agencies and promoting free trade. She obtained an email leaked from a registered dietician sympathetic to her cause that she believes explains their change of heart. When the Dietetics Board learned they had been included on the list of boards to be terminated they sent out an email labeled urgent, warning all licenseddietitiansin the state to contact their legislators. Senator Apodaca even mentioned getting a call from hisdietitianthat morning as he expressed his support for the amendment to the bill on the Senate floor. Foster said there is still time for the bill to be amended back to its original intent in the state House. She said natural health advocates will be flooding House members with calls and emails urging them to do so. The State of Michigan is also considering doing away with its nutrition board. This article first appeared at Food Riot Radio. Check them out for informative food and farm freedom articles and podcasts with special guests. linkwithin_text=Related Articles: 