Until just the other day Mother Safety with her legions of stern enforcers and tattlers stood willing and ready at our gates to assault and destroy a large part of what’s left of our rural way of life; that is, cooking food at home and taking it to our little towns and churches and feeding it to our friends and loved ones to give aid, create fellowship, raise money for worthy charitable and civic causes and to have a nice time visiting.

Gathering to share food has been a glue to hold what’s left of rural Americans together.

I was assured in no uncertain terms that the new state rules and regulations regarding the retail sale of food from “domestic kitchens” would not be turned against rural people by none other than Adrian Polansky, Kansas Secretary of Agriculture, who is the boss of the Division of Food Safety in that agency. Polansky knows how we are in rural Kansas, because he is from the country in Republic County where he and his family are still active in agriculture.

Polansky has a storied and honorable career in agricultural government and politics, and I don’t think he would go back on his word unless he absolutely was forced to, which some people say might happen if the laws aren’t amended, regardless of the rules the agency is firming up for a June deadline.

For whatever reasons, and the stories are conflicting as to why, the department has decided to review and amend the rules governing sales of food from domestic kitchens and at farmers markets by vendors of certain cooked food products. Kansas already has enabling legislation in place to crack down on vendors selling the wrong types of foods and any food in the wrong ways. It’s working on new rules now to enforce upon products sold from home kitchens.

But an unintended consequence, or at least a downplayed aspect of all of this was the killing effect the new rules would have on pot luck meals at church, the bake sales to raise scholarship money, the funeral dinners, the ice cream socials and chili feeds to raise funds for the local fire districts, the hot dog stand at the estate sale run by the church or civic auxiliary group, the 4-H club food sales, the FFA, the senior centers, you-name-it.

Polansky put our waiver or bye in writing for me, even though the rules aren’t finished. It is: “Regardless of the final outcome, bake sales, church and community socials, and other non-profit events will not be affected by our regulation changes. We continue to listen to the industry and will seek additional public input before the regulations are finalized.” He added in conversation later that would include just about all non-profit endeavors like 4-H and auction food stands.

If that class is protected from the new Domestic Kitchens rules, which as they stand now will be expensive, harsh and pretty much daunting for an ordinary home baker to comply with, the farmers markets vendors will not be. It is a pity, because people love to buy baked goods and the like from farmers markets vendors.

You look at the rules, as proposed right now, and you might as well quit, because the whole idea was to make some spending money, not spend a fortune remodeling kitchens and buying extra appliances and equipment and licenses and putting up with unannounced inspectors invading your home.

One woman from the market side wants no compromise, saying the whole thing should be thrown out. You can get just as sick at a non-profit fund-raiser as you can at a chain restaurant, she says.

A 55 mph speed limit doesn’t mean 35 mph, she added. Many would agree. Personally, I’d be grateful to win an exception for the rural communities, even though I have a stake in farmers markets prospering.

Whatever happens, it’s more intrusion, more regulation and more being forced to shop at you-know-where mart. In the broad name yet confining bounds of safety, we sell out our own ability to weigh risk and our own ability to choose whether to take risks. It’s a lousy trade that’s soon going to yield a nation of dummies who won’t even own a pocketknife, much less not know how to use its blade to slice open a sardine can.