As reported by Reason.com, a California couple has sued the USDA, claiming that the policy not only violates the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, but also threatens to put small raisin farmers like themselves out of business.

It is known as an agriculture marketing order, and it was established back in the 1930s during the Great Depression as a way to stabilize raisin prices during a unique time when food markets were extremely volatile. A product of the infamous and sweeping New Deal, the agriculture marketing order for raisins established a special government committee responsible for both deciding the price and yield for raisins every year, and confiscating the remaining raisins for export overseas -- and this committee still exists today.