Ron Garthwaite and his wife, Collette Cassidy, tend to calves at Claravale Farm in Panoche, CA.As he contemplated a possible December trial of the 2008 suit against California agriculture officials in connection with AB 1735 and its tough coliform standard, Claravale Farm’s Ron Garthwaite could see nothing but negatives.
“We just couldn’t see any positive outcome in going ahead,” Ron told me this evening.
In the highly unlikely event of a victory, he saw the pending federal food safety legislation, in the current form of HB 2479 which recently passed the U.S. House, as negating any benefits. The federal government will simply substitute for the California Department of Food and Agriculture in looking over the dairy’s shoulder for processed products like cheese and yogurt.
Moreover, a victory by the raw dairy plaintiffs would also prompt the state to seek vengeance. “Even if we do win, we have a bunch of vindictive bureaucrats after us,” he said. “It’s an incredibly distasteful thing…We have a bunch of Twinkies eaters who have a say over what people should eat.”
But he had seen enough with the state judge’s ruling in May 2008 against him and the other plaintiff, Organic Pastures Dairy Co., to convince him that the chances of winning were essentially nil. “The judges are not going to rule against the state,” he said. “We created a great case, the state didn’t say anything, and they won” in the spring of 2008. “They’ve got all the time in the world and all the money in the world” to destroy a small business like Claravale, he noted.
Ron Garthwaite is a very unassuming individual, someone who doesn’t care to be in the spotlight of legislative hearings, or be cross-examined in a courtroom, so I wondered: Is he relieved to be finished with the court suit? “Definitely not,” he said. “It’s not a relief. We’re still operating under that law (AB 1735) that’s hell. We produce a product that is a good product, has been safe for the last 80 years. Everyone wants it. Then we’re having these ignoramus arbitrary clowns having power over our food…There is no recourse in this country.” While Claravale has had only two “de-grades” of skim milk, whereby production is halted until the coliform count comes down in further testing, Ron worries. “They could shut us down at any time.”
He intends, if the federal food safety legislation passes and is signed into law, to shift raw milk sales to private direct sales—via farmers markets, CSAs, and buying clubs—to take advantage of an expected exemption in the new federal regulations for farms selling directly to consumers.
While the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund could have continued the case with Organic Pastures as the sole plaintiff, it decided that Claravale’s withdrawal weakened the case, and the organization is now formally withdrawing the case. The collapse of the AB 1735 case in effect concludes a long and tumultuous battle over raw milk in the state, nearly three years to the day from when it officially started in September 2006. That’s when six children became ill from E.coli O157:H7,and the illnesses were blamed on raw milk. Those illnesses and a week-long quarantine of Organic Pastures Dairy Co. led nearly immediately to the drafting of AB 1735 by top dairy official Stephen Beam of the California Department of Food and Agriculture. Now, a long phase in the battle seems finally to be concluding.
CDFA is a instrumentality of GOT MILK and vice versa. This has been shown in open court during PETA litgation years ago. Big Dairy and CDFA are the same thing. They do not breathe or do any other bodily function with out asking each other permission.
Perhaps Ron is right…winning against CDFA would have just made it worse.
Now we are injured and wounded martirs. I hate that role and would have preferred being a victor and defender of truth and democracy.
An old Scottish McPhie Clan saying says…"every dog will have his day". We will have ours when the time is right. Until then we focus on one thing…healthy, overjoyed consumers and a growing RAW MILK market inspite of the disasters in the DEAD MILK markets. The contrasts are shocking.
We will work with CDFA and leave what has passed behind us all ….behind us all.
But….I will have learned a vital lesson. I will be forever diligent and sleep with one eye open awaiting our dogs day.
Be sure to tune in to http://www.kfcf.org Free Speech Radio 88.1 NPR on Thursday at 1300 hours. Dr.Fields and my self will be speaking about raw milk and childrens immunity for an hour. You can even call in.Stream if you can.
Mark
take a man to court he may eat for a day…
give a man his rights, he will eat for a life time.
How we change the fact our rights have been taken is still a work in progress…but I feel an increase in people excerising their choice will bring change.
I feel we now must focus on the fear aspect of our consolidated choices to move forward.
Once fear is removed, the true colour of our life is revealed, and our proper choice become clear….and the information held from us is known.
The truth will set you free..but more than likely will piss you off first.
Tim Wightman
There was an interesting report on the national news a couple days ago–CDC and other govt officials upset that people aren’t in a panic about swine flu, and craving the planned vaccine. The government message: people have to become more fearful, so they remain dependent on us. Are people starting to wise up to the chicken-little approach to keeping them in line? Ron Garthwaite is saying he won’t play the fear game, let’s go about living our lives in spite of "them."
David
When we are exposed to the raw opinions of the general public at farmers markets when are first attempting to open their eyes and minds about dead food and living food and drink their first sip of raw milk….we see fear. Lots of it.
Fear has been incultured into the American life. Along with fear is the lack of personal responsibility and a need for a guarantee. But they people do not understand is that health is not assignable to some other person. It is your responsibility to build your immune system and do your own exercise. You have to move your own body and feed it with whole good foods….no one else will do it for you….that is one of the reasons America is a land of fat people.
When I tell them that spinach and peanuts are killing people and that their fear is a tool being used to make fortunes at their expense..their is a long silence and then the discussion begins.
Fear of bacteria…..we are bacteria. 90% or more of our bodies cells are bacteria in origin not human. We are packed solid with baceria from head to toe.
We have been dumbed down to a level that we now fear what we are….
New immigrants do not have this fear and embrace raw milk and living foods with a huge smile.
We have an American problem and we must fix it….you teach, you teach, you teach. Cause when people wake up and find out the truth…Tim you are right….they get pissed.
Pissed is a good place to start for paradigm shifting change. We can also try and follow the example of other first world nations and ban TV ads for pharma drugs. Drugs have absolutely nothing to do with our health. But….everything to do with dependence and sucking our money from our pockets and health from our souls.
Mark
My health fears are certainly better, but my fear of the government has increased. I love David’s, and many other blog readers’ posts advocacy for freedom. It is inspiring, and fills me with hope.
"Faith is being sure of what you hope for, and certain of what we do not see."
We’re on the right path.
-Blair
Cyrus