More MN Consumers Threatened by MDA—And A New Kind of Chess Game Takes Shape
The Minnesota Department of Agriculture’s campaign against consumers is significantly more widespread than I first reported. And it is stirring up a hornet’s nest of outrage, and promises of defiance.
It turns out the MDA actually sent its love letters threatening criminal charges to nine or ten consumers of farmer Michael Hartmann—nine, according to a spokesman from the MDA, and ten according to consumers who have been comparing notes among themselves.
The MDA’s action seems designed to intimidate customers of Hartmann from offering their homes as voluntary drop points for his milk, meat, and other farm products—with the goal to deprive the farmer of distribution assistance from his customers. But the consumers, mostly mothers, have begun organizing themselves under the auspices of the Raw Milk Freedom Riders. The organization issued a press release headlined: “Mothers Threatened with Criminal Charges Openly Defy MDA.”
The release includes this quote from Melinda Olson, one of those who received the warning letter described in my previous post: “The MDA’s harassment against mothers will not work. We plan to ignorethis warning and continue operating as we are. MDA should not waste taxpayer money investigating, prosecuting and jailing peaceful farmers and mothers for helping their communities secure fresh foods. Our time to stand up against this tyranny is now!”
The organization indicated that not only won’t Hartmann lose his consumer supporters, but he will gain more help. “Dozens of individuals who are disgusted with what they regard as MDA’s overly aggressive tactics are expected to join in the same activity as these mothers,” the release states.
The MDA action is a surprising strategic departure from previous enforcement actions by agencies in other parts of the country, which have confined themselves to focusing on generally one to three targeted individuals at a time—usually farmers or food club managers-- in an effort to isolate them, and discourage organized backing. By going after nine or ten individuals—and consumers at that--the MDA is clearly betting that it can handle a more complex enforcement situation. Most fundamentally, it is betting that it can outmaneuver the consumers, or wear them down, in a protracted legal battle.
One MDA approach could be to focus its eventual enforcement action on just one or two of those sent warning letters, by filing criminal or civil charges, betting that the rest will be intimidated from providing support or continuing to resist the warnings. The MDA has all kinds of options at its disposal, what with an array of lawyers and endless funding.
To the extent the current enthusiasm for resistance wanes over the coming months of selective MDA enforcement, it could win its bet and demonstrate to its FDA masters and to other states that the food rights activists are a bunch of patsies.
My advice to the Minnesota food rights activists—those planning to defy warning letters and those planning to similarly defy MDA strictures in sympathy: Plan for MDA retribution. Talk to your neighbors and let them know that MDA investigators may be interviewing them (if they haven’t already done so). Make sure your income taxes are paid. Talk to a lawyer and accountant about easy steps you can take to protect your home and other assets from predator tactics by prosecutors and regulators.
And always remember this: You have an ace in the hole. If you can remain united, support each other in the coming MDA testing, and gather additional community support to expand private distribution of direct-from-the-farm products, there is nothing the MDA can do. In other words, the MDA is powerless in the face of large-scale resistance and civil disobedience. It will have no choice but to allow people to access the foods of their choice.
Michael Schmidt summed up the challenge well in a comment following my previous post: “You need to ask yourself if another tactic is the way to go or if the unafraid friends and shareholders and farmers are willing to go all the way.”
Liz Reitzig, a leader of the Raw Milk Freedom Riders, explains the risk very well: “The implications of what the Minnesota Department of Agriculture is attempting are huge. If they succeed in criminalizing mothers for such normal natural human behavior as helping provide fresh food for their friends and neighbors, the FDA will continue their aggressive rampage across the nation shutting down farmers via the mothers who depend on them to feed their families."
This site's mission is to provide news and analysis about food rights and raw milk. Increasingly, our access to privately available food is under attack by government and industry forces that seek to impose their choices on us. The Complete Patient seeks to provide up-to-date information and encourage the development of community to maintain traditional food acquisition options.
I'm thrilled to see this kind of defiance and direct action, the only thing that's ever actually worked.
"The MDA has all kinds of options at its disposal, what with an array of lawyers and endless funding."
Are they really that well funded? That's a good example of what a lie it always is when anyone in government (or supportive of it) claims they have to cut spending. There's always more than enough for corporate welfare and the police state.
The Reitzig quote sums up food fascism well. Are the calls for appeasement (those who think we need to try to "work with" the likes of the MDA) ever going to stop, or is there no level of evidence which will bring about that result?
The only response to this set of events....is a mass deluge of "more civil disobedience" by mothers and fathers and consumers that demand raw milk that does not cause lactose intolerance and allergies in their families and chlidren.
When unrest occurs, it must trigger even greater unrest and it must wrestle the micro phone and the media's attention.
One of the things that has disapointed me nationally with some of the raw milk dairymen's responses to unrest and oppression...is the lack of strategic capitalization of the opportunity to teach and move people.
When an event strikes...it must sting the oppressor more than the oppressed. How??? Well, when you get hit or shut down...call a damn press conference and get your families to speak out in screaming anger. Add fuel to it...fan its embers. Make a revolution out of it. Fight like mad....declare an educational war.
The responses I have seen are timid and lack the passion to drive the oppressors crazy. You must retrain the oppressors. They must come to appreciate that when the dairyman or his consumer is harrassed or oppressed this oppression will be returned immediately to bite the oppressors squarely on the ASS.
Were is the strategic thinking here???
The first thing that happens at OPDC when we are harrassed....we call a press conference and go to FB and pour gas on the fire. The other side has learned...if they do not want fires ( and massive positive attention brought to raw milk with its associated educational opportunity ), stop harrassing raw milk.
Use some ART of WAR here.
Mark
Here is a possible Game Changer for Raw Milk safety.
I spent a couple of hours in a UC CA lab this week learning about new technologies that could very well be a game changer for raw milk safety. Instead of testing for pathogens and waiting for three days for the results...how about this instead. How about a complete map of all the bacteria found in a sample. How about just a couple of dollars per test and how about the results in less than 8 hours and sometimes as few as 4 or 5. We have all paid for this technology through our tax dollars Bioterrorism Funding and Home Land Security grants and technical advances. This technology was developed to analize Dirty Bomb explosion aftermath pathogen data. It checks for thousands of pathogens that are included in its data bases and it learns as more bacteria are fed into it.
Enjoy the tour. We are sending our raw milk into this test right now. Instead of testing for the three pathogens that are in regs...we are testing for the presence of all bacteria....and we will get a report stating exactly what is found. That means all strains of pathogens, STEC and all of its brothers and ugly step sisters.
With this technology, a very high level of confidence can be confirmed and a surveilance of the normal can be tracked and established..the computer will determine if a non standard set of conditions is being found. This is on top of finding pathogens by name. This is tracking the TERRAIN and giving us the whole picture. Say goodbye to pasteurization....see yah!!....but only for those that have the right conditions. Bechamp and Claud Bernard were were right. Too bad it took 120 years to figuer it out and prove it.
It is the immune system and the terrain...not the bugs. They are everywhere. It is the HOST!!! Immunity.
http://www.cfse.purdue.edu/media/annualmeeting/bhunia-light-scattering.pdf
http://www.samanthaflower.co.uk/phdi/p1.nsf/pages/1080:PDF_Bechamp_Paste...$file/PDF_Bechamp_Pasteur.pdf
Mark
The photos from the Purdue link are fascinating, in fact they remind me of stars. Have you ever looked up into the night sky and wondered just how many stars there are in space?
There is a parallel that can be drawn with respect to the vastness of stars in space verses the vastness of microbes here on earth, on our bodies and in our food (the terrain). The greater and more sophisticated the magnification the more stars we see, so it is with microorganism (bacteria being only one of many). Just like stars we can see them however we have not yet been able identified them if it is indeed possible and practical to do so, let alone understand their purpose.
Astronomers estimate there are about “100 thousand million stars in the Milky Way alone”, an impossible number to comprehend. How many do you think they have been able to identify and label?
In 1998, an American microbiologist worked out that the number of bacteria on Earth at that time was “five million trillion trillion,” an equally impossible number to comprehend.
I believe that honest scientists have a pretty good idea of what they’re dealing with when it comes to the microbial world and clearly understand the importance of establishing a working symbiotic relationship between them and us. Identifying microorganisms is all for not if we continue with our current destructive, antagonistic approach.
Rather then merely focus our attention on an incomprehensible number of microorganisms here is a bit of research which I believe provides a more balanced approach with respect to acquiring a better understanding of the terrain and how it affects the multitude of microorganisms that reside in, on and around us.
http://jn.nutrition.org/content/134/2/459.full
Although interest in the role of the commensal microflora has been renewed by the development and refinement of molecular analysis tools our understanding of the dynamics and physiologic functions of the microflora is still in its infancy. In this paper we review recent advances in understanding the associations between diet, microflora, and health, in the context of the increasing availability of molecular tools.
Ken
The last paragraph in my above statement is not mine but rather a quote from the above link.
Ken
Mark,
We will be at the rally on Mothers Day but won't be able to make it to the court appearances and such during the week.
One of the things that has happened since you were in MN last to rally up the raw milk people and educate us on this issue, is that one of our Trad Foods leaders has been pushing "lightly pasteurized non homogenized" milk. And this from an OUT OF STATE FARM! Many of the raw milk people are now drinking this due to its being "just as good as raw". Which I think is a bunch of bull.
Anyway, the reason I am letting you know this--if you get to read it, is that it came from an interview you gave with Dr. Mercola last year. I have not seen the interview, I do not have cable nor do I have volume on my computer. Yep, in the dark a bit. MANY of the raw supporters are no longer here. I am not sure what the turn out will be, last reported there were only 30 people signed up for the first day of court.
This "leader" of sorts has put a negative/scary spin on the raw milk issue. There is a large dose of "don't tell anyone who your farmer is" as well as "you can't get raw milk legally in this state".
There are now many drop sites at homes for this pasteurized crap (dead is dead, right???) and the drop site hosts get a kick back depending on how many sales they get. So the pasteurized crap is basically winning.
I know of 3 farmers this year that this pasteurized crap put under. They had not gotten started other than animals, education, and equipment but it is 3 less there.
Many on the waiting list have gone pasteurized now since it is just as good. Their "rights" are not being infringed upon and they are rather complacent about these issues.
There are still others who wont stop helping their farmers out and stand up for the right to access the food of their choice.
And Alvin is hard at work getting food to those who need it. I wish more would step up and support him--especially those who were part of his buying club who are now getting pasteurized crap milk because it is less stress on them.
Tracy
"one of our Trad Foods leaders has been pushing "lightly pasteurized non homogenized" milk. And this from an OUT OF STATE FARM!"
Wow. that is NOT raw milk, it is pasteurized. Duh! You're right it is bull.
Precisely.
This boils down to semantic battle.
If your car gets hit by a light rail engine (you know-
“light rail” – think “puffy clouds,” “gentle,” “friendly,”
“aesthetically pleasing”), your car will be crushed same
as if any ordinary railroad engine kissed it.
Mr. J. Ingvar Odegaard
".we are testing for the presence of all bacteria....and we will get a report stating exactly what is found. That means all strains of pathogens, "
Mark,
Is the test identifying all bacteria and giving their relative numbers or is it just identifying "pathogens"? I hope it does give a profile of the whole community of bacteria present, that would indicate if the terrain was healthy or not. Just having a list of each "pathogen" found wouldn't tell us much about the terrain(the milk).
User 2756,
It reports a list of all bacteria present. It does not say how many of which. It just reports all the bacteria that have grown on the agar plate. By tracking the norms over time....the producer can map out what normal bacteria should be present in a normal test or sample. This is all in addition to identifying pathogens by name. We all know that pathogens like to exist in certain environments. These environments generally grow pathogen associated bacteria like psuedamonas etc. So if you are getting bacteria that are associated with pathogens...that is important information as well. We will learn more as this goes forward.
I was blown away to see that this machine sorts pathogens like a wiz. It identifies Listeria Monocytogenes and lists them differentiated from Listeria Innocua or Ivanovii. This thing is brilliant. It Better be....it cost millions of our tax dollars to create.
Another example of public investment...
Hopefully it is used for public good. Usually, it goes these sorts of things end up being used for private corporate profit. Perhaps the raw milk movement can prove to be the exception. On its current course, though, I wouldn't expect this. The individualistic "libertarianism" is only working for private profit. We need a public solution...
This sounds great. Is this only in California or do other places have it? So many uses for that knowledge.
Tracy
The data from the links is from 2006 and part of a feasibility study of the BARDOT system. Much of the data is proof of concept based-that does not say employment in a broader sense is not eventually possible possible. The system is still under going feasibility studies--at least to the best of my 2012 knowledge--and is one of many nano- and microtechnologies attempting to automate initial microbial screening. The value is of course not having to prepare reagents and do complex extractions. There still are hurdles to over come before wide spread use and acceptance. One hurdle is correlated statistical analysis that has been reported in a few papers regarding BARDOT. The instrumentation does not sort pathogens but provides a potential first screen that will need to be confirmed by standard microbial analysis or newer PCR technology as a follow-up. Been involved in cytometrics somewhat-wonderful technology, complex and requires much engineering to bring it to a state where it can be cost effective and robust enough for routine use.
Perhaps MW can comment of these sorts of things and where these screening technologies stand. I try not to get distracted by novel technologies since I feel the primary focus must be on getting it right-from soil biology to bottled product. And I too think that all of us need to understand why things do go wrong.
It is heartening to hear of the resistance planned by the Minnesota mothers and other raw milk drinkers. Pushing back against all the attacks is the only way to maintain our access to real food. As Michael Schmidt advocates, resist with love but remain resolute. Your analysis of the risks and rewards seems right on, David.
The comment by Russ, about how government claims to need to lower spending but has enough money to harass hard-working, freedom-loving citizens, is apt as well.
Keep up the good work, everyone!
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/upshot/video-pig-farm-abuses-stirs-205825488...
So much for federal inspectors doing anything..... I didn't know tyson also processed pork.
Tyson processes pork, beef, chicken, turkey, and fish. I don't know if they do fowl (duck, goose, etc.).
Thanks for the heads up. I don't eat a lot of meat and what I do, usually comes from small grass fed/real free range farms. I will certainly educate others about tysons work ethics.....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBP,_Inc.
http://connecticut.injuryboard.com/medical-malpractice/doctors-admit-tha...
Surprise surprise....
http://charlottesville.injuryboard.com/defective-and-dangerous-products/...
In honor of North Carolina's recent vote to ban gay marriage, and Gordon Watson's ongoing "libertarian" racist and homophobic rants, I would like to share the below article. Turns out, there was a time in history when same-sex marriage was a Christian sacrament:
http://anthropologist.livejournal.com/1314574.html
I suppose the vote shouldn't surprise us, coming from one of the states that fought to death to preserve the institution of slavery.
shows how ignorant you are, Bill Anderson, about what the War Between the States, was really about. Institutionalized chattel slavery was only a pretext. Until you've actually read the Bible so as to know how bondage fits into the religion of the Israelites, you're an ignoramus on that topic, too
Ham-merica tolerating sodomy, embracing it, and now glorifying it, is manifestion of one of the classic symptoms of a society degenerating ... like so many others which wound up on the dung-heap of history. The God of Israel, namely Jesus Christ, pronounces it a crime requiring the death penalty.
One of my friends is an "out" lesbian for most of her life. She got so-called "married" here in Vancouver. She mocks the idea of homosexual "marriage" - she went through with it, just to please someone else. With a couple of brothers who are Christian pastors, she knows full well that only a man and a woman can be married in the true sense. She'll tell you homosexual marriage is just a charade, for propaganda purposes of their anti-christ movement
How droll that you raise the issue of buggery on this forum. Contrast the harms done by consuming REAL MILK, with indisputable evidence of the medical consequences of what homosexuals do. In his "masterpiece" Naked Lunch, infamous queer William Burroughs wrote "You think I am innnerested in contracting your horrible disease? I am not innerested at all" .... the costs to the health care system of homosexual activity are beyond calculation, but when't the last time you saw these health officials do anything to stop that all-too-well-known vector of disease?! As brutal as it seems, the euthansia provision in Obama-care is actually quite logical, against the looming reality : millions of homosexuals who have no-one who really cares about them, would be an unbearable burden on the health-care system as they drift into senility. Those people who mocked God, won't be laughing as they reap what they've sowed
Thank you once again, Gordon, for beautifully demonstrating the reactionary, racist, homophobic, and theocratic underpinnings of modern American "libertarianism."
As for this: "Institutionalized chattel slavery was only a pretext."
WRONG. Slavery was not the pretext. The official agenda of Lincoln was to preserve the Republic. Abolishing slavery was a secondary goal. That is why slavery was abolished in the south before it was abolished in the border the states. Lincoln was intent on keeping those states in the Republic, rather than risking their seccession.
I'm proud to be from the Wisconsin -- the birthplace of the Republican Party. Of course, in the 1850's, most Republicans were socialists, abolitionists, and suffragists. That was before the party was taken over by the forces of reaction and counter-revolution -- first by Wall Street, and later by social conservatives. Remember... a generation ago (prior to the civil rights movement) someone like Ron Paul would have been a "Dixiecrat" (a southern conservative Democrat).
Thank you again, Bill Anderson, for putting the hate spewed on this forum. I really appreciated the anthropologist link and sent it far and wide!
Meant to say "the hate spewed on this forum in its proper context."
Are you a political scientist or study political science?
Kristen, I've been a political activist on a number of different issues for years, including the war, globalization, anti-racism, and third-party politics. I also study politics, economy, and history.
Last time I checked, the hate being spewed here is coming from Gordon Watson. My attacks are directed against a political ideology -- a choice people make in their political allegiances. A person has no choice in their sexual orientation or race -- Watson's favorite targets of scorn.
I agree with you Bill and I really liked appreciated the link.
Regarding the anthropologist.livejournal material cited above-its direct bearing on the issues considered here is nil. Bill, if I may ask, why did you bring it up?
Mr. J. Ingvar Odegaard
Because he's either an arrogant prick who likes to start fights for fun, or he's a shill that's here to deride conversation.
Please define "libertarian" in the context you are using it and then please prove that people who consider themselves "libertarian" are as a group racist and homophobic. Thanks.
"1.3 Personal Relationships
Sexual orientation, preference, gender, or gender identity should have no impact on the
government's treatment of individuals, such as in current marriage, child custody, adoption,
immigration or military service laws. Government does not have the authority to define, license or
restrict personal relationships. Consenting adults should be free to choose their own sexual practices
and personal relationships."
Libertarian Party Platform
http://www.lp.org/platform
An official party platform means nothing when many individuals who follow the movement have outwardly racist, sexist, and/or homophobic views.
In case you haven't seen this yet, Lola, I will post these links again. This is Murray Rothbard, the ideological founder of much of the modern libertarian movement. Here he is explicitly calling for an alliance between libertarians and neo-Nazi's, as well as endorsing numerous theocratic policies (i.e. prayer in school):
http://www.lewrockwell.com/rothbard/ir/Ch5.html
Here he is defending the confederacy in the civil war (constitutional Republic, what?)
http://www.lewrockwell.com/rothbard/rothbard20.html
Of course, I would not suggest that the entire "libertarian" movement are monolithic Rothbardians. There is also the Ayn Rand/Objectivist branch of the movement, which lacks the social conservatism of the Rothbardians, but is far more elitist and pretentious. Despite their liberalism on social questions, the Randians are more explicit in their defense of corporate capitalism and imperialism than the Rothbardians.
Either way you cut it, the "libertarian" movement is rotten. What self-respecting alternative political party allow a wealthy twenty-something to purchase their party nomination for half a million dollars, as the US Libertarian Party allowed David Koch to do in 1980? (note: Koch inherited the money from his father, who was also a founder of the racist John Birch Society. Koch was far from being self-made)
"In Internet slang, a troll is someone who posts inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum, chat room, or blog, with the primary intent of provoking readers into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troll_(Internet)
Bill, the only reason you posted that link was to start yet another politically charged fight here on TCP, isn't that right? As a Global(ist) Studies major you know that gay marriage is a hot button issue and people have very strong feelings on both sides of the argument. What is your point in posting that here, didn't you just use that as yet another opportunity to defame Libertarian-oriented types and promote your political ideologies?
What if Rothbard wanted an alliance with Neo-Nazis? WHO CARES? Does that mean that EVERYONE who identifies with the Libertarian Party's platform is automatically a racist? NO. You need to start judging people on the content of their characters, instead of on the labels you associate them with.
I'd like to remind you that the local foods/raw milk movement does not have an official alliance with the Libertarian Party (though many of their members ally themselves with us), and people's personal politics is NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS, as long as they are not harming you. Get that damn chip off of your shoulder, open your eyes, and lay off the digs. Dig?
Thank you for the link. That is one of the most fascinating reads I have had in a while.
http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2012/05/08/wardens-remove-stuffed-wolveri...
Seems Ca has nothing better to do than harass and waste tax-payer money in senseless raids and apparently stealing without a warrant.
http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/egov/press_releases/Press_Release.asp?PRnum=12-018
Mark mentioned a week ago or so that agents were at his place testing implied it was really cow shares. Maybe at the OPDC "Campying with the Cows" event they can burn some cow share symbols in protest.
Amanda
You heard this from me first....
OPDC was just hit with another recall this afternoon at 1700 hours. This one pisses me off....the good news is that it should be very short.
No illnesses ....all tests negative except for one sample of cream which was detected to have Campylobacter. There are no DNA consumer connections to the raw cream sample. There are no patients connected to the sample. The CDFA press release missleads the reader to think that ten people are sickened. This is totally missleading....totally missleading. Did I say I was pissed.
On May 1st OPDC was inspected by both CDFA and DPH. The inspector gave a OPDC a summary statement which said in part that 13 people in CA had reported drinking OPDC and or Claravale or other raw milk ( a mix of raw milk sources ) and had been sickened briefly by Campylobacter since Christmas, a four month period. The last case was very early April. None of these consumers required treatment or hospitalization. All recovered at home.
With 7000 cases of campylobacter reported every day in the US and 80% of all poultry when tested having campylobacter....this is crazy. All the raw milk that was tested ( at the same time of the cream campy test ) was negative for campylobacter or other pathogens and have very low bacteria counts.
The clearing tests will be submitted to CDFA by Friday afternoon. Then it will be the long 5 day wait for pathogen test results.
OPDC will begin to gather all of its products back from all of the stores everywhere in the State tommorrow. All of the test results taken since May 1st have been negative. That was 10 days ago.
I have demanded a hearing tommorrow morning at 1100 with CDFA. It is scheduled. This the greatest Kangeroo Court in the World. They are judge and jury. Summary judgement is rendered seconds after the arguments are made. Take raw milk outback and hang them high.
What I also found really interesting was that DPH took 14 cream samples on May 1st as part of a routine visit to OPDC. When I asked PDH where those results were...they reported that they were still waiting to be submitted to the lab....after ten days!!! They have not tested them yet. Ten days waiting....that is horrible for a raw milk test. Those tests should be done immediately. If those tests had been done....they may have shown a total conflict between CDFA and DPH test results.
All this recall does is push up the tenor of this battle against bacteria and the demand for raw milk will rise. We are being ordered to recall perfectly good raw milk that has been tested and shown to be perfectly fine and there have been no illnesses connected by DNA or test or even generic sample to OPDC.
Outrageous....when consumers ask why raw milk is so expensive now you know why.
"None of these consumers required treatment or hospitalization. All recovered at home."
And yet somehow your perfectly healthy customers had the need to have a stool test and their poop had campy in it.
Thank goodness there are no hospitalizations.
I see Senate Hearings on Raw Milk happening soon.
Consumers are really going to start getting pissed off and now we have the numbers to do something about it. There is a growing list of Medical Needs Patients that suffer when they are taken off organic raw milk. True injury is happening. Perhaps CDFA and can answer to the good Senators why pastuerized milk is an not alternative food for raw milk consumers. recalls of OPDC raw milk cause illness to consumers. Not because of pathogens in raw milk....but becuase of the lack of availability of raw milk as a healing food.
Mark
Mark,
RAMP Up.
MW
Predictable denials, and nothing inspiring relating to finding the root cause (which likely has more to do with fecal material than libertarians or socialists).
MW
Milky Way ; the tour at Organic Pastures is free. Have you ever been out there? do you know what you're talking about from first-hand experience, or are you simply parrotting what goes by on a computer screen?
This is an excellent show on Oregon Public Broadcasting. More sober and reasonable public dialogue like this needs to take place between consumers, producers and health officials.
http://www.opb.org/audio/download/?f=tol/segments/2012/050702.mp3
The distractions away from the primary issues are irresponsible and a fundamental embarrassment to anyone attempting to deal with food rights issues. I am certain the dinner discussions of the folks in Minnesota do not revolve around recent baiting and self adsorbed postings. In fact, the hijacking of this forum-and ignoring the subject matter David has posted is beyond shameful. That a board member of the Raw Milk Institute would engage in such petty behavior discredits RMI.
MW’s comment to Mark regarding RAMP is appropriate—and again a core issue of why things go wrong gets derailed by flip commentary-further diluted by irrelevant self serving ranting.
There is a lot at stake in the fundamental questions surrounding food rights. Unless this “movement” addresses in a systematic and responsible manner how to provide a clean and safe product, educate consumers and helps those affected by regulatory over reach or contaminated products----- there is no hope.
Hi Ron,
I'm not a board of of Raw Milk Institute anymore. I stepped down, because I was the subject of numerous false attacks by the "libertarians" in the movement.
I don't know how I feel about this issue: http://sustainableagriculture.net/blog/what-really-matters-to-you/
[quote from article]:
" The Carpenters shared stories about how their farm is an integral part of their community, and how federal programs have helped them expand their business and grow a diverse array of crops that they sell across the region.
That’s democracy in action – engaged citizens who care about their communities and their family-owned farm businesses speaking up for what matters in the 2012 Farm Bill."
[end of quote]
Do you suppose "federal" intervention is really making a huge difference? To me it's just another way of regulating and keeping tabs on people who actually voluntarily submit! Unbelievable.
I would love to get Joel Salatin's take on this farm bill....I don't know here, kind of sounds like a wolf in sheep's clothing!!
i didn't see monsanto mentioned in this article - they should be - they are the reason behind this - it takes $ out of their pocket