A number of people have asked me why Jenny Samuelson didnt just defy the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development last Sunday and cut the red seizure tape on her co-op members food .in much the same way as Vernon Hershberger did in Wisconsin in 2010. Hershberger, of course, chose the path of civil disobedience, and three years later was acquitted of misdemeanor charges in connection with alleged violations of state food permit laws.
I dont know the answer to why Jenny Samuelson made the decision she made at that crisis point. I refrain from urging farmers or food club owners in a particular direction during a key decision time. After all, it is not my immediate freedom or land or food on the line, it is someone else’s.
In retrospect, Samuelson may have understood when she declined to take Vernon Hershbergers path that there is a key difference between Wisconsin and Michigan approaches to raw milk. Wisconsin essentially bans the sale and distribution of raw milk. So, if Hershberger had obeyed the state’s demands and obtained a state retailing license, he would have been caught in a Catch-22 situation where he could sell pretty much any food he wanted .except for raw milk.
In Michigan, the situation is different. Herdshares for raw milk are supposed to be legal. So, if Samuelson were to obtain a food retailing or food handlers licnese, shed be able to sell pretty much any food she wanted, and also continue distributing raw milk to herdshare members. That is, if Michigan was serious about continuing its seven-year-old policy of allowing herdshares.
But did the MDARD raid on Sameulson’s refrigerated food truck signify a change in policy? A few days ago, I asked the MDARD for an update on the Samuelson situation and on herdshares, and late yesterday received this response from a spokesperson there:
As part of a routine investigation, MDARD was made aware of a food business operating without a license. A delivery truck used by My Family Co-op was inspected by three MDARD inspectors after MDARD learned that My Family Co-op was obtaining and selling food products produced in unlicensed establishments in violation of Michigans Food Law. Neither the My Family Co-op truck nor Jenny Samuelson, owner of My Family Co-op, has the required food license under state law.
Its important to note that herd-share members were able to obtain raw milk from the farm throughout this process.
Regular licensing and inspection is critical to protecting public health and decreases the incidence of foodborne illness and death. Neither the My Family Co-op truck nor Jenny Samuelson, owner of My Family Co-op, has the required food license under state law.
The butter, cream, buttermilk, raw milk, and cheese on the truck did not have labels stating when and where it was made or the use by date. The cheese did have a label, but it was labeled as being made by a company that went out of business two years ago. The eggs hadnt been cleaned and still had dirt, etc. on them and were not graded as required by Michigans Food Law.
With the exception of the meat products, the food products on the My Family Co-op delivery truck were obtained from unlicensed processors, not properly labeled, were stored at improper temperatures, were from an out of business processor, and were offered for sale in a manner that violated Michigans Food Law. As a result, MDARD did not permit those food products to be offered for human consumption to protect the health of the customers.
MDARD negotiated an agreement with Ms. Samuelsons attorney to lift the seizure of the My Family Co-op truck. A tentative agreement was negotiated on July 18, 2014. Despite MDARDs multiple calls and attempts to contact Ms. Samuelson and her attorney, neither Ms. Samuelson nor her attorney finalized the agreement on July 18, 2014. Absent a finalized agreement, MDARD was unable to lift the seizure as planned on Saturday, July 19, 2014 and canceled its scheduled inspection.
The agreement was finalized over the weekend of July 19 and 20. On Monday, July 21, 2014, in accordance with the negotiated agreement, MDARD oversaw the disposition of the seized food. Based on statements made by Ms. Samuelson and her attorney, My Family Co-op has resumed its deliveries of raw milk.
Now, there are a number of things not to like about this statement. Like the vague passive tense explanation about how the investigation of Samuelson started (MDARD was made aware of a food business operating without a license).
Theres the euphemism about obscenely disposing of good food. (The trashing of thousands of dollars of good food is described as a disposition of the seized food.)
And theres the suggestion that Samuelson operated an unsafe service. (The eggs hadnt been cleaned and still had dirt, etc. on them .the food products .were stored at improper temperatures.) Of course, the eggs hadnt been cleaned, and were unrefrigerated because that is exactly the way the members wanted them. They didnt want the eggs natural membrane to be damaged by washing, and they wanted their eggs stored the traditional way (and the same way as is required in Europe, without refrigeration).
There is no indication that My Family Co-Op isn’t allowed to distribute raw cream and butter to its members under herdshare agreements.
Finally, there is that repeated refrain about MDARDs desire to protect the health of the customers. That is standard regulatory mumbo jumbo, and is especially misplaced here, where there were no complaints about illness or unsanitary conditions or anything else .except possibly by corporate interests threatened by Michigans growing herdshare phenomenon.
Having said all that, I will say that I admire the MDARDs willingness to explain itself about the Samuelson incident. Too often, state and federal regulators batten down the hatches when an incident like this comes up. But more significant is that MDARD has reiterated its commitment to the states raw milk herdshare policy. It is attempting to reassure the public that there wasnt a hidden agenda in the raid on Samuelsons truck to do away with herdshares. (“Its important to note that herd-share members were able to obtain raw milk from the farm throughout this process,” the agency emphasized.) It is saying that if Samuelson gets a retailing or food handlers license, she should be okay. From what I understand, a number of Michigan farmers with herdshares have done just that, and are operating okay. It is also saying that Michigan is not Wisconsin.
I’m sorry, but your story still has a lot of holes in it. Herd shares are now required to deliver their cow shares in containers like those labelled for sale in stores? I’m sure this will be news to the herd shares I’m familiar with. Herdshares are a private contract regarding the disposition of the products of shared ownership of cows. It’s not a sale to a customer in a commercial exchange, but a way of distributing what the shareholders _already own_. You seem to have used this episode to strong-arm the coop into stopping the distribution of cream and butter as part of the herdshare agreement, based on a working group report with no legal standing. Where do you derive your authority to regulate herdshares?
The dairy products have always been kept at proper temperatures. I’m assuming you are saying the eggs–which have always been extremely clean!–are not kept at proper temperatures and you mention that they are not graded. So you intend to crack down on egg sales at all farmers’ markets where farmers sell them unrefrigerated (as is done in Europe precisely for safety reasons!) and without grading. I’m assuming you will be cracking down on farms selling without a reseller’s license or including a neighboring farm’s products with their wares? Either you have targeted Jenny for other reasons or this is a worrying precedent in the state’s war against local food (which is the way it looks to me at this point).
Considering the recent Michigan scandal with E. Coli associated with the Wolverine Packing Company of Detroit, I think your priorities are misplaced. And seizing and disposing of safe, healthy food that belonged to Michigan citizens is a horrible abuse of power. You need to reverse the coercive judgment against My Family Coop and other herdshares with regard to the form of the dairy products distributed and make recompense for the property that was taken. That is your best option to save face at this point, because this defense of your actions does not hold water.
Bill Lynch
Then of course there is their love and respect for raw milk farmers, so much so that minutes after their sting, excuse me “safety inspection”, the regime issued a communique to every raw milk group in the State of Michigan telling them not to even think of selling cream, kefir, yogurt, shoe polish, or whatever, etc.
Yes sir it’s quite the Love In these days between the State of Michigan and Real Fresh Food Advocates. In fact I bet they sent that pig farmer fellow Baker in McBain a valentine’s card from themselves and the Michigan DNR.
And lets not forget the State Paid for Michigan.Org ad pushing the virtues of fresh Michigan Retail Milk direct from cows shown roaming in beautiful pastoral land. Wait a minute, doesn’t Michigan Retail Milk come from confinement farms loaded with a filthy smell outside that can be detected for miles by anyone with half a nose. Oh well what’s a little false advertising anyway.
Oh yes indeed it’s a great time to be a bureaucrat in the State of Michigan – lots of fresh milk and eggs is still out there to confiscate and destroy.
We really need to do all we can to get these Bureaucratic Bullies out of office.
Currently, much sleep will be lost and money spent on all sides to wrestle in this boggy foggy middle. I am sure that in CA, our regulators would probable act much the same was as Michigan. They are rule enforcers. They act by the word of law. In this case food law. they are given very little wiggle room. That is what life in the pigeon hole is….it is a regulatory and statute driven life and reality.
The sooner that the cow share and egg share and pig meet share and farm people figuer this out the sooner there will be some peace. Until then…lots of hurt and pain.
I would take a really different approach. I would meet with the regulators after taking a very close look at the states constiution and present them with the legal basis for owning your own farm or owning your own cow etc. Then tell them right up front that the operation is doing business to serve its owners. Have the discussions with the constitution laying on the table right in front of all of the parties. Figuer out the problems first among adults and then go do the business. An assumption that the regulators will act in a certain way under ignorant or certain conditions is truly a dangerous assumption. In this life you get what you can negotiate. Start negotiating before the crisis and perhaps there will be no crisis. Perhaps there may even be a relationship built and people can work together.
Mark, have you ever heard of a regulator anywhere who has said, “You know, you guys own the animal, and have a contract to prove it, so I think I should butt out.”? I never have. And when farmers have challenged the regulators in court, the judges have always backed the regulators. The only disputed cases that have been won by farmers have been won because juries decided in the farmers’ favor (in Minnesota and Wisconsin). (Actually, a judge did back Michael Schmidt in Canada once, but he was quickly put in his place by appeals judges all the way up the line.)
Regulators are never, ever, going to voluntarily give up control because their jobs depend on them keeping control. The minute they start giving up control, they invite a question from legislators: If that doesn’t need regulating, what do we need you guys here for? And don’t bother bringing the constitution along–the regulators won’t even look at it, will tell you to show it to the judges. (Like the cops who arrest you and, when you object, tell you, “Tell it to the judge.”) Cooperation is a nice idea, and can work when regulators decide that it’s more of a pain to be a jerk, but don’t expect regulators to actually give up power and control as part of the cooperative deal. They’ll just pull back because it makes their lives easier.
To Bill Lynch and Milklob–I understand your frustration. But I know of only two ways to turn the tough situation around in Michigan. One way is for the shareholders to come grab their food right after it is put into seizure. In the case of My Family Co-Op, the window of opportunity was last weekend, when the food was sitting at the co-op under seizure. Members could have come and cut the tape and taken their food and challenged the regulators to stop them. I guarantee you they wouldn’t have, just like they didn’t when members took their food three years ago from John Moody’s food club in Kentucky. The regulators won’t dare mess with voters who will complain like hell to the politicians. But the members of My Family Co-Op, for whatever reason, declined do that last weekend.
The second way to change the situation would be for the farmer or co-op owner to cut the tape, and distribute the seized food….and invite the regulators via the district attorney to file criminal charges. Then go in front of a jury and make your case, like Vernon Hershberger in Wisconsin and Alvin Schlangen in Minnesota. They both got acquittals. Last weekend, no one was willing to do that in Michigan as well.
I assumed, as stated in my post, that everyone associated with My Family Co-Op decided to work within the confines of Michigan’s policies/laws/traditions, which are workable so long as you accept the limitations (no cream or butter, and various other decrees about labeling as such according to the regulators’ whims).
Other opportunities for resistance will likely arise in Michigan. It will be up to the owners of the food and/or the farmers producing the food or, ideally, all working together, to decide if the heat from the regulators is stifling enough to put a stop to it. The real power rests with the people–they just have to decide if they are willing to use their power.
Actually, now that you mention it, when Wisconsin regulators red-tagged Vernon Hershberger’s food in 2010, they allowed the Hershberger family to remove some of the food for “personal use.” I guess that’s permitted since it’s not for sale….or maybe that’s just regulators’ version of “heart.”
Conflicting Science on the Safety of Genetically Modified Food
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KO463X6uPLw
Joseph, the video you link to of Sheldon Krimsky’s lecture is fascinating on several counts….including the different views between Europe and the U.S. on GMOs, but also because of the insider view it provides of the scientific publishing process. And certainly we have much the same theme song playing out with raw milk–repeated suggestions that there is no evidence of its health benefits, flying in the face of large-scale studies that say the opposite. Thanks for sharing.
http://host.madison.com/wsj/business/life-has-been-good-for-raw-milk-farmer-since-winning/article_22cbdbf9-32ae-5db0-90bd-d7bdca832ebb.html
I also wonder why after so many statements from Michigan Health Authorities that confinement milk is just as healthy as raw milk from pastoral land, that they are not proud of showing confinement type cow facilities. Why hide it if it’s so great?
To: Kevin Besey, Director, Food and Dairy Division
cc: Tim Slawinski, Compliance Manager
cc: Bill Schuette, Michigan Attorney General
Dear Mr. Besey, Mr. Slawinski, and Mr. Schuette,
Thank you for your response to my e-mail of 7/19/14 which expressed concerns about MDARD’s seize order against Jenny Samuelson/My Family Co-Op. Your statement did not address all my questions so I will repeat the unanswered questions here, along with a couple of new ones prompted by the statement.
1. If MDARD had a question about licensing, why did you not first reach out Ms. Samuelson by telephone, letter, or a request for a meeting? Why was your first action to have an MDARD agent conduct a lengthy inspection on the My Family Co-Op truck while it was making deliveries and then place a seize order on the freezers? Why did you order the thousands of dollars of seized food dumped? This was a questionable use of taxpayer resources as well as an appalling waste of fresh, wholesome food.
2. The herdshare policy developed with the Fresh, Unprocessed Whole Milk Workgroup cites the following regulations:
Section MCL 288.538 (from Grade A Milk Law of 2001 Article VI which is titled “Pasteurized milk and milk products offered for sale; requirements”)
Section MCL 288.696 (from Manufacturing Milk Law of 2001 Article 13 which is titled “Pasteurized milk and dairy products; sale; processing as low-acid foods”)
Section MCL 289.6140 (from Food Law of 2000 Chapter VI which is titled “Standards for Food Establishments”)
These regulations do not apply to herdshares, which neither offer dairy for sale, nor serve the public as food establishments. Therefore, please explain how “products such as butter, yogurt, cheeses, etc.” are “subject to applicable MDARD laws and regulations” (as quoted from the herdshare policy). I have read all three laws in their entirety (Grade A Milk Law of 2001; Milk Manufacturing Law of 2001; and Food Law of 2000) and cannot find any applicable laws and regulations. Perhaps I’ve missed something. If so, kindly point me to the relevant laws and regulations.
3. My fellow herdshare members and I are eager to collaborate with the state of Michigan in developing a mutually satisfactory approach to the private distribution of raw dairy. I would be glad to meet with you in person to discuss this.
4. Please drop all charges and fines against Jenny Samuelson/My Family Co-Op.
I would appreciate follow-up communication by telephone, e-mail, or postal mail regarding these questions. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Yours truly,
Shana Milkie
Japaraino, there is no reason members of My Family Co-Op can’t encourage Jenny to deliver your cream. So long as you are all united in your determination to engage in nonviolent resistance. You can’t know in advance how the government will react–whether agents will stand back, seek arrest of members or Jenny, seek criminal charges, etc. But so long as you are committed to stand with each other regardless, you have a good chance of prevailing. Here is an update on the Vernon Hershberger situation, which is comparable in some ways to your situation in Michigan. http://host.madison.com/wsj/business/life-has-been-good-for-raw-milk-farmer-since-winning/article_22cbdbf9-32ae-5db0-90bd-d7bdca832ebb.html
It does appear that the FDA has once again failed to respond to the Citizens Petition with in the 180 days required by statute. Once again…it appears that a legal action by Writ of Mandamus will be required to compell a response by the FDA. The 500 page Citizens Petition is filled with international studies, domestic test data from RAWMI LISTED producers, and all sorts of comparative risk analysis performed showing that raw milk is truly a low risk food. We even refer to the CDC and its very own listeria data showing no illnesses associated with USA produced raw fluid milk and all of the recent deaths from pasteurized dairy products and listeria ! Included is the published QMRA studies from Canada clearly showing raw milk as a low risk food.
As a clear indication of constructive progress, I sent the chief of the FDA dairy food safety a very nice letter today requesting a meeting. The subject of the meeting was to initiate a serious dialogue of contructive progress in an effort to allow raw milk to be delivered over state lines under an FDA pilot test program. Walid tells me that the FDA does not regulate his raw camels milk and it legally flows all over America. Both Camels milk and cows milk are mammals milk….both carry similiar risks. Raw Camels milk does not require a warning label??? It seems to me that the FDA is quite arbitrary in its enforcement against one mammal verses another mammal milk.
It is my hope that I can meet with high level FDA representatives this fall and at least try and start a constructive dialogue towards a future of high standards and low risk raw milk. The FDA does not need to like raw milk or drink raw milk or even agree with raw milk in order to fairly regulate raw milk. Even our friends in Australia and New Zealand have opened up dialogue with their FDA like agencies and now are working on the details of how raw milk can more freely flow to their citizens.
As an America….I hate to see the Aussies and the Kiwis getting ahead of us Yankees. After all, RAWMI has the protocols, testing standards, track record and hard data to prove that raw milk can be produced as a low risk food…it is time to make some food peace and lead in this world. I hope that the FDA seizes on this opportunity to really shine and get out front. If not…we will soon be talking in front of another federal judge with an extremely compelling argument. Especially considering that pasteurized fluid milk sales in the USA dropped by 4.3% last year in spite of Got Milk? and huge funding of national sales campaigns and milk mustaches on movie stars. Bottom line….fluid pasteurized milk is the most allergenic food in America and it is hard to digest. Dollar voting says it all. Mean while digestible, low risk, delicious, non allergenic raw milk sales sky rocket with farmers and their consumers winning!!
One look at Wallstreet and Deans Foods, the largest processor of fluid pasteurized milk in America, is closing 8-12 plants out of their 80 pasteurized fluid plants. If that does not signal change….nothing does!! Heres hoping for peace and a conversation.
http://www.retailleader.com/top-story-industry_news-dean_foods_to_close_8_to_12_plants-2484.html
And btw cut it back to 499 pages, it might be more efficient.
Everyone should read this because there’s a lesson to be learned here.
[quote]
Washington is expanding its power by turning state governments into instruments of federal policy.
[end qu
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/07/the-federal-takeover-of-state-governments/375270/