By Dr. Mercola
State regulatory agencies are increasingly targeting and
prosecuting peaceful farmers who provide fresh, healthful food
to ready and willing co-op members. Said one buying club member
regarding Alvin Schlangen, one of the latest farmers to face
charges:1
“It is downright disturbing that the state I call
home would spend any time or resources prosecuting a
peaceful man for essentially picking up groceries for me.
It is a travesty to what I once called the Justice
System to even bring charges … for these alleged ‘crimes’;
and if he is found guilty on any of the charges, it will be
beyond tragic on so many levels.”
This is a tragic situation, indeed, as well as a serious
threat to your ability to purchase food from small, independent
farmers.
Minnesota Farmer Threatened with Jail Time for
Providing Wholesome Food
The latest trial against Schlangen took place in mid-August.
He was already prosecuted once before, in September
2012, for similar charges of delivering food to members of a
private buying club (Schlangen is an organic egg farmer, but
also picks up other fresh foods, including
raw milk, from other
small farmers and delivers the goods to members).
In the September trial, Schlangen was found not guilty.
In the more recent trial, however, jurors found Schlangen guilty
of all five charges (criminal misdemeanors), including:
- Operating without a food handler's license
- Storing eggs at temperatures above the mandated 45
degrees
- Distributing adulterated or misbranded food
- Violating a food embargo
- Selling custom processed meat
He was only sentenced for the first charge, however, and
while he faced up to 15 months in jail and a $5,000 fine, he was
only fined $300 plus court fees. The judge then fined him
$1,000, but suspended $700 of it. Further, he was given one year
on probation, and if the probation is violated he will have to
serve 90 days in jail.
In order to comply with the probation, he may have to stop
his food deliveries, putting his members’ supplies of wholesome
food, including raw milk, at risk. Said Pete Kennedy, head of
the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund (FTCLDF):
“It is notable that he was only sentenced for one of
five counts. That action shows the whole case was about
control. The state doesn’t like food being provided in a
private contractual agreement.”
Second Small Farmer Facing Jail Time in Minnesota
Another small farmer, Michael Hartmann, is being accused of
selling raw milk that led to an outbreak of E. coli in Minnesota
in 2010. His trial is planned for later this year, and it’s one
to keep watching.
The state alleges they had proof that Hartmann’s products –
which include raw milk, cheese and yogurt – were the source of
the outbreak, but Hartmann maintains the allegations are false.
While Minnesota authorities say they found the E. coli strain
O157:H7 in victims and at Hartmann’s farm, the latter was mainly
in cow manure samples; officials had not actually found the
bacteria in any of Hartmann’s products.
Wisconsin, Michigan Also Targeting Peaceful Farmers
If you’re sensing a pattern, it’s because there are not one
but a handful of states that are aggressively targeting raw milk
and other small farmers, seeking to criminalize their methods of
food production.
Wisconsin dairy farmer Vernon Hershberger was among the
latest targets, charged earlier this year with four criminal
misdemeanors for supplying a private buying club with raw milk
and other fresh produce. He was acquitted of three of the four
charges and ended up with a fine in lieu of jail time. FTCLDF is
appealing the jury verdict of the fourth charge on claims that
key information was withheld that would have exonerated him.
Small farmers raising
heritage-breed hogs are also being targeted, particularly in
the state of Michigan. In one case against farmer Mark Baker of
Baker's Green Acres, who raises Mangalitsa "wooly" hogs, the
Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR), through the
Michigan Attorney General, is asking the judge to impose fines
of $700,000 for his 70 “illegal” pigs. Baker, however, is
fighting back and has filed suit against the state of Michigan
for loss of livelihood.
Who Do YOU Trust to Provide Healthful Food?
The war against raw milk and other small farmers is clearly
an issue of government and big business trying to interfere with
your right to access pure food from the producers of your
choice. While the state officials try to make it sound as though
they’re ‘protecting’ the public from unsafe foods, they are,
instead, keeping wholesome foods out of the hands of
the families that wish to purchase and consume them.
While the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warns that
raw milk, for instance, can carry disease-causing bacteria, what
they completely overlook is the fact that these bacteria are the
result of industrial farming practices that lead to
diseased animals, which may then in turn produce contaminated
milk. They make no distinction whatsoever between
disease-riddled milk from CAFOs (concentrated animal feeding
operations) and the milk from clean, healthy grass-fed cows.
And it cannot be ignored that the local farmer-to-consumer
model is not very beneficial to the big corporations, as they
have brought the farmers’ share of many of these products down
to less than 7 cents to the dollar in the retail market.
Manufacturers, distributors and retailers are taking the
majority of the profits from the farmer's labor when you
purchase industrially produced foods. It’s really nothing more
than strong-arm tactics aimed at shutting down the competition,
under the guise of ‘protecting public health.’
It’s Time to Stand Up for Your Food Freedom
The fight for food freedom isn’t just for those who love raw
milk – it’s for everyone who wants to be able to obtain the food
of their choice from the source of their choice. Now raw milk
and cheese, organic eggs and heritage-breed pigs are being
targeted and there’s no telling what other small-farm, niche
foods may be next. So please, get involved! I urge you to
embrace the following action plan to protect your right to
choose your own foods:
- Get informed: Visit
www.farmtoconsumer.org or
click here to sign up for action alerts.
- Join the fight for your rights: The
Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund (FTCLDF) is the only
organization of its kind. This 501(c)(4) nonprofit
organization provides a legal defense for farmers who are
being pursued by the government for distributing foods
directly to consumers. Your
donations, although not tax deductible, will be used to
support the litigation, legislative, and lobbying efforts of
the FTCLDF. For a summary of FTCLDF’s activities in 2012,
see
this link.
- Support your local farmers: Buy from
local farmers, not the industry that is working with the
government to take away your freedoms.
© Copyright 1997-2013 Dr. Joseph Mercola. All Rights Reserved.