Federal and state teams arrest people at gunpoint, destroy food, and seize assets—all because they’re afraid of unpasteurized milk and cheese. Please don’t let them trample the Constitution this way—a new Action Alert!
On August 2, there was an armed raid on Rawesome Foods in Venice, California, conducted jointly by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office, the FDA, the Department of Agriculture, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. You may recall that we reported about a similar FDA raid on the same co-op last year.
Mike Adams, editor of NaturalNews.com, broke the story last week, and we thank him for his excellent and continuing coverage of this issue. He reports that armed teams were deployed with guns drawn, law enforcement ordered all co-op members out of the store, seized all the cash in the register, then handcuffed the co-op’s founder, James Stewart, and placed him in an unmarked car without reading him hist rights.
Then authorities seized $70,000 in raw organic food—raw milk, cheese, yogurt, and fresh produce—and poured an estimated 800 gallons of milk down the drain, though there was no evidence that any of the products were contaminated.
Two others were arrested as well: Sharon Palmer, owner of Healthy Family Farms, and Victoria Bloch, the LA County liaison for the Weston A. Price Foundation. They were charged with the production and sale of unpasteurized goat milk, goat cheese, and other products without the proper permit; and with “mislabeling cheese.” They were also charged with four counts of conspiracy to commit a crime.
Unpasteurized dairy products are legal in California, but the Los Angeles District Attorney says that applicable licenses and permits are required. This is a specious claim. As Mike Adams points out, Rawesome does not need a license because it is not a public store, but rather a private club or co-op whose members actually own a percentage of the cows, goats, and farms that produce the raw dairy. The state of California is trying to regulate it as a public grocery store, when it is instead a private buyers’ club. The facility is used only as a distribution point for the products that the members already own.
All three of those arrested have been released from jail after posting bail, but only on condition that they give up their First Amendment rights and refrain from talking to anyone about the case—specifically, from communicating in any way, verbally or nonverbally, about the government raids conducted against them.
The public has responded with outrage. A public protest was held in front of the LA County Courthouse; this, together with the global attention the raid has caused, may have been responsible for the swift reduction in James Stewart’s bail—from $123,000 down to $30,000.
Bye-bye, Constitutional Rights?
The raid places a spotlight on the constitutional right of bodily autonomy. Do we have the right to decide what we eat? As the Supreme Court observed more than a century ago, “No right is held more sacred, or is more carefully guarded, by the common law, than the right of every individual to the possession and control of his own person, free from all restraint or interference of others, unless by clear and unquestionable authority of law.” And Justice Cardozo wrote in 1914, “Every human being of adult years and sound mind has a right to determine what shall be done with his own body.”
The FDA’s position is that people do not have the constitutional right to eat what they want. In response to a lawsuit by the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense (FCLD) Fund, the FDA made the following outrageous statements:
- “Plaintiffs’ assertion of a new ‘fundamental right’ to produce, obtain, and consume unpasteurized milk lacks any support in law.
- “There is no ‘deeply rooted’ historical tradition of unfettered access to foods of all kinds.”
- “Plaintiffs’ assertion of a ‘fundamental right to their own bodily and physical health, which includes what foods they do and do not choose to consume for themselves and their families,’ is similarly unavailing because plaintiffs do not have a fundamental right to obtain any food they wish.”
However, the US Constitution restricts the government from infringing on the rights of the people—so controlling what people eat, even through legislation, is an overreach of government power. In addition, it can be argued that health freedom—and the right to eat what we wish—is embedded in the ideas of privacy and personal autonomy protected by the 14th Amendment.
Government and Big Food
FDA justifies its actions from a food safety perspective. But virtually any food can contain harmful pathogens. In fact, you are 35,000 times more likely to get sick from other (FDA-protected) foods than you are from raw milk. Raw milk has been conclusively shown to be both safe and healthy.
The truth is, the FDA and other federal agencies are being motivated by the interests of Big Food—and in this case, the interests of the dairy industry. Once again, we see crony capitalism at work. The USDA has an entire marketing arm called Diary Management that actively pushes the sale of pasteurized cheese and milk.
This is merely the latest skirmish in the FDA’s long war against raw milk producers and small business owners. ANH-USA is working on a legislative approach that will buttress a right to health freedom, but for now, please read our new Action Alert. Congressman Ron Paul’s HR 1830 would authorize the interstate traffic of unpasteurized milk and milk products packaged for direct human consumption. Please contact your representative and senators today!
|
TO SEND YOUR MESSAGE TO CONGRESS |
The only problem with unpasteurized milk is undulant fever, aka brucellosis. That’s where I disagree with Dr. Mercola and others.
Uh, Bob, the cows that are used to produce raw milk and cheese are routinely tested for the brucellosis virus. Typical dairy farms (as well as all beef producers) dose their animals with massive doses of anti-bacterial serums (mostly unnecessary and uncalled for as well as growth hormones and in the case of dairy cows feed that includes ground up meats from the slaughter). The milk that is the question of this article is likely of much higher nutritional content as well as more likely not to contain harmful chemicals than any factory farm produced milk.
I don’t see what this has to do with the legality of it. Undercooked or raw meat can cause the same thing, but it’s not illegal to sell or consume. Cigarettes and alcohol can do much worse in a more predictable way. These are all recommended against – but not illegal – so that consumers can make their own decisions.
while I agree that brucellosis is a disease that can’t be dismissed, I wonder why it was necessary for men armed with automatic weapons to invade a “natural food co-op” in Venice beach. Couldn’t they have simply sent an inspector?
I milked cows for 8 years and came to favor raw milk. I no longer drink milk as it loses its flavor (and Dr Mercola say’s it nutritional value) when pasteurized. With today’s ability to keep milk at temperatures that inhibit bacterial growth I find the idea that folks can not avail themselves of a raw and nourishing food a bit troublesome. They know the risks and should be allowed to take them. Before Pasteur, when refrigeration had yet to be invented, concerns about bacterial contamination (though nobody understood micro-biology) were real.
When IBP sent contaminated beef into the food supply that killed several people why didn’t the “authorities” send men armed with automatic weapons to deal with that problem? Even today people die every year from e.coli every year but no gun toting FDA people ever seem to do anything.
In this case no complaint was lodged and no one got sick, so WHY the need for the threat of violence? The issue here is individual freedom to access whole raw foods. Considering the quality of the foods available in grocery’s today I think that it’s APPALLING what was done here.
A cheep shot at humble simple folks makes these “protectors of our health” look rude and stupid at best. It’s time that we all take a look at what is being done here and WHY. Wake-up people and reassert our rights to choose whatever foods we wish to eat.
I for one am sickened by this event.
Shame shame shame
Edward Kerr
It seems to me that that FDA and other authorities believe it is alright for the bog agriculture busniess and drug companies to posion us because they choose to profit and spread the worth around political groups, but the citizen has no rights except that they most get their needs fulfilled by these businesses. It is time to remind all governemnt authoities where their precieved power comes from.
This happened again there? I don’t understand the guns. I would like you guys to clarify what are the necessary permits that Rawesome does not possess. Do these armed guys all have white mustaches? It all sounds so violent and wrong and also, the combination of guns drawn because of dairy, sounds hilarious. By whose authority did they storm the place? Who approved the warrants?
Strictly speaking of raw dairy, I am aware that pasteurization ruins dairy’s digestibility by the heat killing the enzymes. And, I know, that Pasteur stated this at the end of his life. Why are facts not being listened to? How can the Dairy lobby be so powerful? This whole thing baffles me.
The FDA is overstepping there boundary’s this just burns me up. What is next you can not eat tomatoes grown With out insecticides. Big Brother is a Mess and they Need to be regulated. Our rights are being taken away right before our eyes. There was no reason for anyone to be arrested.
I live in MT where it is illegal to sell and to buy raw milk, unless you own the cow. So 5 years ago I bought a cow so I could enjoy raw milk, but I would love to see the restrictions against raw milk removed, and a raw dairy certification process established, so that consumers can trust the quality and safety of the raw milk they buy.
Ever since I switched to raw milk, my digestion has improved, my allergies have decreased, and in general, I feel in better health than I have in 30 years.
What a shame our constitutional right to such a healthful food has been taken from us so that Big Dairy can monopolize the milk market.
Neither the FDA nor any other governmental agency should have the authority to decide what choices of food are allowed by Americans.
We have long needed to revamp the directives of the FDA. Congress has a responsibility to assure that the public good is protected. Freedom of choice is public good. I will decide what food is good for me. I will decide where I get my information. The FDA has been proven to be a questionable authority, to say the least. The health of all Americans depends upon Congress defending our rights.
Unpasteurized milk can cause undulant fever, aka brucellosis.
A big fish “can cause” me to be swollowed whole, but it doesn’t mean that it will.
Where are the statistics on the incidence of brucellosis from drinking raw milk? Did you know that the majority of factory-farmed meat is contaminated with pathogens, including antibiotic-resistant ones? People are given the choice to consume dangerous products like cigarettes, alcohol, etc. with a warning label. Why not do the same for milk?
Pasteurized milk can cause disease as well–and was the cause of death of several people in Massachusetts several years ago. Careless methods allow diseases to flourish in dairy animals and in dairy products.
Raw milk produced *conscientiously* for human consumption from cows feeding on their natural food–green grass–does not harbor dangerous pathogens. My kids and I have been drinking raw milk from our local farmer for 10 years without incident–except that the three of us were able to resist a stomach bug that took down each one of the other members of my larger family last year.
The brazen attempt to harm the very people that are striving to help so many people regain their health is an outrage. It defies all rational attempts to understand it. I understand, though, from my reading in the fields of psychology and sociology, this kind of extreme attempt to provoke outrage is in fact typical of rule by psychopathic personalities. They turn justice on its head, because they find justice in itself offensive. It is a tragic outcome of good times, in which people let their guard down and allow the wrong people to acquire power. When they have acquired enough power to be secure, the pretense of normality is dropped and a reign of terror ensues. I still hope people can wake up and do something about it, but most likely we have to let the disease run its self-limiting course , consigning us to the freak show of history. Get out of there if you can, keep your head low if you can’t. The outcome may be economic collapse or military defeat. The people ruling us do not care about the future.
why is there a question mark after “Bye-bye, Constitutional Rights?” If this is still in doubt then I guess we need to sit around and wait for more of this Nazi bullying from “our” government until we are clear that we have no more constitution. It’s GONE. Our rights are gone. Does anybody get it?
this is not to say that i approve of the tactics used.
The owners need to get a lawyer and see about suing the government agencies that did the arresting. What they did was very wrong and sounds like they were following someone elses orders. hmmm Not good. The co-op has rights, too.
How about a gunless Raid on Pharma for producing toxins for human bodies? Sounds reasonable to me.
This story about Federal agents, etc. drawing their guns on health food establishments must go to the Federal Court! No rights read? This in itself is a major “no-no.” I am outraged as I imagine many readers are. I had no idea that this sort of thing was done by FDA and all their goon-idiots who folow the FDA rules to get a paycheck. They should be ashamed! They all need to be taken to court and made accountable for their actions. Things like this should NEVER happen in the United States!
But it does happen! I heard of a small bread company who made wholesome fresh bread and they had the same thing happen to them so many times it bankrutpted them. It’s not about food, it’s about keeping wellness from the people. Something to think about… our world has already changed! We loose our guns and we are in deeper trouble.
I have the right to choose any food I wish to eat without interference from the FDA. No one has died from raw milk or cheese, But plenty have died from pharmacuticals approved by the FDA.
The milk approved by FDA, commercial milk is tainted with many chemicals, go after them. Leave us alone.
You could not have stated it better that the FDA has been no safeguard against our being poisoned by Big Pharma and the food supply which allows for MSG in products, artificial colorings and flavorings, hydroginated oils, high fructose corn syrup to name a few of the noxious items that debilitate our physical health. The FDA regulates what it shouldn’t and doesn’t regulate what it should. Typical of incompetence, malfeasance and waste by bureaucrats. But they are messing with their own lives as well as ours in delayed self-immolation. Count me out! Where I can, I will continue to look for raw milk cheese products.
We as a people are giving up our rights to the wealthy. If we want to drink a curtain milk, the wealthy stops us, but not for our own good, but for their power over us.. How long will we be subdued like in the 10th Century? But considering the wealthy have us divided, we must just take their crap. I guess we are just too unenlightened.
Very sad that this is happening. My husband and I were just having a conversation about how we could find unpasteurized milk in our area and then I read this. I know that the FDA and the pharmaceutical companies are controlling our life and forcing us to get vaccines, but I never realized that the FDA was doing this with the food industry – a true eye opeiner.
”If people let government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls of those who live under tyranny.” -Thomas Jefferson
please stop this, it is unfair and unjust.
The FDA started their tyranny in the early 80s on the American people with the green light for aspartame. At this point the FDA will represent any large corporation that will bring money in, over the interests or the health of the American people. They are way out of control and need to be stopped!
I found a petition at change.org , that is another small way to get our voices heard by Congress, (once the petition has enough signatures). The petition’s name is the FDA vs The people of the United States of America and the web address is
http://www.change.org/petitions/fda-vs-the-people-of-united-states-of-america
Let the farmers and people sell their products , keep the FDA and other govt agencies out
of one of the last few perfectly legal enterprises alone. Stop the aggression toward the
hard working people who make up this country. A relative who raises chickens had to
stop selling the eggs because of the strict guidelines presented to her. She sold the
chickens and just stopped everything. But, we , fortunately still for now have the right to
vote.
Let the farmers and people sell their products , keep the FDA and other govt agencies out
of one of the last few perfectly legal enterprises alone. Stop the aggression toward the
hard working people who make up this country. A relative who raises chickens had to
stop selling the eggs because of the strict guidelines presented to her. She sold the
chickens and just stopped everything. But, we , fortunately still for now have the right to
vote.
Let the farmers and people sell their products , keep the FDA and other govt agencies out
of one of the last few perfectly legal enterprises alone. Stop the aggression toward the
hard working people who make up this country. A relative who raises chickens had to
stop selling the eggs because of the strict guidelines presented to her. She sold the
chickens and just stopped everything. But, we , fortunately still for now have the right to
vote.
Let the farmers and people sell their products , keep the FDA and other govt agencies out
of one of the last few perfectly legal enterprises alone. Stop the aggression toward the
hard working people who make up this country. A relative who raises chickens had to
stop selling the eggs because of the strict guidelines presented to her. She sold the
chickens and just stopped everything. But, we , fortunately still for now have the right to
vote.
Let the farmers and people sell their products , keep the FDA and other govt agencies out
of one of the last few perfectly legal enterprises alone. Stop the aggression toward the
hard working people who make up this country. A relative who raises chickens had to
stop selling the eggs because of the strict guidelines presented to her. She sold the
chickens and just stopped everything. But, we , fortunately still for now have the right to
vote.
Let the farmers and people sell their products , keep the FDA and other govt agencies out
of one of the last few perfectly legal enterprises alone. Stop the aggression toward the
hard working people who make up this country. A relative who raises chickens had to
stop selling the eggs because of the strict guidelines presented to her. She sold the
chickens and just stopped everything. But, we , fortunately still for now have the right to
vote.
EVERYDAY I read about a NEW tactic the govt and BIG giants are using to take over every freedom we have. To say we cant eat what we want????? IM SO SICK OF THE GREED!!! WE the People need to get these greedy SOBs out and take back our govt, because soon we will be charged just for breathing the air..arent they trying to tax because of carbon monoxide emmissions by people and cows already???? Im so done with the govt.
Thanks for your articles!!
I just wanted to say I am very glad to know what is going on I didn’t realize just how much the FDA is trying to trample ou rights. Also I have the utmost respect for Congressman Ron Paul he is truly a man for the people.
Dairy farmers and the cows themselves are made felons by this outrageous law. The FDA should be protecting us from GMOs and pesticides, not unpasturized milk. California might as well outlaw organic almonds . . . oh, wait; they have.
I went and read Title 21, It doesn’t give them jurisdiction over anything except Federal Territories. The states are not Territories, The only other way they get authority over a farms or business is if it is registered. This action needs to put to a halt, for lack of jurisdiction, Article 1 section 8 gives that info
Congressman Ron Paul’s HR 1830 bill is misdirected. There is no need to “authorize the interstate traffic of unpasteurized milk and milk products packaged for direct human consumption.” There is no need or purpose for a law that permits an activity that is already permitted. Congresman Paul should be demanding an Congressional investigation of the actions of those involved.
There is a definite need for Congress, state lawmakers and law enforcement to follow the Constitution. Congress, in particular, has been ignoring the Constitution for decades. They have taken many liberties with the guidelines of the Constitution. Administrative garnishment is one big issue that Congress has authorized. It is absurd to allow a garnishment of property without the creditor first having proven their claim in a court of law.
Congress has written laws that are intended to protect us from ourselves when there is no mandate in the Constitution to do so.
Congress has spent billions of dollars bailing out failing companies when such action is neither permitted nor encouraged by the Constitution.
Congress has put the government in the lending business through many programs intended to help various groups such as farmers, home owners and buyers, small business owners, students and other groups. This is not to be found in the intent of the Constitution in any way.
Lyle
While I am a proponent of the idea that there are collective ramifications to using our right to food autonomy in choosing to eat unhealthy foods that the federal government in its deliberations and regulations cannot and should not ignore, this is a case of corporate America wearing the government as a hand-puppet. Good regulation is the kind that says you can’t dump PCBs in a river so it will catch fire, or have to put a bolt every 5 inches in a plane fuselage so the wings don’t rattle the plane in half. Bad regulation is when you can’t have raw dairy or just take some garlic pills instead of fried dairy and Lipitor because Kraft and Dow paid us a bazillion dollars.
Sadly, since so many seem so unwilling to admit that the cost of good governance and civil society is taxes, and so few who have done so well in these 40 neoliberal years (and increasingly should because they just don’t) are willing to pay, the people who wind up paying the difference often have sinister strings attached.
This is no different than the government not allowing ranchers to sell the meat of their horses. Horses are private property and we should be able to decide their final destination. We plan for foals, wait impatiently for their birth, spend years training them and many more years enjoying their company. But, we are not allowed to decide their final fate. Where are our rights to private property?
Leave our food alone; we know what we want to eat and drink. I would like to tell them what to eat.
As a foreigner I cannot write to my representative in Congress alas! It is dreadfull to see how the “Bigs” have largely colonised the USA. I strongly sympathize with your efforts. H.G. van der Waals
Wow.. outrageous! This cooping is something that should be encouraged. Raw milk is nature’s perfect food. Do the research! For the government to try to act like this is silly and unfounded.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/8684431/Why-shouldnt-we-drink-raw-milk.html
Why shouldn’t we drink raw milk?
Quote from the article:
“The latest attempt is launched by Dairy UK, the association representing the producers and processors of 85 per cent of the milk sold in Britain. Dairy UK has demanded that the Food Standards Agency (FSA) ban the sale of unpasteurised milk, citing food safety and the “safe image of dairy products”. ”
Is this coincidence or organized?
This is dictatorship, not regulation.
Time to spread word widely and wake the people up.
i love my country. i fear my government.
This happened with Amish producers lately too. I don’t understand how you can’t see that this is the result of elections for persons that think they can take care of you better than you can take care of yourself. The NANNY STATE. This is what happens when you try to regulate everything and don’t give people the right to govern themselves. Elections have consequences. Stop voting party line and educate yourself. Does the party/person you vote for stand for more government control/regulation or less? Do you expect the government to take care of you? If so, you better not be surprised when this kind of thing happens.
And we used to be afraid of the Communists!
Like Pogo said, “I have met the enemy and he is us.” (Hope I’m quoting correctly.)
It is amazing to see how prescient Dr. Benjamin Rush has proved to be!
The medical “tyranny”, he foresaw 135 years ago, has truly come to be.
IT IS PROVEN FACT THAT IF YOU A CALF NOTHING BUT PASTURIZED MILK FOR A MONTH THE CALF WILL DIE.
all milk from cows is not good for your body even the kind they sell! at all brand name stores quit drinking it and use soy cocunut and almond it’s a much better design
FDA leave the coop alone you are noty god!
I am outraged at this recent government abuse against a co-op. This is another way the FDA is in bed with big business. Monsanto and the FDA have a long very cooperative relationship going and look how they have put a large percentage of individual farmers out of business and the quality of food that is available at the supermarkets for us to eat. There is so much corn produced that the “corn mafia” has put corn in everything we eat directly or indirectly. We are feeding corn to cows, pigs, and now fish for God’s sake. And Monsanto & the FDA is behind all of this.
How do we get to police who gets to work for the FDA. It seems that a large number of FDA employees have worked for large food corporations, in particular Monsanto, so that they are policing themselves. Why are we not able to change this? Do politicians not understand this? Are they looking the other way? Is everyone in our government bought?
also, i used to live in Venice. the thought of armed barbarians intruding on a natural food store makes me want to dig out my old “Free Venice” button with the dove breaking the chains.
Besides raw milk let us not forget that our right to decide what foods we want to eat is also denied to us by the lobbyists of the genetic modification companies such as Monsanto, which have prevented the labeling of GMO foods. Without labeling, our only defense against GMO foods is to choose organic foods which may be unavailable or too expensive.
All foods contain some risk, whether from disease, contamination, or spoilage. I believe that when the above article states that “Raw milk has been conclusively shown to be both safe and healthy.” The author is referring to the degree of safety expected from anything else we eat, not trying to make a claim of absolute 100% safety.
Yes, raw milk can cause brucellosis, and also some regional diseases which are rare. However if I choose to subject myself to that risk it is none of anyone else’s business. My body, my choice.
From experience, it appears that objecting to proposed legislation, abusive government activity or even contacting congressmen or government officials to voice an opinion contrary to their agendas only brings the objecting citizen grief and government persecusion.
Open response to the so called authorities:
Are you stupid or something? Mind your own business! If you knew anything about unpasturized products you would know that they are safer and healthier then anything that is processed by the big food corporations. We don’t pay you to raid smart people who are in the business of providing healthy products to people who are actually trying to be healthy. And, in case you don’t know, this state is now officially in the toilet and we elected you to take care of the REAL PROBLEMS, so why don’t you get off your asses and do the job you are supposed to be doing, for once?
I myself will drink nothing but raw milk, but it is illegal in the USA to buy it so it is almost impossible to get. Anybody can research the benefits of raw milk and the fact that pasturized milk is in fact not healthy at all. The FDA is the most powerful, greedyest, crookedest branch of federal government in this country, and that is saying alot! But what can the average Joe Blow do about it?……..nothing! Which is obvious because they have impossed a ban on raw milk throughout the whole United States which is clearly against the constitution. They have no right to tell the individual person what he/she can eat or not eat! But, they have raided many such situations in the past ( yes, with guns) and they will continue to do so until enough of the american public wakes up and realizes what is happening in this country. It is pretty sad that a branch of our own federal goverment can so blatently defy our constitution and all “our” polititians look the other way.
This is why our Founding Fathers created a constitutional right to bear arms in case of not only governmental intrusion, but any. Look at Switzerland. They do NOT have this problem because ALL young men are requried BY LAW to own a gun and learn to be marksmen. Over 200 years they have been surrounded by countries wanting to invade them but have resisted. Can’t imagine why, but Swiss marksmen are trained to attack the enemy’s superiors. They mean business.
Americans are being pushed further each day with government encroachment. A critical mass is forming so it will be wise for our government to take notice. This applies to both parties. Follow history…it helps us understand the future.
Again Big Brother Looking out for Big Brother Corporate Controlled Government or by and for the Corporattion aka Supreme Court Ruling, Corporations are People.
We are simple sheep or serfs for the slaughter fort heir gain and our expense or very lives
Kick them all out and that includes the crooked supreme court run by corporate cronyism
It seems George Orwell’s 1984 did not go far enough in his predictions
bob Carlson, you miss the point. You are justifying raids on a raw milk organization because one can get sick from it. Constitutional Rights are being violated and you are claiming that it’s for their own good! Raw milk is so rare these days that people that drink raw milk do so knowingly of the risks and accept the risk of getting sick for the benefits of raw milk. Anything can get you sick Bob, but making that an excuse to ignore our Constitutional Rights is outrageous.
I was brought up on raw cows milk. We milked the cow, bought the milk into the house and put it through a separater and got the cream out to use for other things. We bottled the milk and refrigerated it. I never heard of anyone getting undulant fever.
I agree that the FDA is in my opinion a very unreliable authority. They have okayed some very dangerous drugs and unhealthy chemicals to be put into our food which in my opinion is why America is sick. I had heard of 2 cases of cancer by the time I was 36 since that time it’s almost daily. Do these people have no concience? I would like to know what they eat and what do they do when they get diseases. Yes our right to eat what we want has been taken away at gunpoint no less. I thought I was living in the United States of America where people are actually fighting and dying for our freedom – our freedom?
Yours truly,
Jackie
The food police are alive and well. So we can all become overweight zombies eating as directed by the government and good healthy food destroyed. Sometimes I feel like I’m living in one of those futuristic sci-fi novels I used to read long ago. What next? Raiding natural food stores and destroying all supplements? The FDA and the state of California needs to get a grip on reality and allow people to eat and drink what they choose to.
Oh, by the way, growing up on a farm, we ‘shot’ raw milk right into our mouths. So would they come kill your cow if that happened now? We grew up healthy, without a lot of colds and great digestion. But our cows were not fed the crap we feel cattle today.
If people drank raw milk, no one would be ‘lactose intolerant’.
These people need to attack this on two fronts – first is jurisdiction. Did they operate this club on federal land? Or was the land ceeded to the federal government? If not, then the feds were outside their jurisdiction and everyone of the federal officers that participated in the raid can be sued in their personal capacity since they were operating under “color of law” and NOT the law.
Second, was the club participating “in commerce” – that is, were they packging goods to be sold accross state lines? If not, then again the feds were out of line since anything that happens inside a states borders is in the perview of the state government and not the fed.
So, I would bet that a good lawyer worth his fee could get this thrown out at the very least based on jurisdiction alone. And maybe he might even be able to get damages out of Uncle Sam for being the bully in this situation. Heck, if he/she is really good, they might even get an injunction against the FDA keeping tem from doing this kind of stupid, over-reaching activity again…
Of course that’s JMHO…
I was raised on raw goat milk and my mom sold raw milk and eggs straight off the farm for years. We sold the milk as ‘pet food’ because of the FDA regulations of having to operate a grade B dairy in order to sell milk. This was unattainable due to cost. We did test our herd regularly for TB and NEVER had a positive test! We maintained a clean an sterile process with out pasteurization. My family and 100s of others have raised their children on raw goat milk. I in fact weaned own daughter from breast milk onto goat milk from a goat a got from my mom and milked myself. I milked, strained and drank it. I never got sick and my daughter and I never get ill! I also know of many people who came to my mother’s farm seeking the milk for children with lactose problems, open stomach valves, stomach/intestinal caner, ulcers and many other ailments. They all were healed by simply drinking the milk. I think people have become uneducated and have forgotten that their grandparents lived quite well with unpasteurized milk and that many of the milk-transmitted diseases have been contained.
I believe that my family should have the right to raise our own uncontaminated food, (milk, eggs, cheese, veggies, fruit, beef) without government interference!
Rusty Nails can cause tetanus, does this mean we should be forced by law to never walk outside barefoot, instead shouldn’t the emphasis be on keeping the nails out of the street to begin with? I for one prefer shoes, but the argument that people can get sick is simply not merited. People are getting sick by drinking milk that isn’t RAW. I cannot drink any other type of milk and not be sick.
I went 18 years on raw milk with no ill effects. Have hardly touched milk since because it is now so adulterated it’s not fit for human consumption. Bring back the real stuff.
Americans need to be granted the right to vote for director of FDA. Mercola would be a good start.
I’m a naturalized citizen who grew up in Canada, and I can remember when they changed from raw to pasteurized milk. I didn’t like it nearly as much, but my allergies and congestion didn’t really take hold until they started homogenizing it as well. (I may be wrong, but I think in the USA pasteurization and homogenization may have begun at the same time.) Anyway, these days, the only way to get non-homogenized milk is to find raw milk. In addition to fighting for the right to have raw milk, I”d like to see someone petition against the Dairy Industry for homogenizing milk. My brother is a bio-chemist, and he told me that the chemical properties of milk are so changed by homogenization, that chemically speaking, it is no longer milk. Once again, we’re trying to please the ease and doing harm to the body in the process. I was even told recently that researchers are finding that there’s something in raw cow’s milk that may prevent or even cure Parkinson’s Disease. (I have to wonder if Big Pharma knows this and are really trying to take over the raw milk instead of taking it down. It’ll be interesting to see.)
This makes me sick. we nurse our babies because its healthy and they grow strong so here are Goats and cows giving good milk and the FDA makes rules that makes it unhealthy to even drink.
My son-in-law drank milk,got a fungus The Doctor said stop drinking milk and he got well?
Also,How can we change things? It s all a money issue .other countries have done their testing ;but we still cannot use it here Why? years go by and our people die because of it.
Just does not make sense.
They raided the milk place just like they did some alternative doctors years ago and probably still do?
Its just not right.
Hello everyone,
Enjoyed reading all your good and excellent comments. I absolutely agree with all of you in this fight to keep raw milk from going under. In my opinion, I think the FDA should be sighted for their stupidity and wrongness for taking away our right to eat and drink what we want for health reasons, and for trying to take away our right to take supplements to help us from getting sick and to keep us healthy. THE FDA JUST MAKES ME SICK, SOMETIMES I JUST WISH THEY DID NOT EXIST, They just do not understand what good unadulterated healthy food is and the reason why most of us take unadulterated whole food supplements and herbals. I really think the FDA, CDC, and big Pharma want us to be sick, so that we can dance in their hog trough sort of speak, well, they got another guest coming, cause all of us fighting for health freedoms will keep on fighting this good fight until we can wear these idiots down. I for one will not dance in their hog trough and take their dirty little deals lying down, I will do all I can to keep our health freedoms free as possible and keep this fight going. As this song says, WE AS AMERICANS ARE CHAMPIONS. WE ALL NEED TO STAY STRONG IN THIS FIGHT!!!!! DON’T EVER GIVE UP, NO MATTER WHAT. WE CAN WIN THIS BATTLE IN THE LONG RUN. I am a really big advocate of holistic and natural health and faithfully believe in doing things the all natural way. I also knew about this armed raid of the food co-ops from listening to Jonathan Emourd, ( on coast to coast am with show host George Noury this past Wed.) a lawyer that sticks up for organic foods and supplements, and explained the situation. Just makes me sick and disgusted what the FDA is doing in the name of health freedoms. That is my rant for now, like I mentioned, keep on fighting folks, keep on fighting. Everyone, take care and be in good holistic health,
Sincerely,
Michelle r. Taylor
What an outrage! Considering how many outright poisons the FDA supports under the guise of medication, what right do they have to invade privately owned land where hord- working people are producing food for their own use, and destroying perfectly -good milk! What will be next, destruction of co-ops that grow organic vegetables? It looks like the FDA has become the protector of big pharma and not guardian for of We, the people. It is amazing what they are getting away with.
If you are a (non commercial) producer, make it clear that the wholesome things that you may make available to your friends are NOT available to ANYONE who works for the gov’t. This also includes information. This is why it is so important that Codex NOT be implemented here. If it is, i won’t be able to provide the “stuff” that I may gather in the wild to my friends without breaking the law even if I charge them nothing.
I think perhaps the roadside stand will have a lock on it next year.
It’s ironic. The FDA began as a government organization designed to protect people from unsafe business practices. Somewhere over the last 100 years, it became an organization that protects businesses from scientists who question biased research and from people who offer healthy, natural alternatives to Big Pharma and Big Agri. It sanctions unsafe and unhealthy products. It authorizes egregiously unconstitutional raids like the ones at Rawesome Foods. It’s a front for corporate organized crime.
Ever since 9/11, our constitutional rights have been mangled and adulterated. If we had more news organizations that weren’t so subservient to these corporate giants and hidden agendas, more people might realize what’s happening to them. They might wake up.
This is the direct consequence of the revolving door between corporate management, and government agencies. the FDA has no public servants in control of the agency
This is such an important subject our health is under attack I recently started a blog and happily linked to this article. We are trying to build an audience so anyone who has time please check us out
http://organicallythought.com/fda-please-stop-protecting-us
good website!! You should start many more. I love all the info provided. I will stay tuned.
I believe some have missed a huge point. Why did the FDA raid this place with guns? WTH? They were not selling dreaded Hemp Milk for crying outloud. Guns? OMG this country is falling faster than we can keep up.