[amc] Fwd: FAO: the farmers
- From: "Micheal J. Mc Evoy" <chewy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: AMC List <amc@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 10 Mar 2006 09:16:40 -0600
One would think that teh courts would find this as entrapment, but
given the current mood of the ruling party, and the government
generated fear of bio-terrorism and their version of food security,
it's not surprising.
I would expect to see this more and more among the populations that
are not supportive of the NAIS.
>>>>> "Caitriona" == Caitriona <Catherina@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes:
Caitriona>
http://www.the-daily-record.com/article.php?pathToFile=/articles/news/&file=_news1.txt&article=1&tD=
Caitriona> $2 milk sale shuts down farm By MATT TULLIS Staff
Caitriona> Writer
Caitriona>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Caitriona> SALTCREEK TWP. - A dairy farmer has lost his license to
Caitriona> sell milk to cheese manufacturers all because he
Caitriona> accepted a $2 donation for a gallon of fresh milk.
Caitriona> Arlie Stutzman said he was going about his normal
Caitriona> routine on Sept. 20 when someone pulled into his farm
Caitriona> and asked to buy a gallon of milk. Stutzman said he
Caitriona> told the man he would give him milk if he truly needed
Caitriona> it, but it was illegal to sell fresh milk.
Caitriona> "He asked two times (how much it cost), and I named no
Caitriona> price," said Stutzman, an Amish farmer.
Caitriona> Instead, after being pressed by his visitor, Stutzman
Caitriona> told the man he could simply make a donation to the
Caitriona> farm. When asked what would be a proper donation,
Caitriona> Stutzman said "Whatever you think it's worth," court
Caitriona> records show.
Caitriona> The man gave Stutzman $2, retrieved a container from
Caitriona> his car and was given milk.
Caitriona> It turned out the milk-buyer was William Folwarczny, an
Caitriona> undercover agent with the Ohio Department of
Caitriona> Agriculture's enforcement division. On Dec. 19, the
Caitriona> state filed a preliminary injunction against Stutzman
Caitriona> for selling raw milk, and doing so in an unlabeled
Caitriona> container.
Caitriona> He represented himself during an administrative hearing
Caitriona> on Jan. 11 and asked the ODA to consider a 60-day
Caitriona> license suspension considering it was his first
Caitriona> offense. In that hearing, Stutzman said his Amish
Caitriona> upbringing taught him to share food with anyone who
Caitriona> asks or is in need.
Caitriona> The argument fell on deaf ears, though, because on
Caitriona> Feb. 8, the state revoked Stutzman's milk producer
Caitriona> license. Now Stutzman said he is left with milk that is
Caitriona> going to waste. With spring approaching, Stutzman said
Caitriona> his cows are starting to produce milk and he can't sell
Caitriona> it.
Caitriona> "We have five fresh ones in the last two weeks,"
Caitriona> Stutzman said. "We really got a lot of milk and I don't
Caitriona> know what to do with it."
Caitriona> Stutzman said he tried to get a license to process
Caitriona> cheese at his farm, but was turned down. He said he was
Caitriona> told it was because of the September violation.
Caitriona> "They won't even give me a chance to get a new
Caitriona> license," he said.
Caitriona> LeeAnne Mizer, a public information officer with the
Caitriona> ODA, said selling raw milk wasn't the issue in
Caitriona> Stutzman's case. The problem, she said, was the fact he
Caitriona> sold it in an unlabeled container, which is considered
Caitriona> misbranding. She said it made no difference the
Caitriona> container came from the undercover agent's car.
Caitriona> "Obviously, we assumed the milk was raw," Mizer
Caitriona> said. "We felt the misbranding was a stronger case. It
Caitriona> was clear cut. It was obvious. Misbranding means it
Caitriona> doesn't have the proper labels. I don't think it
Caitriona> matters if it comes from the agent or from a container
Caitriona> behind the shelf."
Caitriona> Mizer said the ODA's enforcement division's sole
Caitriona> purpose is to investigate complaints or tips that come
Caitriona> into the agency regarding violations of the law. She
Caitriona> said in Stutzman's case, there was a complaint
Caitriona> filed. She didn't say who filed a complaint.
Caitriona> "We don't just pull this stuff out of our hat," she
Caitriona> said. "People call and say this person is doing this or
Caitriona> that, you might want to check it out."
Caitriona> Stutzman's battle with the ODA made the front page of
Caitriona> the Plain Dealer on Sunday. In that article, he said he
Caitriona> stood to lose about 75 percent of his income because of
Caitriona> the license revocation.
Caitriona> He also said he believes he was targeted because of his
Caitriona> participation in a herd-share agreement, through which
Caitriona> he supplies about 50 gallons of milk a week, as well as
Caitriona> chickens and eggs, to about two-dozen families across
Caitriona> Northeast Ohio. Through the contractual agreement,
Caitriona> families have purchased a share in Stutzman's herd,
Caitriona> thereby giving them access to the products of the herd.
Caitriona> The Plain Dealer said the state is investigating the
Caitriona> legality of the arrangement.
Caitriona> Christina Trecaso, the Akron Chapter Leader of the
Caitriona> Weston A. Price Foundation and a member of the
Caitriona> herd-share, said the ODA has been breathing down the
Caitriona> neck of the herd-share families for some time. The
Caitriona> Weston A. Price Foundation is a nonprofit organization
Caitriona> dedicated to restoring nutrient-dense foods to the
Caitriona> human diet. It promotes accurate nutrition instruction,
Caitriona> organic and biodynamic farming, pasture-feeding of
Caitriona> livestock and community-supported farms.
Caitriona> The ODA's interest in the group started, she said, when
Caitriona> the Weston A. Price Foundation brought in a speaker
Caitriona> from California who owns and operates a raw milk
Caitriona> manufacturer and retailer. In California, it is legal
Caitriona> to sell raw milk.
Caitriona> "They invited us down to explain why we wanted to drink
Caitriona> raw milk," Trecaso said. "We tried to explain our side
Caitriona> of the story, hoping to come up with some type of
Caitriona> compromise with them. They didn't want anything to do
Caitriona> with raw milk. They said it's illegal to sell it, that
Caitriona> they are there to enforce the law, and that they would
Caitriona> enforce the law to the full extent."
Caitriona> On March 1, the ODA and Director Fred L. Dailey issued
Caitriona> a consumer alert
Caitriona> "cautioning consumers to avoid falling prey to direct
Caitriona> or deceptive online sales of unpasteurized raw milk
Caitriona> products."
Caitriona> "You could be putting yourself or your family at risk
Caitriona> by consuming raw milk," Dailey said in the press
Caitriona> release.
Caitriona> The ODA says raw milk can contain dangerous pathogenic
Caitriona> organisms that can cause diseases like brucellosis,
Caitriona> campylobacterosis, salmonellosis and tuberculosis, and
Caitriona> that bacteria responsible for food-borne disease
Caitriona> outbreaks can be introduced during and after milking.
Caitriona> The release said the Organic Pastures Dairy Co., a
Caitriona> California business, had illegally shipped raw milk
Caitriona> into Ohio. Mark McAfee, founder Organic Pastures, was
Caitriona> the man who came to speak to the herd-share group.
Caitriona> According to Organic Pastures' Web site, the company
Caitriona> takes orders online and ships its products, ranging
Caitriona> from raw milk to raw butter to Truly Raw Cheddar
Caitriona> Cheese, among many other items. One gallon of raw,
Caitriona> whole milk costs $8,
Caitriona> while a pound of raw butter costs $10.50.
Caitriona> Mizer said the ODA is not investigating a particular
Caitriona> herd-share agreement. Instead, she said investigators
Caitriona> are looking into whether herd-shares in
Caitriona> general are legal.
Caitriona> "It's a very fine line when it comes to distributing
Caitriona> raw milk," she said. "If a particular individual owns
Caitriona> a cow, they may consume raw milk from that cow. But do
Caitriona> these people really own the cow, or is the milk going
Caitriona> into a bulk tank? Are they getting milk from cows they
Caitriona> don't own?"
Caitriona> Trecaso said her group is working on legislation that
Caitriona> would allow for raw milk to be sold, although not in
Caitriona> grocery stores. She said people should be allowed to
Caitriona> buy raw milk from their neighbor if they like. She has
Caitriona> a problem with being forced to drink ultra-pasteurized
Caitriona> milk, which she says is sterile and offers no benefits
Caitriona> to the body.
Caitriona> Stutzman said he was surprised to learn he couldn't
Caitriona> sell milk from his own property. He said he doesn't
Caitriona> advertise and doesn't set up a roadside stand.
Caitriona> "I always thought there was a division between what you
Caitriona> do in public land and advertise and what you do on a
Caitriona> private farm," he said.
Caitriona> He also didn't consider his encounter with Folwarczny a
Caitriona> sale.
Caitriona> "The dictionary says donation and sale are two
Caitriona> different words," Stutzman said. "I didn't consider
Caitriona> that a sale."
Caitriona> Reporter Matt Tullis can be reached at (330) 674-1811
Caitriona> or e-mail mtullis@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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--
Micheal McEvoy St Brigid's Gate Farm
chewy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Mahomet, Texas
Micah4 Consulting -- Appropriate Technology for Sustainable Community
"And what does the Lord require of you but to do justice,
and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?"
-- Micah 6:8
-------
Austin Mennonite Church, (512) 926-3121 www.mennochurch.org
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