I am doing my happy dance. Vernon Hershberger, the Amish dairy farmer recently on trial in Wisconsin for providing raw milk to his community, was acquitted last week by a jury on three of the four charges against him. The state of Wisconsin charged Hersbherger with operating a farm store without a retail food establishment permit, operating a dairy farm without a milk producer license, operating a dairy plant facility without a license, and violating a hold order that the state’s department of agriculture placed on food on his farm during a 2010 raid. Hershberger was acquitted of the first three charges and found guilty of the fourth. His acquittal marks a huge step forward in the food rights movement because it upholds private contracts between individuals and counters overbearing government regulations.
How Will You Fight For Raw Milk?
Last week, Obama’s food safety chief Michael R. Taylor defended the recent FDA raids against raw milk producers, even when none of the milk is actually contaminated with pathogens. He said that such sting operations were based on a “public health duty” and “statutory directive.” In other words, the FDA believes that all raw milk is dangerous and bad for you, and they’re going to do everything in their power to keep you from getting your hands on it.
Not surprisingly, the recent food safety legislation passed through congress will empower the FDA to do just that.
The Raw Milk Revolution
Maybe you don’t know who David Gumpert is, but I’d be willing to bet money you know who Joel Salatin is. In addition to being a self-described Christian environmentalist libertarian lunatic farmer, my hero, and the author of one of my most controversial guest posts, Joel Salatin also loaned his pen out to David Gumpert by writing the foreword to Mr. Gumpert’s recent book, The Raw Milk Revolution.
That’s quite a shining endorsement. David Gumpert is a journalist focusing in the area of health care, and he’s been blogging at The Complete Patient for nearly 4 years. His book chronicles the growing battle between the industrialized food system (propped up by the government and law enforcement personnel) and the local food movement (represented by devotees to raw milk). It’s an eye opener.
The Raw Milk Revolution — Jill Richardson Gets It
This summer, the battle over food rights in the midst of proposed food safety legislation has bewildered and perplexed many people. HR 875, HR 2749, and a host of others like it elicited powerful grassroots responses that took congress by surprise as well as many bloggers reporting on the sustainable food beat. One of those bloggers was Jill Richardson of La Vida Locavore fame.
Recently, Jill had the opportunity to review an early copy of David Gumpert’s The Raw Milk Revolution. And now, she reports, she finally “gets it.”