Last year, a judge ruled the state of Michigan’s Invasive Species Order was unconstitutional, but the Michigan Department of Natural Resources is still enforcing the order, sometimes killing pet pigs.
Senate Plays Dirty Against Artisan Soap Makers
Congress is going to ask the FDA to crack down on artisan soap makers. These craftsmen and women usually make soap at home and sell it at farmer’s markets, online, or in local natural food outlets.
Win An Alaskan Adventure For Two With Me (over $4000 value)
I have always wanted to go to Alaska. Next July, I’ll finally be going. And I’ll be taking one of you lucky readers (and a guest of your choosing) with me.
Take Action on FDA’s Proposed Food Safety Regulations
The FDA’s proposed food safety regulations pose significant problems for sustainable farmers, food producers, and food hubs across the country. Under the proposed regulations, many farmers will be forced to comply with high-cost, industrial-scale regulations, and they will be unable to use traditional, sustainable growing practices. Food hubs and local food businesses will be forced to deal with costly and burdensome paperwork. Ultimately, consumers will face increased food prices and reduced availability of locally and sustainably produced foods. Below is information on how YOU can help, with sample comments to the FDA and more!
USDA Guts Organic Standards
Last week the USDA announced a change in the organic ingredients “sunset” policy — without any kind of public review. You see, before last week, if a company wanted to include a non-organic (synthetic) ingredient in certified organic foods, the ingredient had to apply for an exemption which would expire after five years unless it was re-exempted by a decisive, two-thirds majority vote of the National Organic Standards Board. That is no longer the case.
Would You Be A Raw Milk Freedom Rider?
Tomorrow a group of moms is going to break federal law. In public. They are going to openly defy the federal prohibition against the transport of raw milk across state lines. They’re calling themselves Raw Milk Freedom Riders, and their goal is to get the federal law repealed. After the last group of Raw Milk Freedom Riders crossed state lines with raw milk in a public protest, the FDA issued a statement saying that it would not use the federal law to criminalize individuals who transported raw milk for their personal consumption.
Well, whoop-dee-doo. But what about farmers who transport raw milk across state lines for their customers? Or agents who transport raw milk across state lines for others? Because of the distance between consumers in one state (where raw milk sales may be illegal) and farmers in another (where such sales are legal), these sorts of arrangements are unsurprisingly common. Would you drive several hundred miles every other week for your raw milk? Or would you rather join a group of buyers that empowers someone else to do the driving for you all — saving individual group members fuel costs, time, and energy?
Tomorrow’s group of moms won’t be transporting raw milk for themselves. They’ll be bringing it across state lines and serving it up to others in a raw milk and cookies rally at Chicago’s Independence Park. Why would they risk arrest, fines, or imprisonment?
A Farm-To-Fork Fiasco
Imagine this. An over-zealous regulator shows up at a farm-to-fork dinner hosted by your favorite local farmer. But they’re not there to sample the exquisite cuisine highlighting some of the most natural, nutrient-dense, life-giving foods on the planet. No, they’re demanding that the food be destroyed while hungry, paying guests wait.
If you were that farmer, how would you respond? This is the story of Laura Bledsoe of Quail Hollow Farm. And, hopefully, it’s a lesson to all of us.
Those Pesky Amish Criminals
So what brought armed members from three separate government agencies to raid the Pennsylvania farm of Amish farmer Dan Allgyer in the pre-dawn last month? What had them doing a year-long undercover investigative operation to gather incriminating evidence? Is he a subversive supplier of arms or drugs to the seedy criminal underbelly of Washington D.C.? Nah. He’s just a farmer selling his milk. Selling it in it’s — GASP! — raw, unpasteurized form.
Maine Town Declares Food Sovereignty
Sedgwick, Maine has done what no other town in the United States has done. The town unanimously passed an ordinance giving its citizens the right “to produce, process, sell, purchase, and consume local foods of their choosing.” This includes raw milk, locally slaughtered meats, and just about anything else you can imagine. It’s also a decided bucking of state and federal laws.
Wyoming Food Freedom Act
Remember the Pennsylvania “Pie Gate”? Little old ladies forbidden to serve homemade pies at a Church Fish Fry?
Well, that sort of thing won’t happen in Wyoming. Last week the state’s House of Representatives passed the Food Freedom Act out of committee in support of cottage industry foods. A similar bill became the law of the land last year, but excluded potentially hazardous foods such as dairy products, canned foods, and sauces from protection as “cottage foods.” This bill would widen the scope what’s considered an exempt “cottage food,” and food-safety advocates are hotly criticizing the expanded definition.