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October 13, 2008 at 15:37:06
Personal Liberties at Stake in Raw Milk Issue by Kimberly Hartke (Posted by Linn Cohen-Cole) 
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Our constitutional right to liberty is systematically being attacked by government agencies flanked by anti-competitive forces in the food industry. Nowhere is this more obvious than on the raw milk issue. California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger recently vetoed SB201, a bill to preserve consumers' rights to access farm fresh milk while guaranteeing its safety. The governor, who likely consumed raw dairy in his rise to stardom as a body builder, thwarted the freedoms of the over 40,000 raw milk devotees in his state. He ignored the will of the people in favor of the milk processors and the government regulators bent on crushing the raw dairy producers in their state - two of which are the most successful in the nation. The California Department of Food and Agriculture, whose officials repeatedly refused to appear at hearings on the legislation, pushed The Terminator's pen on a bill that received populist support and nearly unanimous approval by both houses of the legislature. Similar backroom politics killed the Farm Fresh Milk Act in Maryland last year, which would have reinvigorated struggling small dairy farms by recognizing their right to sell milk direct to consumers at the farm gate. Hundreds of Maryland families participated in lobbying efforts in support of the bill, and yet it was killed in committee (by a very close vote) because of the bureaucrats' dire warnings of an imminent threat to public health. In Pennsylvania, an aggressive anti-raw milk stance has created a hostile atmosphere for over 100 family farms. Pennsylvania raw milk farms practice humane animal husbandry and consequently offer a superior product to thousands of consumers, many of whom consume raw milk for its healing qualities. Bill Chirdon, the director of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture's (PDA) Bureau of Food Safety and Laboratory Services, is spearheading a pathogen witch hunt that appears to be aimed at chilling consumer demand for raw dairy. Through stepped up inspection schedules and a flurry of negative press releases warning of pathogens in raw milk in 2008, Chirdon has managed to damage farmer's livelihoods, thus raising the ire of consumers and farmers alike. Taking a guilty until proven innocent attitude toward one dairy farmer in a recent case, he even issued a press release pinning blame for several illnesses on the dairy, prior to the return of official test results. When the test results came back negative, he proceeded to withhold the release of the results to the media. At the same time, he disseminated another press release, which claimed a pathogen was found in an opened milk container from a sick household. Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund board member, Ted Beals, M.D., a pathologist and former laboratory chief says that the testing of an opened container, especially from a sick household, is an unacceptable test. An opened container may be cross-contaminated, and this is even more likely to happen in a home where there is illness. Releasing these unorthodox test results to the media totally eclipsed the PDA's subsequent announcement that the official test results for pathogens came back negative. The dairy had been exonerated, yet the public's perception remained that it was risky to buy raw milk. Consumer choice and the survival of family farms, particularly those who practice traditional and sustainable farming methods, are under siege by government policies informed by institutional bias against unprocessed milk. Sally Fallon Morell, president of the Weston A. Price Foundation www.westonaprice.org and the nation's leading champion of raw dairy for its nutritional benefits, www.realmilk.com has a dire warning of her own. "The right to produce and consume raw dairy is vital to the health of the family farm and our citizens. The future of sustainable agriculture and the health of our nation depend on a new paradigm that respects the essential liberties of farmers and consumers." Bureaucrats and Big Business with wanton disregard for our freedoms, may stir up such resistance that they end up stimulating demand for raw dairy, rather than curbing sales. Their campaign of oppression may be just what we need to bring that new paradigm about. Kimberly Hartke is a raw dairy consumer in Virginia. Virginia outlawed retail and farm sales of raw milk, so her family had to buy a share of a cow in order to have access to farm fresh milk. She is now the publicist for the Weston A. Price Foundation, which suggests raw dairy from pasture-raised cows can heal many health problems. Visit her blog: www.hartkeonline.blogspot.com.
Sunday, October 12, 2008 2:33 PM
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Corporate Greed hurts small businesses and consumers
Another example of how corporate power has a stranglehold - with consumers and small businesses getting strangled. by Bill Samuel (5 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 445 comments [14 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Monday, Oct 13, 2008 at 5:58:52 PM  (0+)
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Be aware
Large corporations are buying up water rights from landowners. If we cant get water we cant grow food. If they own the water they will own us. We are under attack on every side. It is time to start thinking of plan B. by john riggs (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 463 comments [24 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Monday, Oct 13, 2008 at 7:25:14 PM (0+)
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Thanks for writing this!
Yes, we are losing personal liberties at every turn. by Armon Pacetti (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 21 comments) on Monday, Oct 13, 2008 at 9:28:28 PM (0+)
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Thanks for writing this!
Yes, we are losing personal liberties at every turn. by Armon Pacetti (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 21 comments) on Monday, Oct 13, 2008 at 10:40:50 PM (0+)
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Great article!
Thanks!!! by Jill Herendeen (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 213 comments [13 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Tuesday, Oct 14, 2008 at 5:03:29 AM (0+)
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Raw Milk Safety
If the PDA were doing its job of protecting the people, they would be promoting raw milk, not trying to put it out of business. Pasteurized milk is dead and has no nutrients that the body can absorb and use. Raw milk is safer -- and better for you -- than pasteurized milk, and they know it. If everyone were drinking raw milk, there would be fewer people with osteoporosis, allergies, diabetes, cancer, heart disease, and a multitude of behavoiral problems. Look what has happened to us in just a few generations. We need to reclaim our health! by Susan Blasko (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1 comments) on Tuesday, Oct 14, 2008 at 10:22:02 AM (0+)
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VERY GOOD ARTICLE
Are we now in the final death throes of freedom and choise. When the small farmer and a consumer cannot engage in the private business of buying and selling raw milk, and raw butter without first obtaining PERMISSION from the state what do we have TYRANNY? by don wittlinger (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1 comments) on Tuesday, Oct 14, 2008 at 12:03:35 PM (0+)
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great article
This is just one more way for the US Govt. to control its people through corporate greed. It is ridiculous the number of food products that are regulated "for our own safety". More people get sick from not washing their own mass produced produce, choosing to eat seafood that has gone off, or improperly storing industrialized meat they buy in the store than from eating real farm food. This is a war against the local foods movement. You are absolutely correct about the water. They are buying gas and oil rights as well as water rights here. Some states have a "law of capture" so they can drill on your neighbor's property and capture what is under yours. Some states "unitize" you so that you have no say in whether the minerals are extracted from under your land. Taxes are so high on land it feels as if you are renting from the govt. We are living in ridiculous times! Abraham Lincoln once said "Corporations have been enthroned, and an era of corruption in high places will follow". by Sarah O (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1 comments) on Wednesday, Oct 15, 2008 at 5:44:33 AM (0+)
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thanks!
Kimberly, Thanks for this great article. Sorry to hear of the veto, but I know we'll keep working on these issues and eventually we'll see the tide shift in our direction. Just like with organic agriculture, I think it's inevitable. People are waking up. by Ellen Kittredge (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1 comments) on Wednesday, Oct 15, 2008 at 9:37:21 AM (0+)
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Scary
It is frightening that people in power can blatantly deny our right to choose. Especially scary when they do so in spite of overwhelming evidence and consensus. It underscores the importance of grass roots politics and challenges us to unite in defense of our health and liberties. by Bernard Ash (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1 comments) on Wednesday, Oct 15, 2008 at 7:03:06 PM (0+)
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Schwartzenegger talks tough
But he acts like a girly-man! With the smart money banking on farming, and wall street analysts saying we have too many MBAs and not enough farmers, why try to destroy this potentially lucrative, wholesome, pro-family business sector? Absolute hipocracy on the part of a so-called republican. Dr Cate WWW.DrCate.com by catey shanahan (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1 comments) on Wednesday, Oct 15, 2008 at 8:15:24 PM (0+)
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I wonder
it is fine to drink raw milk but is ok to feed to your children? What if it was an illness caused by raw milk that caused your child to be put on a kidney donor list? Do you eat your hamburger raw? I would hope that the child protection agency in your state would take notice. by Jim Beam (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1 comments) on Friday, Oct 17, 2008 at 7:32:32 PM (0+)
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