Illegal Federal Raids on Food Co-ops Should Make Us All Ill

A little over 200 years ago this nation was fighting for its independence from an oppressive government. The preamble to our Declaration of Indepence states:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

Whenever Any Form of Government Becomes Destructive

This past week I wrote a couple posts about the federal goverment’s intention to increase control over our food supply, dictating what we can and cannot eat by controlling the distribution and sale of food.

This morning I came across a very disturbing story of Manna Storehouse Co-op being raided by the Ohio Department of Agriculture and a SWAT team, which kept the mother and her children at gunpoint on the livingroom couch for eight hours while they ransacked their home and confiscated their belongings. Meanwhile, the husband was in Iraq supposedly defending his family’s freedom. Whoops. That’s not working too well.

Which led me to the story of a police raid to a raw milk co-op where the owner was so overwhelmed that he had to be treated for post tramautic stress disorder, at great financial cost.

As it stands now, in Ohio, I cannot even serve a glass of my milk to a neighbor having dinner with us. Nor give them a bite of my cheese or pass him my butter. All jail-able offenses in my state. –Cow owner on Keeping a Family Cow

While it is illegal in some states to sell raw milk, it is not illegal to consume the raw milk from your own animals. Thus the co-op was born. Each member owns a share of the animals in a co-op, so they are legally entitled to consume the animals or their milk. The government has no jurisdiction in this case, but that’s certainly not stopping them from gestapo actions against the co-ops, especially when milk crosses state lines.

Amish farmer Arlie Stutzman was visited by an undercover agent of the Ohio Department of Agriculture. The agent posed as a building contractor and begged Stutzman for some raw milk. Stutzman said he couldn’t sell it because that was illegal, so he gave it to the agent because his religious belief compelled him to give food to all who ask. The agent insisted Stutzman take a $2 donation, which he did. Bad for Stutzman.

A large co-op in California became the focus of the Health Department because of raw goat milk. They were told they needed to buy over $50,000 worth of equipment and a dairy permit to comply with state laws regarding the production of raw milk–from three goats!!! This was not a commercial endeavor. These are privately owned goats. And it was all started by one asshole with a grudge.

“They’re treating raw milk like heroin or crack,” says David Cox, a Columbus lawyer with the firm Lane, Alton & Horst who specializes in cases involving agriculture regulations. He now has six Ohio cases at various stages, and one common element in all, he says, is a sense of “vindictiveness” by the state’s Agriculture Dept. (ODA). “I think there’s competition among the directors of agriculture to see who can put raw milk out of business.” –Businessweek, Nov 2006

Our Health Department is also concerning itself with a private raw juice co-op. How about the health-conscious people arrested for narcotics when they brought their raw chocolate from Canada into New York and it tested falsely as hash?

If the NAIS and HR 2749 pass, these will give our federal government the legal right to storm private homes (now they just do it illegally), confiscate records and livestock, and arrest without warrant or cause (an action, if I’m not mistaken, that the Patriot Act condones).

If you care about your health, then you should care about the food you eat. Please sign the petition against HR 2749 or pretty soon they’ll be coming after you for giving your neighbor some radishes you grew in your backyard.