Last week the FDA raided at gunpoint (for the second time) a raw milk buying club in Los Angeles, CA. Three food rights activists were arrested including a Weston A. Price chapter leader. All for the crime of organizing to consume raw milk. Not illegal drugs, not alcohol, but raw milk. We know things have gotten out of hand in this country when the government is spending so much money and energy to limit our access to such a healthful food – raw milk. If they were so concerned about our health and the supposed risks that raw milk pose, why would they not be after all of the drug manufacturers that claim thousands of lives each year as well as the caffeine, sugar, aspartame, processed food pushers and all of the other manufacturers of products out there that do actually pose serious risk to our health? Follow the money and you will realize who the government is working for. Yes, the big corporations. Big Ag is all too entrenched in the government and is in effect, running the show. The revolving door of folks working for Monsanto, ADM, Cargill and other multi-national corporations and then the USDA and then Monstanto, ADM, and Cargill again is unethical and immoral. What will it take to create a change so the government respects the rights of consumers to eat the food of their choosing? The people standing up and demanding we will not back down. And that is what is happening.
Please read below for the latest press release on the matter.
Breaking news: Multi-agency armed raid hits Rawesome Foods, Healthy Family Farms for selling raw milk
www.naturalnews.com
Weston A. Price Foundation Kimberly Hartke, Publicist
For Immediate Release 703-860-2711, cell 703-675-5557
Rawesome Farm Buying Club Raided Again
Club Manager, Farmer and Weston Price Chapter Leader Arrested
Protest Rally Planned for 8:00am Thursday August 4
August 3, 2011—Los Angeles, California—Public Health Officials today descended once again on a buying club, that specializes in raw foods. Club organizer, James Stewart was arrested at his home, the locks to his personal residence were changed, his papers, money and computer seized. At the same time, farmer Sharon Palmer and Weston A. Price Foundation volunteer chapter leader Victoria Bloch Coulter were arrested. All three were charged with Section 182A-Conspiracy to Commit a Crime. Bond for James Stewart was set at $123,000. Bail for Bloch is recommended at $60,000. Bail for Palmer is recommended at $121,000.
All this, in a state where raw milk is perfectly legal to sell, and even available through retail stores. The issue seems to be the club’s use of a herdshare or boarding agreement for its dairy goats. Recently, the California Department of Food and Agriculture issued a cease-and-desist order to a farmer boarding dairy animals for the animal owners. Another farmer, Mike Hulme of Evergreen Acres goat farm in San Jose, received a cease-and-desist letter from the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s office. Hulme and several people with ownership interest in goats kept at the farm are suing the state and county for interfering with their right to enter into a livestock boarding contract.
The state insists the farmers need dairy licenses to conduct such operations.
“It is apparent that there is an orchestrated effort on the part of public health officials to curb raw dairy access in California, and around the nation,” declares Pete Kennedy, Esq., President of the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund.
Arraignment is scheduled for tomorrow in Department 30, Los Angeles Superior Court, Fifth Floor, Criminal Justice Center, 210 W. Temple St., Los Angeles. Court opens at 8:30 a.m. The District attorney’s office says it is likely they are to go before the judge during the morning session.
A protest rally on the Los Angeles Courthouse Steps is planned for 8:00am tomorrow morning, when the three food rights activists are before the judge. Citizens concerned about access to healthy, locally produced foods are urged to attend.
Concerned citizens are asked to donate to the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund, an organization that works to protect and expand consumer access to whole, unprocessed foods of their choice, and to pave the way for unregulated, direct trade between farmer and consumer. Visit their website for more details on food freedom and raw milk issues: http://farmtoconsumer.org.
Video footage at the scene of the raid, club members expressing outrage:http://youtu.be/lI1gvPmA_c8
More footage will be posted soon on Cheeseslave.com and the Cheeseslave You Tube Channel.
Official press release about the arrests:
http://da.co.la.ca.us/mr/080311a.htm
Media Contact: Kimberly Hartke, Publicist
Weston A. Price Foundation, Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund
703-860-2711, cell 703-675-5557, press@westonaprice.orgThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Ann Marie Michaels, Los Angeles rally media contact
310-482-9643, annmarie@realfoodmedia.com
