Jurors Still Angry About Hershberger Trial; Food Club Gets 100 New Members

Unlikely friends? Vernon, wife, jurors

Heather Callaghan

If you've been paying attention to the details of Vernon Hershberger's trial, the bigger picture is completely insane. The final result was a less punitive fine of $1,000 and $513 in court costs that a supporter covered on Vernon's sentencing day. He was found not guilty on three criminal charges relating to lack of licensing to distribute fresh foods, and guilty on the last count of breaking a food holding order. The jury members, however, are feeling jilted.

Listen to their own words:

 

Hat's off to author David Gumpert for always being there when a farmer like Vernon is on the stand - and we can always count on him to pick up all the interesting nuances that often get overlooked in news stories.

He follows up on the trial by documenting the reactions of the jurors now that the State aggression has come to an end - hopefully forever in Vernon's case. But it's not over for them, not a chance. They feel lied to and railroaded into potentially jailing and fining a peaceful farmer. The State slight of hand actually succeeded in drawing more attention to food freedom and the benefits of nutritionally dense foods.

The jury has now caught on to the crazy cover-up tactics listed below...

Jurors at Raw Milk Trial Befriend Hershberger; Feel Misled and Haunted by Case

Unlikely friends? Vernon, wife, jurors

Heather Callaghan

If you've been paying attention to the details of Vernon Hershberger's trial, the bigger picture is completely insane. The final result was a less punitive fine of $1,000 and $513 in court costs that a supporter covered on Vernon's sentencing day. He was found not guilty on three criminal charges relating to lack of licensing to distribute fresh foods, and guilty on the last count of breaking a food holding order. The jury members, however, are feeling jilted.

Hat's off to author David Gumpert for always being there when a farmer like Vernon is on the stand - and we can always count on him to pick up all the interesting nuances that often get overlooked in news stories.

He follows up on the trial by documenting the reactions of the jurors now that the State aggression has come to an end - hopefully forever in Vernon's case. But it's not over for them, not a chance. They feel lied to and railroaded into potentially jailing and fining a peaceful farmer. The State slight of hand actually succeeded in drawing more attention to food freedom and the benefits of nutritionally dense foods.

The jury has now caught on to the crazy cover-up tactics listed below...

Stasi Puts Halt on Raw Milk Bill in Nevada

Brad Jordan

Will there be a whistleblower in the FDA?

The FDA, USDA, and the monopolistic dairy processors they prop up rejoiced after a raw milk bill was defeated in Nevada earlier this month. Thanks to Governor Sandoval’s veto June 6, the people of that state will be deprived of one of nature’s most nourishing foods. After receiving overwhelming support, with a 40-0 vote in the House and 17-5 in the Senate, the governor still decided he had to red-light the bill. To understand why this would happen, one must follow 'da money.

All it takes is a little pressure from the bigger big brother (federal government) and most politicians crumble, just like the spineless Sandoval did. The governor said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the American Medical Association (AMA) and his own state health official agreed that Assembly Bill 209 presents “significant public health risks.”

Vernon Hershberger Sentence and Fines Are Decided

Heather Callaghan

Vernon Hershberger and Family

Vernon Hershberger's recent verdict was mostly victorious on the three counts held against him for distributing fresh food to members without licensing. A jury found him guilty on the last count for breaking a holding order which held the maximum punishment. For the last three years, he's had a threat of 2 years prison and $10,000 in fines looming over until that fateful fifth night of trial.

Vernon said after the verdict:

Praise the Lord! Now I can feed my community again.

Just days after, Wisconsin's Department of Justice went after him and pressured the judge to jail him immediately. "This case was about one person believing that he was above the law. That was the underlying theme," said Department of Justice attorney Eric Defort. At the sentencing yesterday, the State (prosecutor) was pushing for $3,000 in fines, a year of probation and payment for probation supervision costs. 

Breaking: No Mention of "Liberty" Allowed During Hershberger Raw Milk Trial

Heather Callaghan
Activist Post

Things are coming to a fiery head in Baraboo, Wisconsin this week as supporters, big league food freedom heroes, and non-corporate media activists gather outside the court house in solidarity to support fresh food farmer Vernon Hershberger. The big trial started on Monday and reportedly goes until Friday.

As you may have heard, Hershberger is facing over two years prison time and $10,000 in fines for four criminal misdemeanor charges aimed at him for providing fresh food to his community through members in agreement - mainly for breaking a holding order. For more details into the background story including a raid, government destruction of his food and previous hearings, check our running story.

Simply put, the government would like to eradicate "herd share" type agreements that act outside the State. But, that would be similar to outlawing horse boarding, co-ops and Craigslist interactions. Agents twist this practice so that it magically becomes a "retail establishment." There seems to be a major bias from the court against Vernon, but he remains in good spirits and can be seen on Facebook pages smiling with his supporters.

ALL eyes are on Hershberger this week, including non-raw dairy industry experts, as this case is expected to set a legal precedent, according to them. The "legalities" here are under heated debate. You can watch too, with the streaming video below.

Raw Milk Co-Op Farmer Acquitted Through Jury Nullification

J.G. Vibes

Last week a Minnesota man charged with violating the state's restrictions on raw milk sales was acquitted in what he and his supporters called a victory for consumer freedom.

Alvin Schlangen is a peaceful farmer who connects people with the food sources that meet their high standards for health by providing private access under lawful ownership of farm animals. the member owners pay the Amish farm family for labor to milk the leased 100% grass-fed cows, manage the pasture, store the feed, etc.

This co-op is a sustainable farming effort where the value of food supports the cost incurred, without government subsidies or harm to the environment. The balance of food options are purchased by the club, for the members. The group has multiple farm sources providing real food to member families- very efficiently, with lots of volunteer effort.

Farmer Wins Stressful 3-Year State Legal Battle -- Raw Dairy Sales Upheld

The Bechards & Gary Cox

Heather Callaghan

Armand and Teddi Bechard were following Missouri's raw milk laws when undercover agents from the Springfield-Greene County Health Department bought milk from the Bechard's central delivery location. The agents made undercover purchases twice in 2009 at a health food store parking lot and the Bechards have finally found relief in the battle to continue providing fresh milk to their customers.

During the sting operations, Armand heard from a health department worker:

This is your warning call...my boss doesn't like raw milk in the city of Springfield. And so if you continue to deliver it, you're gonna get a summons.

The video below shows the authorities' dizzying interpretations and stretched definitions of property, sales, and more. The summons attempted a permanent injunction against the Bechards and their posterity. The harassment and amount of action over legal semantics was incredible.

Farmer Wins Stressful 3-Year State Legal Battle -- Raw Dairy Sales Upheld

The Bechards & Gary Cox

Heather Callaghan

Armand and Teddi Bechard were following Missouri's raw milk laws when undercover agents from the Springfield-Greene County Health Department bought milk from the Bechard's central delivery location. The agents made undercover purchases twice in 2009 at a health food store parking lot and the Bechards have finally found relief in the battle to continue providing fresh milk to their customers.

During the sting operations, Armand heard from a health department worker:

This is your warning call...my boss doesn't like raw milk in the city of Springfield. And so if you continue to deliver it, you're gonna get a summons.

The video below shows the authorities' dizzying interpretations and stretched definitions of property, sales, and more. The summons attempted a permanent injunction against the Bechards and their posterity. The harassment and amount of action over legal semantics was incredible.

Food safety chief defends raw milk raids

Carolyn Lochhead
San Francisco Chronicle

Obama food safety chief and former Monsanto lawyer Michael R. Taylor today defended the FDA's sting operations and armed raids against raw milk producers, including Pennsylvania Amish farmer Dan Allgyer, who is facing an injunction for selling milk across state lines. None of Allgyer's milk was contaminated. The agency's actions are likely to put him out of business.

"We believe we're doing our job," Taylor said at a presentation at the Ogilvy Washington public affairs group. He promised to "keep doing our public health job," and described his agency's campaign against raw milk producers as based on a "public health duty" and "statutory directive."

Taylor said he had a "quibble" with the notion that the agency is spending too much of its resources targeting boutique raw milk producers even as huge contamination outbreaks have occurred among large Iowa egg farms and elsewhere.

The FDA is in the midst of writing the critical regulations that will implement the Food Safety Modernization Act Congress passed last year with applause all around from the Obama administration, Democrats and Republicans despite ferocious opposition from small-farm advocates. The sweeping new law gives the agency extraordinary powers to detain foods on farms. It also denies farmers recourse to federal courts.

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Raiding and Regulating Rawesome Foodies

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Success! Rally For Food and Farm Freedom

Lois Rain
Health Freedom Alliance 

You could just feel the passion, enthusiasm, and energy brimming among the 400 or so attendants at Monday’s Rally for Food and Farm Freedom. We met in D.C. and peacefully protested just one month after the FDA’s year long sting operation and armed raid against Amish farmer Dan Allgyer culminated over the distribution of unpasteurized milk. HFA has followed the story ever since the FDA began harassing Mr. Allgyer early last year.

Buyer’s club, Grassfed On the Hill’s Liz Reitzig and Karine Bouis-Towe organized the event that included a variety of prominent speakers and food freedom advocates, free raw milk tastings, and the lovely Jersey cow, Morgan, who made a grand entrance, happily grazed Upper Senate Hill grass, and shared her fresh milk with the crowd.

Buyer’s club, Grassfed On the Hill’s Liz Reitzig and Karine Bouis-Towe organized the event that included a variety of prominent speakers and food freedom advocates, free raw milk tastings, and the lovely Jersey cow, Morgan, who made a grand entrance, happily grazed Upper Senate Hill grass, and shared her fresh milk with the crowd. 

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The War on Milk - GM Dairy and Cancer Links

Dees Illustration

Updated excerpt from Codex Alimentarius -- The End of Health Freedom

Brandon Turbeville

Activist Post 

I wrote an article recently detailing the impacts of rBGH on the welfare of dairy cows. I explained how the use of rBGH was responsible for increased rates of mastitis and how rBGH injections actually have the potential to decrease milk production. Yet, aside from the damage to the animals, rBGH usage is significant in that it also affects humans consuming the milk.

This is because Insulin Growth Factor 1 (IGF-1), another powerful hormone increased in the animals’ system by injections of rBGH, lingers in the milk and has been linked to breast, colon, and prostate cancer in humans.[1]

IGF-1 is present naturally in both cows and humans, and is important for mediating cellular response to growth hormones. While the growth hormones themselves are quite different, cow and human IGF-1 are identical to one another.[2]

Mothers crying over raw milk

Stephen Dinan
The Washington Times

Four weeks after the government moved to shut down Amish farmer Dan Allgyer for selling fresh, unpasteurized milk across state lines, angry moms who made up much of his customer base rallied on the Capitol’s grounds Monday to demand that Congress rein in the food police.

The moms milked a cow just across the street from the Senate and served up gallons of fresh milk, playfully daring one another to drink what, if sold across state lines, would be considered contraband product.

“The FDA really screwed up this time. They got between a mom and a farmer,” said Mark McAfee, who runs Organic Pastures Dairy Co. in Fresno, Calif., which under his state’s laws he legally sells at 400 markets, but which he cannot ship across state lines without running afoul of the Food and Drug Administration.



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Feds sting Amish farmer selling raw milk locally

Cite interstate commerce violation

Stephen Dinan
Washington Times

A yearlong sting operation, including aliases, a 5 a.m. surprise inspection and surreptitious purchases from an Amish farm in Pennsylvania, culminated in the federal government announcing this week that it has gone to court to stop Rainbow Acres Farm from selling its contraband to willing customers in the Washington area.

The product in question: unpasteurized milk.

It’s a battle that’s been going on behind the scenes for years, with natural foods advocates arguing that raw milk, as it’s also known, is healthier than the pasteurized product, while the Food and Drug Administration says raw milk can carry harmful bacteria such as salmonella, E. coli and listeria.

“It is the FDA’s position that raw milk should never be consumed,” said Tamara N. Ward, spokeswoman for the FDA, whose investigators have been looking into Rainbow Acres for months, and who finally last week filed a 10-page complaint in federal court in Pennsylvania seeking an order to stop the farm from shipping across state lines any more raw milk or dairy products made from it.

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Raiding and Regulation Rawesome Foodies

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Third Maine town passes food freedom ordinance

Garden Hen/Wiki Commons image

Food Freedom

On Saturday, April 2, Blue Hill became the third town in Maine to adopt the Local Food and Self-Governance Ordinance.  The Ordinance was passed at Blue Hill’s town meeting by a near unanimous vote. This comes on the heels of the unanimous passage of the Ordinance in neighboring towns, Sedgwick and Penobscot, on March 5 and March 7, respectively. The Ordinance asserts that towns can determine their own food and farming policies locally, and exempts direct food sales from state and federal license and inspection requirements.

On March 7, the Ordinance failed in a fourth town, Brooksville, by a vote of 161 to 152, however voting irregularities have called the vote’s validity into question. Brooksville town residents are circulating a petition calling for a revote at a special town meeting, which could take place in the next few months. The petition questions the legality of placing the town’s Ordinance Review Committee’s recommendation of a “No” vote on the ballot. Brooksville was the only town to vote on the ordinance by ballot, rather than by a show of hands.

Raiding and Regulating the New Enemy in the War on Drugs: Rawesome 'Foodies'

Eric Blair
Activist Post

As if the prohibition of non-corporate drugs wasn't already enough of a tragedy of liberty, the Feds are now increasingly arming themselves to raid peaceful organic farms, food Co-Ops, and even Amish dairies over raw milk.

This past week the Los Angeles Times reported that policeman, with guns drawn, raided a private organic food store in Venice California called Rawesome Foods:

With no warning one weekday morning, investigators entered an organic grocery with a search warrant and ordered the hemp-clad workers to put down their buckets of mashed coconut cream and to step away from the nuts.

Then, guns drawn, four officers fanned out across Rawesome Foods in Venice. Skirting past the arugula and peering under crates of zucchini, they found the raid's target inside a walk-in refrigerator: unmarked jugs of raw milk.

 
One of the shocked owners was quoted saying, "There's a medical marijuana shop a couple miles away, and they're raiding us because we're selling raw dairy products?"  As if either one being raided by the armed thugs of Corporate-Federal tyranny is acceptable. This would seem to be the most obvious abuse of our inalienable human rights, and the sovereignty over our own physical being; purely designed to intimidate those who wish freely to choose what they ingest into their own bodies.

When we witness the utter absurdity of the war on marijuana, and now raw milk, the hypocrisy over health safety clearly tells us that much more is behind their continued prohibition in many of the United States.  The corporate masters simply can't allow us to have these rights or their cartels would lose control over our bodies.  Incidentally, it is estimated that at least 75% of our diet is now patented GMO foods.


The controllers know that this health-safety hypocrisy is too obvious to continue legislating against overwhelming public will, so they must create commercial statutes and regulations written by the chemical and food cartels themselves.  Then they use the local authorities to enforce their monopolies to the detriment of true free markets, authentic health safety, and individual liberty.

Now that it is becoming clear that marijuana will indeed be legalized in California or elsewhere -- perhaps not this year, but soon -- the corporate robber barons are rushing in regulations to squeeze out the small farmer.  In a recent Associated Press story this process was referred to as the "Wal-Marting" of weed:

After weathering the fear of federal prosecution and competition from drug cartels, California's medical marijuana growers see a new threat to their tenuous existence: the 'Wal-Marting' of weed.

The Oakland City Council on Tuesday will look at licensing four production plants where pot would be grown, packaged and processed into items ranging from baked goods to body oil. Winning applicants would have to pay $211,000 in annual permit fees, carry $2 million worth of liability insurance, and be prepared to devote up to 8 percent of gross sales to taxes.

A similar bullying tactic occurs with raw milk sales, where "commercial feed licenses" must be applied -- a process which varies from state to state.  Additionally, there are also proposals that will make the small commercial farmer register and tag individual livestock, while large multinationals will need only one tag per barn load, yet again defeating the little guy through economics. Whenever a new grassroots trend business begins its free-market climb, the elite find a way to coral the market.  It's happening to organic foods, natural supplements, and even biofuels.

It's worth noting, the strategy they use to dominate products like biofuels is to create a quality standard to qualify for commercial sales, where the producer must have each batch tested to meet these standards before selling their product.  The catch is that these tests can run in the thousands of dollars, therefore a small producer who may only produce 5000 gallons per batch can no longer afford to test their product and sell for a profit, while the big boys can.

And once the elite have total control they can easily manipulate food shortages for a number of desired outcomes to benefit their agenda.  These are the small battles that "free market" Libertarians refer to when they scream about big government and over-regulation.  Surely, some liberal raw "foodies" are now getting the message when their freedom to be healthy is being threatened by tyrannical corporate regulation.

"This is about control and profit, not our health," said Aajonus Vonderplanitz, co-founder of Rawesome Foods. "How can we not have the freedom to choose what we eat?"  Incidentally, John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods, describes his awakening from liberal to libertarian views in his book Be the Solution, precisely because of this Corporate-Federal hijacking of healthy products.  The owners of Rawesome foods and others like them must realize that they are in the same battle as private medical marijuana Co-Ops and small organic farmers.  They all must continue to thrive as they play a key role in defeating the multinational food powerhouses, building local self-sufficiency, and restoring personal freedom.

Of course, all of this "regulation" is done in the name of our safety because, you know, the sheep need their shepherd. That is why the U.N. and the World Health Organization have been working hard for many years (since 1963) to quietly create an international standard for controlling natural foods and health products called Codex Alimentarius -- Latin for "food code."  Many good pro-natural health progressives and and civil libertarians are teaming up to defeat proposed freedom-shredding regulations.

Watch video below on the Codex Alimentarius to learn more:

Related Articles:
USDA Reports Food Shortages: Wall Street 'Caught Off Guard' by Severity
Using Local Organic Cooperatives to Defeat Globalists
7 Secret Ways We Are Being Poisoned

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