Last week my family took off on a journey up the California coast to spend some time in Oregon with my side of the family. Just north of San Francisco is Alice Waters country. Restaurants boast their organic/pastured cuisine. Farms proudly hang out signs announcing their organic bounty (as well as some life-size one-dimensional mannequins of the farmers, which we found amusing.) I was pleased to drive by farms with beautiful "happy cows" roaming grass lands, even if most of their milk is pasteurized. At least I know now that Clover Farms has grass-fed milk. It left me feeling healthy and bright and wished I lived in the bay area again.
Some days later we were enjoying a glorious private beach in Bandon, when a friend in Texas posted a link which read "Raid of Rawesome, 3 Arrested". I clicked on the link. Well, what do you know -- they had Sharon (my farmer) and Victoria (an employee) in jail. As my son would say, "What the-!"
I immediately started researching, clicking away to find out what all the fuss was about. The Health Department and LAPD had swarmed a buyers club in Venice with guns drawn as if it were a crack den. But no…it was about milk. Really? Over the course of the last year, our very cash-strapped law enforcement agencies have been operating a sting to catch the owners of Healthy Family Farms and Rawesome. Catch them doing what? Oh my goodness -- milking goats and distributing the milk to the owners of the goats. To over-simplify, the Health Department won’t acknowledge the goat owners as the legal owners, so they are saying Rawesome and Healthy Family Farms are CONSPIRING to operate without a license. Well, that will be disputed in court, I’m sure. But what I find amazing is that “milk conspiracy” draws a FELONY charge and a bail higher than violent offenders. I think my jaw may need to be wired shut from the considerable dropping it has been doing in the past 5 days. These are the official charges.
Needless (and annoying) to say, there are some very gray areas here. It will be very interesting to watch it unfold…and I know that support from people like me are critical to a favorable outcome. I was hoping to be at Sharon's arraignment, but learned too late of the time. So instead I feel obligated to blog and email everyone I can think of who might have an impact on this. I hope this event stirs other people to action as well. Too many of us have been standing by for too long.
I take this VERY personally. I get really fired up when someone starts wasting hard earned tax money to mess with my food supply that has taken years to research and discover. A food supply that has enabled me to not just feed my family economically, but also watch them thrive and overcome health issues.
I have a RIGHT to buy milk from the source that I trust and can visit whenever I want.
I have a RIGHT to see how my meat lives before it is sacrificed for my family’s benefit.
I have a RIGHT to take responsibility for my health and not have the government interfere.
What scares me most, is that if Sharon and James are willing to practice their rights in the open with this result, then so many other herd share partners are going to dive deep under ground. They WON’T open their farms to the public. I WON’T be able to see how my meat is raised or my dairy milked. It will be harder to find healthy trust-worthy resources.
As we drove home from Oregon on I-5, I heard about the massive Cargill ground turkey recall, illnesses and death. There was no mention of accountability or arrests. Soon after, we passed by the Harris Ranch feedlots. Massive quantities of over-heated hormone and anti-biotic injected cattle standing on manure piles being fed wads of genetically modified corn and soy. The stink so bad, I swear I could see a hole in the ozone layer. But that…that is legal.
How to Take Action
Educate Yourself:
There are a lot of good documentaries, and websites which provide educational information. But mostly, you should see for yourself. There is a reason why people who eat real food feel so adamant about it…because we reap the benefits!
http://farmageddonmovie.com
http://www.foodincmovie.com/
http://www.ingredientsfilm.com/
http://www.realmilk.com/
Donate:
This organization takes donations to help defend small farms against big government.
http://www.farmtoconsumer.org/
Support:
Websites which help you find local farms in your area. The best way to create change is by making change. Eating organic whole foods does NOT mean you have to spend more money on groceries.
http://www.eatwild.com/
http://www.abundantharvestorganics.com/
http://www.localharvest.org/
Speak Up:
We are only a democracy if we participate.
In addition to blogging, facebooking and twittering…you also should feel free to write to your local representatives to voice your opinion and your rights. It’s also good to check with organizations like Real Milk and Farm to Consumer Defense for bills in the works regarding our food and the impact to small farms. Take note of how your representatives vote and let them know what you think of them – both good and bad.
FDA: http://www.fda.gov/AboutFDA/ContactFDA/default.htm
California Food and Agriculture: http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/Contact_Us.html
Congress/Senate:
http://www.contactingthecongress.org/
https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
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