Monday, May 5, 2008

Gestapo Raid on Raw Milk?

I have read many stories like this before, so it is really no different than the others. What is frustrating to me is how the government barges in the "protect the consumer" when it should really be the consumer that is researching and knowing our options. If you, after researching, decide to drink pasteurized/homogenized milk, then that's your decision. If you, after researching, decide to fully vaccinate your children, then go for it! But these are all areas where the "Nanny State" is taking over and telling us what is best for us and that we shouldn't question what the almighty government has decided for us. Many times they look at those of us that are doing things different than mainstream and call us irresponsible. I beg your pardon, but isn't doing the research for ourselves and making informed decisions make us responsible?

Here's part of the article. You can read the whole article here. After you do, please go and vote on the poll!

A rally has been set for tomorrow in front of the magistrate's office in Mt. Holly, Pa., in support of a Mennonite farmer who has brought the wrath of the government on himself for selling raw milk and other products – an act government prosecutors say violates a number of regulations.

That's when the next court hearing is scheduled for Mark Nolt, a Pennsylvania farmer who turned in his state permit to sell raw milk because it didn't allow for the sale of the other products he offered.

"They swooped in ... like a bunch of Vikings, handcuffed me and stole $30,000 worth of my milk, cheese and butter," he told the New York Daily News.

His case is just an example of what the government is trying to do to those who believe – based on medical results – that raw milk is better for them than the processed milk available in most grocery stores, according to Nolt's supporters.

Processed milk, many believe, leads to clogged arteries, strokes and heart attacks.

Jonas Stoltzfus, a fellow farmer and member of the Church of the Brethren, was asked to be a spokesman for Nolt, and confirmed, "Six state troopers and Bill Chirdon of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture trespassed onto his property, and stole $20,000-$250,000 of his product and equipment."

Stoltzfus reported Nolt turned in his state permit to sell raw milk "because it did not cover all the products he was selling. he felt he was being dishonest selling stuff that was not covered by the permit."

Stoltzfus said authorities told Nolt people had gotten sick from eating his food, "but no one ever came forward and no proof was ever offered."

"This is a Gestapo raid," Stoltzfus told the blog report, "complete with state troopers, raiding a hard-working farmer selling milk to friends and customers."

The Daily News reported the farmer's customers were enraged.

1 comment:

Kristen said...

the government wants to protect us from everything except itself (the scariest enemy of all).