Moms rally to defend raw food club after federal raid

[marmar]

from Grist:



Private food clubs and small producers of raw milk and cheese have witnessed all manner of regulatory and legal interference in recent years -- confiscation of raw milk deliveries, quarantining of raw milk, searches of dairies carried out by armed state and federal agents, shutdown of cheese plants. But last week's multi-agency assault on Rawesome Food Club in Venice, Calif., marked the first time individuals associated with a food club or a small farm had actually been thrown into jail, in this case charged with 13 felonies and misdemeanors, and held on high bail (requested between $60,000 and $130,000).

The Los Angeles County district attorney issued a criminal complaint, growing out of a year-and-a-half undercover operation, against James Stewart, the manager of Rawesome, along with Sharon Palmer, the owner of a farm that supplied Rawesome with eggs and chickens, and Victoria Bloch, an assistant to Palmer. The judge who finally released Stewart and Bloch (Stewart on $30,000 bail and Bloch on her own recognizance) clamped gag orders on the two and prohibited Stewart from being involved in raw milk sales and distribution. (Palmer was released separately, on $60,000 bail, a few days later.) The judge also indicated that Rawesome, because it had no permits (based on its contention that it is a private club), might be a legitimate target of Los Angeles officials aiming to shut it down.

Needless to say, many of the 2,000-plus members of Rawesome are extremely upset. Now, they have joined forces with members of a Maryland food club, Grassfed on the Hill, to form a new national association of food clubs, the Farm Food Freedom Coalition, intended to fight the federal and state crackdowns on private food groups and farmers. Grassfed on the Hill was hit with a 13-month undercover investigation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that resulted in an Amish farmer in Pennsylvania being sued in U.S. District Court, with the U.S. Justice Department seeking a permanent injunction preventing him from supplying the Maryland club. ............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.grist.org/food/2011-08-11-moms-rally-defend-raw-food-club-federal-raid

[zappaman]

1. The Venice one was shutdown because...

...they've operated w/o a business license for 6 years.
not to mention...
http://www.unhealthyfamilyfarm.com/evidence.html

[FLAprogressive]

2. +1

[madrchsod]

5. wow...these guys need to be locked away.

[Purveyor]

3. No, No, No. You people are to stupid to make decisions for yourself. Cargill, ADM, Tyson, ConAgra

et al.

Those companies have your best interests in mind and delivery you quality products, day after day, month after month, year after year.

:sarcasm:

[ChrisBorg]

4. Um, not to be Captain Obvious, but....that would be TOO stupid.

[zappaman]

6. +1 n/t

[saras]

7. They found a really toxic, corrupt company. It will suck if it is used to smear raw foods...

...but it rather seems like that's the intention of many commenters all over, and not just the prosecution.

If capitalism is really failing, one of the things we will need to do is adapt a whole bunch of laws to allow people to form alternative organizations to get things done, but see that the appropriate oversight is provided. I don't have a problem with anything that Rawsome was doing as an organization - just their lying about what they were selling, and maintaining unsafe conditions. Neither of these are specific to either this company or to raw foods, they're just illegal things that companies in the food business can do, and neither should be tolerated in food suppliers.

In the big picture, then, my question is how should members in a club like this ensure its safety and honesty without attempting to force it into the mold of a business, and thereby lose its ability to value its purpose as a club over profit.

[AngkorWot]

8. What a bunch of nuts.

[The Northerner]

9. It's disgraceful to read that such nonsensical raids occur