Five tips for surviving a raid on your farm.

[archerships]

When the 20 agents arrived bearing a search warrant at her Ventura County farmhouse door at 7 a.m. on a Wednesday a couple weeks back, Sharon Palmer didn't know what to say. This was the third time she was being raided in 18 months, and she had thought she was on her way to resolving the problem over labeling of her goat cheese that prompted the other two raids. (In addition to producing goat's milk, she raises cattle, pigs, and chickens, and makes the meat available via a CSA.)

But her 12-year-old daughter, Jasmine, wasn't the least bit tongue-tied. "She started back-talking to them," recalls Palmer. "She said, 'If you take my computer again, I can't do my homework.' This would be the third computer we will have lost. I still haven't gotten the computers back that they took in the previous two raids."

As part of a five-hour-plus search of her barn and home, the agents -- from the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office, Los Angeles County Sheriff, Ventura County Sheriff, and the California Department of Food and Agriculture -- took the replacement computer, along with milk she feeds her chickens and pigs.  

via grist.org

Via flutterby. Would that they granted the same freedom to others that they claim for themselves. Unfortunately, no doubt many of the liberal hippies who buy from these farms cheer when the FDA cracks down on trans fats and cigarettes.

Posted via email from crasch's posterous

Comments

[denshi.livejournal.com]

Just for the record, "requiring proper labeling of trans fats et al" is not equivalent to "raiding and seizing everything in sight".

Scapegoat much?

[crasch.livejournal.com]

If it the law merely required proper labeling of trans fats I would have little objection. However, many cities have banned trans fats altogether, which seems quite comparable to the bans on raw milk.

[denshi.livejournal.com]

Can you think of a good reason to serve something toxic that has no other taste or nutritional benefits to the consumer, whose distinguishing feature is that it is slightly cheaper for the producer?

Are you weeping buckets for the lost days of leaded gasoline?

[denshi.livejournal.com]

PS: if trans-fat chemistry is a big question mark to you, read up on chirality and enzymes.

[fitfool.livejournal.com]

I avoid trans fats but at the same time, the advantages that it gives the producers are sometimes shared by the consumer. Trans fats are cheap, have great mouth feel, and have a long shelf-life. Those were all pluses in my book. I still miss some of the junk food I won't let myself eat now that I know about the health risks -- and occasionally will go ahead and indulge in something even though I know it has trans fats because I like Tim Tams or Rolos or whatever I was craving. I know it's not good for me but I hope that ingested very sparingly, it won't be too bad for me. And I do believe people should have the right to make bad choices if it only affects them. Same as I support smokers' right to smoke even though I abhor the smell of cigarette
smoke. All that said, I think they're coming down way too hard on the raw milk producers (those raids seem like overkill). Banning trans fats makes me happy since I hope that means they would start making those same treats without the trans fats. And I can't imagine them kicking down doors at a Starbucks because they heard they were selling baked goods with trans fats in them.

[denshi.livejournal.com]

To reinforce my evil-progressive-hippie-status: I'm not all that bothered by bans on petrochemicals in the food supply. Kind of glad, actually.