During the Farm Food Voices event I had the privilege of talking with my friend, Dan Allgyer. Dan is the Amish farmer who was threatened with “inspection” of his farm by the FDA last month.  His alleged crime?  Distributing unprocessed milk to thirsty consumers like myself.

Dan is not alone.  Our family has a long-standing relaltionship with, and appreciation for, the Mark Nolt family over here in south central Pennsylvania.  Mark and his family have endured 3 raids by the FDA and the PDA.  Three times this family was invaded with a gun-toting police force and dozens of government officials, all bent on destroying the Nolt family’s ability to function as an independent farm.  Three times truckloads of clean,nutritious food were hauled off to the land fill.  On one of those occasions Mark was taken away in a police car in handcuffs, and chained to the wall of a holding cell for hours.  The crime?  Not allowing the government to have control of how the farm operates, what the farm produces, or the foods that are sold to private citizens like myself.

In October of 2008 Richard Hebron was pulled over by the state police, on his way to deliver food to the co-op which he and several other farm families supply.  The Michigan Dept. of Agriculture didn’t like the cooperative’s arrangements to supply its members with raw milk, cream, butter, kefir and yogurt.  So they “infiltrated” the organization, gathering evidence until they felt they had enough to make a case.  Along with all of the product on the truck, Richard’s home was searched with all of his computers, cell phones, and business records being confiscated as well.  This raid directly affected many families, including the 3 farms which were effectively out of business for a time.  In Richard’s own words, “We don’t get unemployment checks”.

Then there was Manna Storehouse in LaGrange, Ohio.  Here’s a quote from The Bovine, a popular blog:  ”On December 1, 2008 an unthinkable scenario happened on a quiet farmstead in rural Ohio. Armed men broke in and with their guns forced the women and children into their living room where they were contained for 8 hours. They sat helpless while their house was torn apart and many personal items were taken. This terrifying raid wasn’t terrorism or burglary. It was your tax dollars at work…”  The Stower’s crime?  Operating a retail establishment without a license.  The problem with this is that they are not a retail establishment all, but a private cooperative.  And they had already jumped through hoops to prove that to the state of Ohio.

These could be my kids-but they’re not!

Oh!  And there is more, still more!  How about Wilderness Family Naturals in northern Minnesota.  They have been terrorized by the FDA  over the sale of coconut products.  They, too, have had to go to extreme, and very costly, measures to stay in business.  They had to agree to terms with which they were not at all happy (such as even alluding to, in any way, shape or form, the health benefits of coconut oil), under threat of imprisonment and the loss of their children.

Then there are the numerous incidents of false accusations of food born illnesses due to raw milk.  This was the original due cause for the first raid on the Nolt farm.  Trouble is, those 3 sickened Virginia customers did not exist.  Just as the tests have repeatedly shown in case after case of

“contaminated” milk from many farms across this country; non-existant pathogens.  But after the headlines of sickened people and pleas from officials to dump the milk in our refrigerators, have we ever really noticed a retraction?

I could go on and on.  Alternative practitioners being raided, shut down, drug through court.  Foods and natural remedies being villanized.  Nutritional supplements being accused of causing death and illness, or categorized as “drugs”, in order to place them under the jurisdiction of the FDA.  This is madness!

But do you know what makes all of this even more insane?  It is perfectly legal, encouraged even,  to give a kid a pop tart or sugary cereal for breakfast, hand him a twinkie and a coke,and then pop a pharmaceutical into his mouth for whatever disease or disorder he is suffering as a result of all the rotten stuff given him as “food”.  Kevin Brown put it well the other day when he said, “It’s illegal to be healthy!”.

I am a people watcher.  One of the things which I often notice, and am disgusted by, is the state of non-health exhibited by the vast majority of people I encounter in the world.  When I was growing up in the 60′s I do not recall seeing so many sick people on the street!  So many motorized carts carrying people down grocery store aisles laden with processed junk!  Morbid obesity.  Acne-covered faces.  People in oxygen masks.  Lines at the prescription counter.  Fat kids.  Crazy, uncontrollable kids. Drugged, dazed looks.

But it is illegal to drink raw milk?  For a business to make a claim that coconut oil might actually be beneficial for our health?  For a few families to form a cooperative to purchase nutritious foods?  For a doctor to prescribe cod liver oil and other nutrients-foods?  This is what caused my own cherished doctor to close his doors.  What a shame!

People, we need to wake up.  We have a crisis in this country, and the only thing that can fix it is real food!  But so long as people linger in apathy and let the bullies win, we are sunk!

So please, I beg you-stand up for what is right!  Support your local farmer, refuse the drugs, stay in contact with your law makers, and reclaim what is rightfully yours, and ours:  health!