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Title: Amish Ohio Farmer in Court After Selling Raw Milk to Undercover Agent; Disputes Milk Law
Source:
Associated Press
URL Source: http://abcnews.go.com/US/print?id=2128458
Published: Jun 28, 2006
Author: Associated Press
Post Date: 2006-06-28 11:29:13 by Brian S
Keywords: None
Views: 217
Comments: 22
MOUNT HOPE, Ohio - Arlie Stutzman was busted in a rare sting when an undercover agent bought raw milk from the Amish dairy farmer in an unlabeled container. Now, Stutzman is fighting the law that forbids the sale of raw milk, saying he believes it violates his religious beliefs because it prohibits him from sharing the milk he produces with others. "While I can and I have food, I'll share it," said Stutzman, who is due in Holmes County Common Pleas Court on Friday to tell a judge his views. "Do unto others what you would have others do unto you." Last September, a man came to Stutzman's weathered, two-story farmhouse, located in a pastoral region in northeast Ohio that has the world's largest Amish settlement. The man asked for milk. Stutzman was leery, but agreed to fill up the man's plastic container from a 250-gallon stainless steel tank in the milkhouse. After the creamy white, unpasteurized milk flowed into the container, the man, an undercover agent from the Ohio Department of Agriculture, gave Stutzman two dollars and left. The department revoked Stutzman's license in February. In April, he got a new license, which allows him to sell to cheese houses and dairies, but received a warning not to sell raw milk to consumers again. "You can't just give milk away to someone other then yourself. It's a violation of the law," said LeeAnne Mizer, spokeswoman for the department. Organizations from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to the American Dairy Association have said that raw milk contains health risks because it has not been heated to kill bacteria, such as E. coli. Regulators want Judge Thomas D. White to formally order Stutzman to comply with dairy laws. Stutzman said he is fighting the request on principle, saying he should be able to share his milk. Stutzman's Amish faith places an emphasis on the community. To preserve their lifestyle, the Amish avoid the use of electricity and automobile ownership, which would allow the outside world to enter unabated into their culture. The Amish typically do not get involved in politics, unless laws impede their ability to make a living or follow their religious beliefs. Stutzman said he is getting some community support. "It shows he's not going to be intimidated and he's going to do what he thinks is the right thing," said his attorney, Gary Cox. State officials said they sent the agent to his farm because they received a tip from an anonymous neighbor about raw milk sales. Stutzman, however, said he believes he was targeted because his cows are partly owned by a group of 150 families in what is known as a herd share agreement. Members pay him a fee for the cows and are entitled to a portion of the milk. Sales of raw milk are illegal in Ohio and 24 other states. But herd share agreements take advantage of a loophole because the group is buying the cows, not the milk. Groups such as the Weston A. Price Foundation, which is dedicated to restoring nutrient-dense foods to people's diets, advocate the consumption of raw milk, saying pasteurization diminishes vitamin content and kills beneficial bacteria. For Stutzman, the herd share agreement gives him an outlet for his extra milk. He also enjoys sharing his product with others who would otherwise not have access to it. "We know people are deprived of this real food," he said. U.S. Food and Drug Administration: http://www.fda.gov/ Weston A. Price Foundation: http://www.realmilk.com/
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#1. To: ALL (#0)
Groups such as the Weston A. Price Foundation, which is dedicated to restoring nutrient-dense foods to people's diets, advocate the consumption of raw milk, saying pasteurization diminishes vitamin content and kills beneficial bacteria. it's contraband!
Back i n the good old ranching days, I had a milk cow. She had been Bangs vaccinated to prevent Brucellosis in livestock, and undulant fever in humans. I sold raw milk and eggs. There is absolutely no comparing raw milk to that crap they call 'milk' sold in the stores under the moniker of 'whole milk', or *gag* 'skim milk', or *gag* '2% milk'!!! They heat up that 'stuff' and remove most/all of the cream! Raw milk kept in glass containers refrigerated is the coldest, most delicious milk........put that with a peanut butter and homemade jelly sandwich and you're in heaven, right up there on Cloud 9.
Entrapment. It's also a good reason revenooers need to be tarred and feathered again. A few tarrings and featherings would make the job very unattractive.
"All of the rabbis appeared on my behalf, the ADL guy appeared on my behalf. Finally they voted to let me in." Well, Orthodox Jews can give blowjobs to newborn baby boys after circumcism, but this guy ends up in court for selling raw milk as part of his religious beliefs?
"Benjamin Franklin was shown the new American constitution, and he said, 'I don't like it, but I will vote for it because we need something right now. But this constitution in time will fail, as all such efforts do. And it will fail because of the corruption of the people, in a general sense.' And that is what it has come to now, exactly as Franklin predicted." -- Gore Vidal
Yeah......can't have da people consuming good, natural stuff!!! Gads, I used to make my own REAL butter, separate some heavy cream for making ice cream or whip cream, and I made cheeses! And my chickens' eggs had the most deep golden yolks.......and better yet, there was no 'smell' attached to them due to aging. Commercially available eggs have been stored up to 6 months under refrigeration. The more they age, the paler 'yellow' the yoke is. Had a city SIL visit the ranch. She wasn't going to eat any eggs because they looked funny. She also thought we milked the beef cows! :(
I read several weeks ago "they" are trying to stop farm-fresh private egg sells also. Haven't heard any followup lately, however.
'Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.'
There you have it. The law is an ass.
I sure as hell hope not. Those things they sell at the supermarket in no way compares to the brown eggs we get from the Amish. The Amish have free range chickens and eat a natural (lots of Omega 3s)diet with no damn antibiotics and crap. Deep yellow double yolks.
My next door neighbor keeps us supplies with eggs. He is not Amish but a Mother Jones hippy that keeps the chemicals out. He just started raising goats about 6 months ago. Amazing how they can cleanup an overgrown pasture. Guess there is good money now in goats with the foreigner demand for goat meat.
'Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.'
My in-laws did the goat thing for awhile. oddly..they wound up eating the damn things....and they're rich..lol..odd, but rich.
Oh, no doubt...........can't have some silly little ol lady collecting 50 cents a dozen for extra eggs now, can we! It is so much better for her to volunteer as a grandparent so that they can be a PAID VOLUNTEER....another one of those oxymoronic things. And if it's a younger person, they could pay them to be a big brother or big sister! Anything, just so gubmint is in our faces. Goodness knows, some little ol lady that can think up some hair-brained idea to SELL eggs just might become competition for the commerical egg producers, like Hamilton Egg. Can't have her and her silly dozen eggs competing at a regional or national level!!! Using that grey matter is dangerous bidness.
Goats are wonder machines for cleaning up brushy pastureland and along creekbeds and river bottoms. There is something in the woody pulp fiber that they go bonkers over--like an addiction. I want to say it is tanin, but that doesn't sound quite right. I've seen goats totally ignore a plant like canadian thistle til it blooms, and then they start their ritual attack. Starting at the bloom which they manage to nip off without the sticky thistle getting them. Then they start peeling the layers of the plant off all the way to the ground. Where the plant has been growing to about 5 ft in height, the year after they do othis, it is perhaps 3' tall; they do the same thing; and the following year, it gets to perhaps 12" tall; and they actually kill it out with this severe pruning they do. I've even had goats that would bypass corn (grain) in favor of sprigs of spotted knapweed! And yes, there is definitely a market nowadays for goat meat. When I/we lived in So=Cal, we had close friends who as a family of 12 kids bought a 5 acre ranchette for their parents, who immigrated to Kings Ranch in Texas back in the 1910 - 1920 era. We were invited to so many of their family get togethers. My husband worked with several of the boys who had construction businesses--hubby was a purchasing agent as well as general contractor at the time. Some of the finest eating around is to dig a pit, wrap goat meat in burlap and put in the pit to slow cook. When it is done, it is so tender, you can literally cut it with a fork. And then you sprinkle some home made salsa over it, and serve with all sorts of delicious dishes like tamales, refried beans, enchiladas, etc.
Thank God! My in-laws are normal then. They were the first people I ever heard who had eaten goats.
Free-ranging is a major key. The chickens are happier, too. Ours lived for the times when my husband would plow up a field! Soon as daylight came, they were ready to get out of the coop and out to the field to hunt for those lovely, overly plump earthworms and various bugs. The great ones for bugs are banties--plus they're delightful to watch! I also fed my chickens the whey from when I made cheese. They would damn near drink that over water anytime. Hogs are big lovers of whey, but after the first batch we raised, I said never again. D-I-V-O-R-C-E-D over B-A-C-0-N was not acceptable to my hubby.
If people were given nutrient dense food, they'd be strong, healthy, and of course, free of diseases and ailments. Nutrient deficient food, creates dependence, and a need for replenishment of nutrients that people AREN'T getting from their food sources. There in lies the rub. They say that it's for our own good, that we should be thankful for their watchful eye, and yet claiming that they are the solution, when in fact that they are the problem. I realize that people have to be protected from unscrupulous farmers who might sell you something crappy, but there's one thing you can count on in the Amish Community. You don't get any bullshit from them, and you certainly don't have to worry about them screwing you over. It's just not in them, and it's not their way. In a lot of ways I applaud them for what they do, and what lives they've chosen, I just wish their morality would bleed back into the mainstream.
#2. To: Brian S (#0)
#3. To: Brian S (#0)
Last September, a man came to Stutzman's weathered, two-story farmhouse, located in a pastoral region in northeast Ohio that has the world's largest Amish settlement. The man asked for milk.
-Warren Buffett on his membership at Highland Country Club
#4. To: Brian S (#0)
#5. To: christine (#1)
#6. To: rowdee (#2)
I sold raw milk and eggs.
#7. To: Brian S (#0)
"You can't just give milk away to someone other then yourself. It's a violation of the law," said LeeAnne Mizer, spokeswoman for the department.
Gods, my gods! How sad the evening earth!
#8. To: Brian S (#6)
I read several weeks ago "they" are trying to stop farm-fresh private egg sells also.
#9. To: Grumble Jones (#8)
Deep yellow double yolks.
#10. To: Brian S (#9)
Guess there is good money now in goats with the foreigner
#11. To: Brian S (#6)
#12. To: Brian S, Grumble Jones (#9)
#13. To: rowdee (#12)
Some of the finest eating around is to dig a pit, wrap goat meat in burlap and put in the pit to slow cook. When it is done, it is so tender, you can literally cut it with a fork.
#14. To: Grumble Jones (#8)
The Amish have free range chickens and eat a natural (lots of Omega 3s)diet with no damn antibiotics and crap.
#15. To: Brian S (#0)
 | What's that Mr. Nipples? You want me to ask the nice lady about her rack?. |
#16. To: rowdee (#14)
I'm wondering where you get free range peeps for Easter.
| What's that Mr. Nipples? You want me to ask the nice lady about her rack?. |
#17. To: Grumble Jones (#13)
When I lived in Montana, we brought in some Angora Goats to diversify the ranch products. Goat meat BBQ is big in Texas. Naturally when you have farm animals, they generally are produced half boys and half girls. And you certainly don't need all the boys, so it was necessary to find markets for the many unwanted boys. Markets included food source, as well as weed patrol. With food source, it needed to develop recipes, etc. I wound up starting the Montana Mohair Producers Association to develop these markets, as well as markets for breeding stock, and the biggie--sale of MOHAIR and transportation of same. Where I live now there is a couple that have 'cashmere' weed patrol goats. They put the goats out to various farms/ranches where they are trying to control weeds or unwanted bottomland growth. They must have about 400 of these critters. And naturally there comes a time when you have to sell off some critters. I was able to point her in the direction of Washington State as possible markets for goat meat. It's been worthwhile for them.
#18. To: TommyTheMadArtist (#16)
It's possible the Amish, if they have hens that have hatched out chicks, or if they use brooders (but I think they need electricity for that) would have some available. I would think it would be the individual farmer who decides if his chickens roam freely or if they are in a more confined setup. And by confined, I don't mean stuck in a commercial little cage. Even when my chickens were penned up, they were able to roam in a chicken yard of good size; they weren't on each others' nerves! Usually, the chickens preferred being out where the action was, rather than the back yard, so there really wasn't a 'poop' problem. The same, unfortunately, couldn't be said for the damned geese who we got to keep way down at the creek, but who would beat us back to the house after we'd walk them back down there. They didn't last very long at our place--I found a new home further out than us.
#19. To: TommyTheMadArtist (#15)
I live in the heart of Amish country. We buy almost all our meat, produce etc. from them. You can't beat the price and it tastes like the stuff I had when I was a kid. The bacon is unreal.
you can count on in the Amish Community.
#20. To: Grumble Jones (#19)
I love bacon! I just prefer that someone else raises it! There is nothing like home grown foodstuffs. And while generally it can be said, 'we know what goes into growing them', it isn't exactly 100% true. Take for instance, my milk cow's grain............. One time I purchased three 80 lb bags of 3-way, or corn, wheat, barley, rolled (or cracked) with molasses mixed in. Went to milk the ol gal that evening. Soon as she stuck her head in the staunchion to get a taste of the grain, she let out the most ungodly squeal and pulled out of the staunchion before I could get it shut. I calmed her and tried it again, with the same result. Backed her out. Emptied the grain bin. Opened the next bag.......same story! Ditto this routine with the 3rd bag. So, I grabbed some of the grain for the steer we were feeding up and tried that. Bess was a happy camper. Let down her milk and I cleaned her out. Took the label off the bag that I had already dumped into the big bin (easier to dip out of) and the next morning called the feed supply store. They said they'd track it down. They sure did. Within hours, they had called me back with the story. The mill had run some bloodmeal thru before the run they did on the 3-way and apparently, there was enough of that (the machinery was not cleaned between runs) that it caused her to act as she did. They only asked that I bring the 3 labels back and they'd replace them--they had no idea what to do with the bad stuff. I still marvel that a cow or bovine could make that sort of squealing sound that she did!
The bacon is unreal.
#21. To: rowdee (#18)
I was actually making a joke about the Marshmallow Peeps you get during Easter.
| What's that Mr. Nipples? You want me to ask the nice lady about her rack?. |
#22. To: TommyTheMadArtist (#21)
*blush* Peepers used to be my favorite 'dessert'.
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