{"id":2741,"date":"2012-05-11T22:37:59","date_gmt":"2012-05-12T03:37:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/realfoodhouston.com\/?p=2741"},"modified":"2012-07-18T15:20:57","modified_gmt":"2012-07-18T20:20:57","slug":"minnesota-threatens-mothers-with-criminal-charges-for-distributing-farm-fresh-food","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.realfoodhouston.com\/wp-files\/2012\/05\/11\/minnesota-threatens-mothers-with-criminal-charges-for-distributing-farm-fresh-food\/","title":{"rendered":"Minnesota threatens mothers with criminal charges for distributing farm fresh food"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Pastured<\/a>

Pastured dairy cow<\/p><\/div>\n

Many years ago, when my children were small, I belonged to several food co-ops, including a vegetable and fruit co-op and a cheese co-op.\u00a0These co-ops were made up of twelve families each who would take turns\u00a0driving to\u00a0the farmers market or cheese warehouse, selecting and picking up the foods, and separating them into twelve piles for distribution to other co-op members.\u00a0\u00a0We were a distribution point, but, when it was our turn, we also collected the weeks fees, and bought the produce.\u00a0 It\u00a0was for our mutual convenience to reduce the number of trips we each had to make to the farmers market.\u00a0\u00a0Well, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA)\u00a0has apparently decided that such cooperative and convenient activities are classified as “selling” and are illegal.\u00a0 They have sent\u00a0letters to several Minnesota families threatening penalties and criminal charges if they don’t stop distributing the food.<\/p>\n

Up until now most federal and state\u00a0government agency actions–the raids, threats, confiscations, and\u00a0criminal charges–have been limited to the farmer or food club managers, but Minnesota has expanded these actions by investigating and\u00a0threatening\u00a0the\u00a0consumers\u00a0with criminal charges.\u00a0\u00a0What was their crime?\u00a0 What dangerous product\u00a0were they distributing?<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0They\u00a0were allowing a farmer<\/em>, Michael Hartmann,\u00a0to drop off raw milk and other fresh farm products for more convenient pick up by customers.\u00a0 Yes, just\u00a0fresh, healthy food–no drugs or dangerous chemicals–just\u00a0REAL FOOD.\u00a0 In other words, they were\u00a0a co-op, they weren’t producing or\u00a0selling the farm products,\u00a0they were\u00a0serving as\u00a0distribution points for the convenience of the farmer and his customers.\u00a0 However, the MDA has chosen to characterize<\/a> the distribution as “selling from your residence . . .without a license.”\u00a0 The letters threatened “administrative penalties, criminal prosecution, or other enforcement remedies” if the “consumers continue to sell or distribute unpasteurized or other foods illegally. . .”\u00a0 One of the letters’ recipients, Melinda Olson,\u00a0says “The MDA’s harassment against mothers will not work. We plan to ignore this warning and continue operating as we are.”\u00a0 David Gumpert of The Complete Patient<\/em> thinks that the MDA<\/a>\u00a0“is betting that it can outmaneuver the consumers, or wear them down, in a protracted legal battle.”<\/p>\n

Listen to Melinda Olson\u00a0talk about the situation in Minnesota:<\/p>\n


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Another Minnesota\u00a0farmer. Alvin Schlangen,\u00a0has been charged with four misdemeanors for “handling of food without a permit, mislabeling food, and handling unprocessed, fresh milk, which is a crime according to the MDA.”\u00a0 Schlangen sells poultry and eggs produced on his own farm, but he also manages\u00a0the Freedom Farms Coop, a private food\u00a0club serving\u00a0only member families, and delivers raw dairy products and other\u00a0foods to club members.\u00a0 All the food club products that he delivers are to members who lease the cows, and there has never been anyone made sick from any of the food he produces or delivers.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In response to the charges against Schlangen\u00a0and the threatening letters from the MDA, the Farm Food Freedom Coalition<\/a> is planning a rally on Monday, May 14, at 7:00 am outside the courthouse on the first day of his criminal trial.<\/p>\n

Alvin Schlangen describes farm and co-op:<\/p>\n

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Why are the threatening letters from the MDA\u00a0important to people who don’t live in Minnesota?\u00a0 Do you believe similar\u00a0attacks couldn’t happen in your state?\u00a0 As has happened in other states<\/a>, it’s likely that the driving force, at least the encouragement,\u00a0behind the MDA actions is the FDA.\u00a0 If\u00a0the MDA\u00a0strategy of harrassing and wearing down\u00a0consumers, and not just\u00a0farmers,\u00a0works\u00a0well in Minnesota, what\u00a0do you think will happen to food access elsewhere?\u00a0 Don’t you think the FDA and other states’ agencies will be emboldened to try\u00a0similar tactics?\u00a0 What can\u00a0we do?\u00a0\u00a0If we want to continue to have access to healthy REAL foods of our choice,\u00a0we\u00a0need to\u00a0support and stand behind the Minnesota mothers and families\u00a0who are brave enough to defy official oppression.\u00a0 We need to speak out about why we support them.\u00a0 We\u00a0need to publicize\u00a0the\u00a0MDA attacks on food freedom.\u00a0 What will you do?<\/p>\n

Sources and more information:<\/em><\/p>\n

Minnesota Farmer Being Treated as a Criminal for Serving His Community<\/a>
\nMore MN Consumers Threatened by MDA–and a New Kind of Chess Game Takes Shape<\/a>
\nFood Freedom on Trial in Minnesota<\/a>
\nMothers Threatened with Criminal Charges Openly Defy MDA<\/a>
\nMDA letter to Brad & Melinda Olson<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many years ago, when my children were small, I belonged to several food co-ops, including a vegetable and fruit co-op and a cheese co-op.\u00a0These co-ops were made up of twelve families each who would take turns\u00a0driving to\u00a0the farmers market or …<\/span> Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[16,11,17,6,19,136],"tags":[26,25,84,38,24,31],"class_list":["post-2741","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-food-freedom","category-food-rights","category-local-farming","category-raw-milk","category-real-food","category-sustainable-farming-2","tag-food-freedom-2","tag-food-rights-2","tag-health-2","tag-local-food","tag-raw-milk-2","tag-sustainable-farming"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p70SEj-Id","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realfoodhouston.com\/wp-files\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2741","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realfoodhouston.com\/wp-files\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realfoodhouston.com\/wp-files\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realfoodhouston.com\/wp-files\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realfoodhouston.com\/wp-files\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2741"}],"version-history":[{"count":25,"href":"http:\/\/www.realfoodhouston.com\/wp-files\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2741\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2765,"href":"http:\/\/www.realfoodhouston.com\/wp-files\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2741\/revisions\/2765"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realfoodhouston.com\/wp-files\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2741"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realfoodhouston.com\/wp-files\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2741"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realfoodhouston.com\/wp-files\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2741"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}