Millions of border jumpers; WWIII starts; a Trump-Biden rematch coming... So clearly, it's time to bust the Amish for selling raw milk!
Armed guards to swarm an Amish organic farm. Yup, those Amish - the peaceniks who grow healthy food.
The Lancaster Online has the full story, some quotes from which I have copied below. The Feds and the Pennsylvania State Government just refuse to leave this guy alone. Amos Miller farms organically, the way the Amish have done for hundreds of years. His “grave sin” in the eyes of Leviathan is his eschewal of the industrial agricultural supply chain. He runs a buying cooperative of fully aware, consenting adults who know what they are buying.
Therefore, the government has been hounding this man mercilessly for years, costing him money he does not have, despite there not being one single complainant or alleged victim of his organic food products. Happy New Year, Amos! State cops have come to steal coolers full of food, including things like bison meat which are not regulated at all. But you know, petty government bureaucrats cannot stand a free man living a life free of their invasive tentacles.
The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture said in a statement that it searched Miller’s farm for “illegal raw milk and raw milk products, including eggnog.” The statement also said Miller has never licensed his retail operation.
Raw milk can be sold in the state only with a permit from the Agriculture Department. Miller does not have a permit to sell raw milk, the department said.
"[T]he Food and Drug Administration said it identified listeria in samples of Miller’s raw milk and found it to be genetically similar to the bacteria in two people who developed listeriosis -- one of whom died -- after consuming raw milk," Lancaster Online reported.
Sheri Morris, acting bureau director of food safety with the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, was reportedly notified by the New York State Health Department about "a confirmed positive case of a foodborne pathogen (STEC – Shiga toxin producing E. Coli) in an underage individual" who supposedly consumed food items sold by Miller, the Lancaster Patriot reported.
Kentucky Republican Congressman Thomas Massie blasted the raid in a post on social media platform X.
"With all of the problems in society today, this is what the government wants to focus on?" Massie wrote, adding, "A man growing food for informed customers, without participating in the industrial meat/milk complex?"
"It’s shameful that it’s come to this," he railed.
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) January 4, 2024
Massie has been active in attempting to craft legislation to allow farmers to sell farm products directly to consumers without being regulated by state and federal officials.
For his part, Miller, whose farm has been raided before, has claimed the rights of a "sovereign citizen" to sell his products to whomever he wants. He has cited the ability of adults to buy his products if they want to, Lancaster Online added. And he is also citing his Amish religion and his right to freedom of religion under the U.S. Constitution.
"Sovereign citizen adherents believe in the legally baseless assertion that individuals, and not courts or lawmakers, can decide what laws to follow," Lancaster Online explained.
Miller's attorney, Robert Barnes, issued a statement about the authorities' attempt to force Miller into compliance, the Patriot reported.
"Today, the Department of Agriculture of the State of Pennsylvania suddenly came, without notice, raided Amos’ farm, and detained everything Amos had in the farm’s freezer. They did so in a lawless manner, without appropriate authority, in violation of their own rules and regulations, despite never objecting to the prior resolutions reached with the federal government, and despite a complete failure by the state to even reach out to Amos’ known counsel," Barnes said.
"The state’s own rules require advance notice, reasonable time frames for inspections, and a showing of credentials, none of which occurred here. Instead, the state unlawfully obtained a search warrant, based on materially false statements in an affidavit by a high-ranking state official in an agency with a known grievance against independent farmers like Amos, and, after the raid and finding no evidence of wrongdoing, then illegally ordered detained every item of food in one of Amos Miller’s coolers, including buffalo meat not even subject to federal regulation," Barnes added.
"The detention order is patently illegal under Pennsylvania law. Despite the constant harassment, Amos will continue to do all he legally can to provide the food his members deeply need. Amos thanks you for your continued support at this critical time for food freedom in America," the attorney concluded.
The situation is certainly a complicated one. Adults absolutely should have the freedom to make deals with farmers directly and skip processing plants and big food producers if they so desire. But state officials also have a responsibility to maintain safety for the public. It is a thorny issue, especially when minors become involved.
In the end, the government must remember that Americans have a right to deal with whomever they wish. But if Miller's chemical-free organic foods were as dangerous as officials say, one would think he would not have any customers left after so many years of being targeted as a public menace.
The State does not object to raw milk being sold. It objects to it being sold without the imprimatur of (and cash paid to) the State.
How much more of this petty, totalitarian bullshit from unaccountable bureaucrats are people going to put up with?
You know Christopher, up here almost all of our home grown cheese, are non pasteurized, nobody has died yet, or fallen sick, for the last umpteen years.
Just saying.....