Friday 27 April 2012

Farmageddon - A Documentary


Well - if you want to watch an interesting documentary about how the US Government is harrassing those US citizens who’ve made a conscious choice to farm and/or consume their own produce (and specifically raw milk which gets them quite excited it would seem) - this is worth a watch.
Apparently there are only about 28 states in the US that allow raw milk to be produced and sold (for personal consumption).  In addition, the only natural product that is policed as much as raw milk apparently is marijuana!  It’s also completely illegal to transport raw milk across state lines - and this is true of any state.
As a result, one of the farms in Georgia with a loyal customer base some of whom used to purchase the milk and take it home to a neighbouring state, got raided, and the USDA and FDA insisted all raw milk stocks be destroyed in their presence.  Because of this, the farm that was based in Athens, Georgia decided to take this to court in an attempt to have the law changed to allow raw milk to cross state lines.
The FDA moved the court to dismiss the case and in its motion stated that,
a) there is no absolute right to consume or feed children any particular food; and
b) there is no generalized right to bodily and physical health
Is that not incredible?  Not only their points above but the fact that the FDA (Federal DRUG administration) should have a say in whether or not people should buy and consume fresh food farmed and produced locally.
As one of the complainants stated - even if you were to get sick from the produce at least you know where it comes from and can trace it back to the animal within a matter of minutes - how long do you suppose it takes to track the animal your milk came from if you purchased it pasteurized from a supermarket chain?
I’m not saying everyone should drink raw milk but I am saying if a product like Cheetos (I have been partial to them in my time but I challenge anyone to dispute the fact that they are more poisonous than raw milk) is readily available and allowed to cross state lines - surely fresh raw (sensibly produced) milk should be as readily available.
In closing, I would suggest that the fact that the FDA state that “there is no generalized right to bodily and physical health” is an acknowledgement (and in a sense an admission) that raw milk or fresh farmed food in general is going to encourage bodily and physical health - surely that’s something worth fighting for! (and so I also include a photo of our lovely mustard greens growing the our backyard - no cows or raw milk yet - soon come as they say over here!:))


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