Serve warrant on farmer up to milk cows
Bob Unruh
WorldNetDaily
4/22/2010
Federal agents invaded an Amish farm in Pennsylvania at 5 a.m. to inspect cow-milking facilities then followed up the next day with a written notice that the farmer was engaged in interstate sale of raw milk in violation of the Public Health Services Act.
A failure to correct the situation could result in “seizure and/or injunction,” the warning letter from Kirk Sooter, district director of the Philadelphia office of the Department of Health and Human Services, told farmer Dan Allgyer of Kinzers, Pa., on Wednesday.
The farm invaded Tuesday is the one agents visited in February, driving past “Private Property” signs to demand Allgyer open his property for their inspection, saying, “You have cows. You produce food for human consumption.”
The case is being publicized by the National Independent Consumers and Farmers Association, which promotes traditional methods of linking farmers with consumers.
Spokeswoman Deborah Stockton told WND Allgyer “is the type of farmer who exemplifies what we are trying to restore.” On her organization’s website is the commitment “to promote and preserve unregulated direct farmer-to-consumer trade that fosters availability of locally grown or home-produced food products.”
She reported she got details directly from Allgyer of Tuesday’s early-morning inspection, which highlights the growing conflict between farmers who want to provide health food locally and federal regulators…
…Stockton warned the requirement now is for federal agents to claim they have “credible evidence” regarding a case, but a proposed federal change would strike those words in the law and replace them with “reason to believe.”
“The phrase ‘reason to believe’ would be inserted 14 times into the code with S. 510,” she said. “If this bill goes through, the FDA will have control of farms. They will not need ‘credible evidence’ to act. They will essentially be given a free hand to act as they want. And look at how they already act, even with the existing constraints in place.”…
The article continues at WorldNetDaily.
