Loading ...Featured Article THB UndercoverAn Organic Food Bust —Your Tax Dollars at Work!
They came in the late morning, a belligerent gang terrorizing the family with weapons drawn for nearly 6 hours. All of their personal possessions were searched; $10,000 worth of food was taken as were computers and cell phones. Ten of the family members held at gunpoint were children including infants and toddlers.1,2
Did this happen in a backward, lawless Third World country? Were the armed thugs part of a murderous criminal gang cruising the streets for innocent victims? No to both questions. It happened in LaGrange, Ohio in December of 2008. The armed goons were agents from the Ohio Department of Agriculture, the Loraine County Department of Health, and the local police. They had with them the type of search warrant used to bust drug dealers.3
The family’s crime? There doesn’t seem to be one, unless running a successful food co-op for folks who want to save money on bulk purchases of organic food is now against the law.
The co-op called Manna Storehouse has been run by John and Jacqueline Stowers since 1999. It includes 60 regular members who pool their resources and buy in bulk quantities directly from organic growers across the state of Ohio. This enables them to get a discount on the healthiest foods available — beef, pork, eggs, milk, cheese, produce, poultry, and grains —all produced without man-made chemicals, hormones, pesticides, dyes, and additives.
Those of you who are regular readers of Total Health Breakthroughs know that this type of diet is highly recommended by our nutrition experts for optimal health and longevity. And for those people with food allergies, intolerance to chemical additives, and chronic illnesses, it is a life line they can’t afford to lose.
The problem, say the Feds, stems from the fact that the Stowers are selling perishable foods without a retail license to do so. But the Stowers counter that because they are not selling to the general public, only to co-op members who pay a membership fee and agree to take full responsibility for the food they purchase, they are exempt from requiring a license.
Apparently, the Buckeye Institute’s 1851 Center for Constitutional Law agrees. 4 The Institute has filed suit against the Ohio Department of Agriculture and the Lorain County Health Department for violating the constitutional rights of John and Jacqueline Stowers.
They argue that the Stowers (and all citizens) have the right to purchase food directly from local farmers, to distribute locally grown food to neighbors, and to pool their resources — all without a government license to do so. They also state that “…the right of peaceful citizens to be free from paramilitary police raids, searches and seizures is guaranteed under the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution…”
It’s hard to argue with that. And it’s even harder to justify closing down a co-op that allows people to save money and keep themselves healthy with the economic mess we are in and the toxins that keep showing up in commercially grown food.
Isn’t it a no-brainer that the USDA and local health departments could better serve the public by cracking down on commercially raised meat that is shot up with hormones and antibiotics, and grocery-store produce that is contaminated with Listeria and E. coli? Thousands of people are getting sick from unhealthy and tainted foods —and it seems to be getting worse. So, who is being served by shutting down a small privately run co-op that is distributing healthy foods?
I happen to think that Manna Storehouse is a great idea. If there were an organic co-op in my community I would join in a minute for the same reasons that the 60 neighbors in LaGrange, Ohio did – I also think millions of other health-conscious people across the US would love to do the same. Maybe that’s what’s bugging the Feds —people are starting to bypass the system and take responsibility for their own health and nutrition.
As for now, the story of the raid on the Stowers’ farm is far from over —no charges have been filed against them and Manna Storehouse is still in operation —although the local DA’s office is currently working on their case.
One thing is certain. Private citizens and legal rights groups5 alike are up in arms over the government’s intimidation tactics in trying to interfere in direct commerce between farmers and consumers. And with good reason. Our access to healthy lower cost foods and our constitutional rights may both be in danger.
References
- http://www.peacechicken.com/2008/12/05/action-item-swat-raids-co-op-in-rural-ohio/.
- http://thebovine.wordpress.com/2008/12/03/oda-swats-manna-storehouse-co-op/.
- http://www.newswithviews.com/NWV-News/news116.htm.
- http://www.buckeyeinstitute.org/article/1284.
- http://www.ftcldf.org/news/news-18dec2008.htm.
For more great articles like this delivered to your inbox, subscribe to our free natural health newsletter!
Tags: coop, department of agriculture, organic farming, organic food
Rate this article by clicking on the stars below.
(12 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
Loading ...
Hi!
“The armed goons were agents from the Ohio Department of Agriculture, the Loraine County Department of Health, and the local police”.
This is outrageous! I live in Sweden and I want to tell you this; News spread like wildfire and I´m glad that this info reaches people on a global scale!
People should see the movie “Zeitgeist” -and pleace wake up!
My heart reaches to the family that was harrassed in this kind of police state-way!
I hope the people of US will win the battle of injustice!
Best regards,
Entered: March 18th, 2009 at 7:17 am. PermalinkInger Sällström, Sweden.
I was shocked by this article, and am glad the courts are finding in the favor of this family. When I was a child we spent summers in a small town in Illinois, with my paternal grandmother. All the neighbors planned their gardens together, so that someone grew something of everything. Then they traded fruits and vegetables with each other. With the economy the way it is now, and so many people out of work, I can see barter and trade really coming back in style again. It is good to know there is hope we will not be harassed by the powers that be for doing so, although they will surely try to impose a TRADE TAX or some such thing!
Entered: March 18th, 2009 at 7:23 am. PermalinkWith articles like this I can’t help but wonder how soon the GOONS will be shutting down this web site
Entered: March 18th, 2009 at 7:34 am. PermalinkThe folks in Loraine County want to put a wind farm out on Lake Erie .We locavores have enough problems with out big pharma stepping on us.Here in PA, the fight is over raw milk.
Entered: March 18th, 2009 at 7:46 am. PermalinkIf the government keeps pushing people around like this,
Entered: March 18th, 2009 at 8:08 am. Permalinkthey are asking for a revolt.
The Federal Government shouldn’t be putting their noses in our health and nutrition. If the mainstream food was not so chock full of pesticides, herbicides, and other poisons more people would be willing to eat it. The same goes with the drug industry.
Thank goodness for places like Manna Coop…
Entered: March 18th, 2009 at 8:14 am. PermalinkI write similar health articles and the word is getting out. It is important for regular citizens to stand up against this abuse of our governments and the laws they have been given power of. There is no doubt about it, it will come down to a fight…….and the fight is on. Drug companies, medical equipment testing companies and big food interests know the population is much easier to control and profit from when they are dysfunctional. The only way to fight this is for every citizen to take sole responsibility for their personal health. Eat organic, exercise, put down the medications and say no to all purchases that include harmful chemicals. The cure lies in less government, less spending and less of everything! We need to do less to get more. Live clean for it is the only way to live free.
Entered: March 18th, 2009 at 9:04 am. PermalinkI whole heartedly agree with you on this one. The FDA/govt has gone too far again, If they want to reduce the population of the world, why don’t they just shoot us. Why put us thru years of discomfort and pain due to illness that will never be cured because the AMA just keeps pumping more synthetic crap into our systems in the hospitals that never will do us any good, we are not synthetic beings, we are natural beings- “HELLO”? on that one.
Entered: March 18th, 2009 at 9:29 am. PermalinkNon of this surprises me at all. And it wouldn’t surprise anyone who has done their due diligence when it comes to educating themselves as to what is REALLY going on. Big Brother (the Predatory Classes) everywhere need ‘the faithful’ to remain in line for easy milking. Welcome to the “Distortion Matrix”. We don’t need leaders, we need self-leaders. Doesn’t anyone understand the one basic right of harmless responsible Individualism anymore? At least the Stowers are on the right path. The biggest clue here being BB attempt to villainise them. Wake up citizens of Earth…. no I am not alien…. but I am (unlike the masses) greatly bent off the plane of unreality. It’s the contrarian, not the devil in me.
Entered: March 18th, 2009 at 9:54 am. PermalinkThis is a great article that IS informative. It would be nice, however, if there was a petition to sign, in support of this Co-op group, to give to their attorney. I believe that when naturalist people ban together, and form these CO-OPs all over the US. Petitions to the courts would make it much more difficult for the judges to see this type of case through.
I would gather, by the way the article reads, that MONSANTO has a lot to do with this as well. They cannot stand it, when people live naturally because this company owns the food industry. Their GMO’s, pesticides, and chemicals are sprayed and used world-wide; not to mention irradiating the food chain, including all meats, produce and the like. When Monsanto sees any chances for losing even $1.00 of business, they go crazy. If they sue farmers for growing non-GMO crops, swearing falsely that their seed blew over the fence and was crossed with the farmers, then they’ll do something like this as well. Just follow the paperwork, and I’ll bet anything that they are in on and at the bottom of this as well.
Things that need to GO, are: Big Government, FDA, USDA, big PHARMA and MONSANTO dictators, ruling over what people can eat, drink and which supplements we can take; including in all this as well is World Health Organization and CODEX regulations in the US.
Entered: March 18th, 2009 at 10:44 am. PermalinkSo what do we do about it? Is there an organization that petitions the appropriate politicians?
Entered: March 18th, 2009 at 10:51 am. PermalinkThis article is GREAT! I would love to be able to buy organic foods from farmers that have ethics! I wish we had this in Atlanta.
Entered: March 18th, 2009 at 11:07 am. PermalinkWhat is going on here is quite overwhelming and gut wrenching, I might add. I would have loved to have been there to stand up against the morons. We all need to start acting and fast, as in yesterday. It’s in their design to kill us off and I for one am fed up. They are not going to stop. Let’s take a stand, shall we.
Entered: March 18th, 2009 at 11:31 am. PermalinkThis is a classic.
I would like to see the complaint from which the DA was able to secure a search warrant.
Could you please forward this article to our President. I am sure Mr. Obama would find this interesting in light of his recent commentaries regarding peanut butter contamination.
Pat Pawlowski
Entered: March 18th, 2009 at 11:50 am. PermalinkI fully agree with Lea, it is a very informative article.
Entered: March 18th, 2009 at 1:11 pm. PermalinkAnd I am not surprized this went on at all. It’s not the first and it certainly will not be the last.
I really wish there was something we could actually do at grass roots level!
Are you kidding me. I wish had a co-op in my area instead of paying supermarket prices for healthy food!
Entered: March 18th, 2009 at 2:06 pm. PermalinkI wanted to “rate” this 10 out of 10 but, the page suddenly changed to this!
Please, keep us posted!
Entered: March 18th, 2009 at 4:59 pm. PermalinkWell, knowing that a whole lot of you are, like me, folks who grew up in the sixties and seventies, it is unfortunate that most of you still subscribe to the liberal nonsense you picked up back then. Rugged individualism, free markets and all the rest of what is in our Consistution is what made America the greatest nation in the history of this world.
Entered: March 18th, 2009 at 5:54 pm. PermalinkYou should not be at all surprised that this is happening! It really is not far from the Brownshirts of early Nazi Germany. And, for those of you ignoramouses who think OBama gives a damn about you or your rights, you are confused, at best.
He is a mystery to most of you. You buy his line of BS like he means it. Sorry, anyone who is a fan of Alinsky (and his other Marxist Mentors) is not in favor of your natural rights or your freedom.
He wants Government control of every part of you life.
Wake up, folks! Before crooks like him, Barney Frank, Chris Dodd and Chuck-U Schumer steal your country from under your noses!!!
This little local story is just one of many to come…
Mark my words!
Oh and, Michelle: There is something you can do. Stop listening to the mass media and quit voting these knuckleheads back into office. Read some early American History - especially the Federalist Papers!
The Founders of this country were amazingly intelligent and huge risk-takers
Sorry, friends, if I turned this to politics, but that is the source of these kinds of injustices.
I thought that Australia was the only country in the world that over regulates us. I went to my organic shop yesterday and purchased potatoes, honey and eggs grown and produced by the store owner…what a treat! Yet, we can not buy unpasteurised milk if we choose because of government regulations. Good on those people, may we have more and more of those co-ops.
Entered: March 18th, 2009 at 6:04 pm. PermalinkI felt this was outrageous. I used to belong to a co-op when we lived in Billings. I loved because of my food allergies. I don’t know when we as Americans are wake up an smell the coffee and realize that the government is in every inch of our lives. I feel for this family. Mary
Entered: March 18th, 2009 at 7:13 pm. PermalinkThank you for informing us. This kind of waste of taxpayers money in terrorizing people who won’t march to the sick drummer is scary and I do hope President Obama is informed as I feel this kind of repression is not supported by his administration. Why doesn’t someone notify CNN? like Anderson Cooper who appears to be good at informing ones about injustices and ludicrous events. More often than not bringing darkness into the light melts the demons away. I pray more strength for those who seek health and consciousness. Keep up the good works! Jasazii
Entered: March 18th, 2009 at 8:01 pm. PermalinkAmerica is one of the least free societies in the world (albeit the most covert) ….
The only god´s that the ¨Big Brothers¨ truly recognise are money and power …. and hence there are so many outrageous decisions and acts of violence that simply amaze us in Europe ….
I empathise with the American people who must suffer under such a so called ¨democratic system¨ which in reality is one of the worst dictatorships in the world ….
America was born on fine principles and has not just lost its way but completely fallen off the rails ….
It will take a fine leader indeed to bring it back and for all our sake´s I hope that it still can be.
Entered: March 19th, 2009 at 4:24 am. PermalinkIt’s a sad day for America.
Entered: March 19th, 2009 at 1:28 pm. PermalinkI write about organic food at http://www.examiner.com. I noticed that Michelle left a comment, wishing something could be done at the grassroots level. I’d like link this article to my post today…see if will lead to a grassroots effort.
Entered: March 19th, 2009 at 4:18 pm. PermalinkWe have just recently moved to a new community. How can I find if there is a food co-op in my area? Are there National or Statewide listings?
Entered: May 13th, 2009 at 9:27 am. PermalinkI love the “undercover” section of Total Health Breakthroughs. Keep writing about these things and more prominently. Great work.
Entered: May 26th, 2009 at 4:21 pm. Permalink