John Klar, with some of his cattle, in Vermont.
Many sustainable farmers have privately railed against state and federal rules that require cattle to be slaughtered in regulated beef slaughtering facilities. Now, Vermont farmer John Klar has resolved to do something about his personal frustration, describing his plans in the article that follows.
Klar raises grass-fed beef and sheep in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom. He and his wife have also raised chickens and pigs, and made raw-milk artisanal cheeses from cows’ and goats’ milk. Klar practiced law until he grew ill in 1998 from Lyme disease, which caused him to succumb to severe pain from fibromyalgia syndrome, which he still battles. The clean food and routine exercise provided by his modest farming efforts have helped him to improve over the years: stress and food additives aggravate his condition.
By John Klar
The health of our children depends on the health of their food.
I raise grass-fed beef because I want to know what my animal has eaten, how it has been treated through life, and that it has been killed humanely. My customers wish for these same assurances, and understand that cheap meat bears other costs – of antibiotic and hormone contamination, risks of pathogens, and the suffering caused when 400 beef are inhumanely slaughtered every hour in horrific factory “environments.”
This is why I will face prison rather than comply with laws in Vermont that interfere with the ancient connection between animal, farmer and consumer. Vermont’s Department of Agriculture has interrupted this connection, at the behest of the federal government and profit-hungry agribusiness. It is time for consumers and local farmers to weld their connection tightly against such intrusions, in the interests of the welfare of both child and beast.
For years I have raised beef cows here in Vermont, slaughtered them on my farm, and processed them at the request of my customers at local custom processing facilities. Vermont’s Agency of Agriculture has decided to “protect” the public from this connection, even as our nation has consolidated animal “husbandry” into toxic CAFO’s and industrial slaughter-factories, increased the importation of unlabeled meats from dubious foreign sources, and authorized Frankensteinian experiments on man and beast alike. But as is happening in most every state in America, these laws “protect” corporate oligarchy, not human health and our vital food connection.
New laws mandate that I may no longer sell halves of beef to my longstanding customers, unless I route those animals to large slaughterhouses, file periodic forms, and pay a fee for the privilege. My customers do not typically purchase a whole beef, because of cost, family size, and freezer space (a half beef occupies a full-size freezer). The law permits me to slaughter a whole beef on-farm, and send it to a local custom processor: apparently this is not a health risk. But now we can only sell whole animals directly to the public; all others must pass through a large federally-inspected processor. Please take note: no one has ever been made sick in Vermont by on-farm slaughtered meat, and the federal government has no constitutional right to regulate intrastate commerce like that between me and my customers.
If I comply with the law, the following changes occur: The itinerant slaughterer who comes to my farm has been removed, as has the local custom processor; the animal that was killed without warning on the farm on which it spent its life must now ne herded onto a truck and shipped to a large slaughterhouse, at additional expense; the stress to the animal compromises the quality of the meat (stress increases cortisol levels); and the animal is exposed in the livestock truck, and again at the larger facility, to pathogens from sick or CAFO animals.
These laws, which purport to remove unfair competition, destroy local small businesses; and which purport to improve food safety, contaminate meat from small farms. These laws compel me to torment animals that I seek to treat humanely, add costs to my customers, swell government budgets for the employment of “inspectors”, and benefit large businesses at the expense of small.
I was visited last summer by a “compliance investigator” from the State of Vermont, who informed me that my business is illegal. I have now appointed myself a “Compliance Investigator.” As an attorney and small farmer, I know what the Federal and Vermont Constitutions require, and that those requirements exist precisely so that I may “police” the large corporate influences that hide behind regulators to protect “market share” from the growing local agricultural movement that is reconnecting the frayed relationship between consumer and local farmer. To use government to intrude into our business relationship is the exact opposite of a “free market.” It is also patently unconstitutional.
For government to regulate, it must have a purpose that is legitimate, and laws which reasonably achieve that purpose. These laws fail on both counts. No one is sick. My animals are antibiotic- and hormone-free, and graze on green grass. My customers pay for the animals to have been treated well. These laws achieve the exact opposite of their stated objectives: they impose unfair competition to make my products less safe, torment my animals, and increase costs to consumers.
What Wes Jackson aptly dubs “the feudal lords of corporate agribusiness” are pulling the strings of Vermont’s bureaucratic puppets. And we are on to them. Joel Salatin was similarly invaded by government mercenaries at the behest of corporate instigators, and observed: “That’s one of the things that fries me about these people. They can just waltz into your business and be cavalier about destroying your livelihood because they draw their steady paycheck, have the power of the police, and the authority of the attorney general behind them. No apologies, no feelings.” (Everything I Want To Do Is Illegal, Polyface, Inc., Swoope, Virginia, 2007).
But Mr. Salatin is not an attorney: I am. I have the power of the Constitutions behind me, together with the authority of consumers and farmers who are not going to take this anymore. I have my animals behind me as well – for I will stand guard for their rights to be treated with moral responsibility in a profit-driven assault. All Americans must take heed: this is a national battle, and there is no sideline.
The problem with all of this is that the government believes that their laws are in fact “legitimate” with the vast majority of consumers agreeing or acquiescing to that legitimacy, and that those laws, albeit ever changing, ever more biased and ever more draconian “reasonably achieve that purpose”. The individual or minorities that recognize the failure of “these laws” and refuse to capitulate to same have little option but to search for loopholes to those laws and/or become legal owners of that product they wish to consume.
Attorney or not, this is a David and Goliath scenario that will demand, barring a miracle, the concerted effort on the part of both consumer and farmer if it is ever going to succeed. Both parties will have to become an entity in themselves and adopt a candid resolve to organize in such a way that neither party can be pitted against the other visa vie the Bill Marlers and nanny state regulators of the world.
This a freedom issue… If you approach it from a safety standpoint, you’re dead in the water.
When going up against the mafia, best to know who you are and be prepared. Familiarity with common law where corrupt liayers and those in black dresses are out of the game(protected by amendment VII) is crucial in this intellectual battle for freedom. Here are some good starting points, but do your own due diligence.
http://www.1stmichiganassembly.info/
https://fourcornersdoctrine.wordpress.com/
http://annavonreitz.com/restoretheland.pdf
http://annavonreitz.com/solvingtheproblem.pdf
http://annavonreitz.com/helpusmakepeace.pdf
http://annavonreitz.com/denyjurisdiction.pdf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0ecNc0ZLAU&index=6&list=PLHfQgVu3rIOTyH6kmRk75YMm6mKPw_J73 Listen to Karl Lentz videos…he simplifies common law
Some background info. on how we’ve consented to our own enslavement through ignorance:
http://annavonreitz.com/
“If you really are serious about knowing how to restore the Republic and your freedom you need to put some effort into knowing how our freedoms are being robbed from us by fraud, deception, threat, duress, coercion, and intimidation every day of our lives and have been for over 100 years by the criminals who have hijacked our government, wealth, and heritage for their own gain and evil intentions.”
http://www.serendipity.li/jsmill/us_corporation.htm The United States Isn’t a Country— It’s a Corporation!
http://www.federaljack.com/SLAVERY-BY-CONSENT-THE-UNITED-STATES-CORPORATION/
http://USAvsUS.info/ Do you know the difference???
“United States” is the “District of Columbia” incorporated.
“The United States government is a foreign corporation with respect to a State” Volume 20: Corpus Juris Sec. § 1785,
Also: NY re: Merriam 36 N.E. 505 1441 S. 0.1973, 14 L. Ed. 287
In UNITED STATES CODE, Title 28,
in Section 3002 Definitions,
it states the following:
(15) “United States” means—
(A) a Federal corporation;
http://losethename.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/LoseTheName-Truth-FAQ-v2.2.pdf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_feEaLk7vO0&ebc=ANyPxKpa1YZ-zzDRLi-9fXKQNieAOC_GoFGWN_AIDrPvdH5d_JGa6wlXYwpcq-L8xjuHuj1y9yi9aX2jL2zm5gUo0_SKw9VAxQ I Don’t Consent — I Waive All Benefits!
“The United States went “Bankrupt” in 1933 and was declared so by President Roosevelt by Executive Orders 6073, 6102, 6111 and Executive Order 6260, [See: Senate Report 93-549, pgs. 187 & 594 under the “Trading With The Enemy Act” [Sixty-Fifth Congress, Sess. I, Chs. 105, 106, October 6, 1917], and as codified at 12 U .S.C.A. 95a. The several States of the Union then pledged the faith and credit thereof to the aid of the National Government, and formed numerous socialist committees, such as the “Council Of State Governments,” “Social Security Administration” etc., to purportedly deal with the economic “Emergency.” These Organizations operated under the “Declaration Of INTERdependence” of January 22, 193, and published some of their activities in “The Book Of The States.” The 1937 Edition of The Book Of The States openly declared that the people engaged in such activities as the Farming/Husbandry Industry had been reduced to mere feudal “Tenants” on their Land. [Book Of The States, 1937, pg. 155] This of course was compounded by such activities as price fixing wheat and grains [7 U.S.C.A. 1903], quota regulation I7 U.S.C.A. 1371], and livestock products [7 U.S.C.A. 1903], which have been held consistently below the costs of production; interest on loans and inflation of the paper “Bills of Credit”; leaving the food producers and others in a state of peonage and involuntary servitude, constituting the taking of private property, for the benefit and use of others, without just compensation.”
http://annavonreitz.com/solidsources.pdf
Agreed: we need consumers behind farmers; and to educate all that this is indeed a liberty issue! But that is my constitutional thrust — to overreach in the name of a false safety argument is to infringe liberty. Thanks for the sobriety — I assure you I am aware of the forces I face. After all, I have read David’s excellent book! (Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Food Rights)
Sorry — I accidentally posted the previous reply in the wrong place. As to these citations, I have long been aware of the Christian Patriot and Sovereign Citizens arguments. They will not hold water with judges: the US Constitution will. But especially Vermont’s State Constitution. If they charge me criminally, they have the highest burden (beyond a reasonable doubt) whereas if I engage them civilly they can defeat us by a preponderance of the evidence. I have more articles coming out which will analyze other aspects of these laws which violate the Constitutions. I wish to arm the farmers and consumers with the laws they need to fight in their own states. These laws are profoundly unconstitutional — the Ag people drafted their own powers, and greatly overreached…. Now they lose.
Keep up the good fight! We need to support our farmers and rail against these awful and unnecessary regulation. My wife and I raise pigs and cattle in Massachusetts.
I have sent a freedom of information act request to the Mass Ag people — I seek to reveal that there is a pattern of illegality, and perhaps federal influence, throughout the various States. Let us unite.
David, THANK YOU. John, THANK YOU.
Yes indeed, in these united (sovereign) States we have a Natural, God-given Right to Private Contract – exchanges between consenting individuals. The Federal government has no standing in our intra-state affairs.
I can make a bad decision and hire my neighbor to “fix” the brakes on my car; go down the road, killing a few people; and I will bear total responsibility for the mess; the way our Founding Fathers wanted it.
So what if I process a couple of chickens as barter for that brake job? No way. I’m off to the slammer for causing “tainted” (read “un-inspected” in regulator speak) poultry product to move into the food stream. Oh my.
Yes, there is an unstoppable movement afoot across this country to take back our “unalienable Rights…(to) Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.” And as with any movement to create positive change, it takes Patriots like John Klar, taking a stand, putting into words, leading the way.
Unstoppable if we unite — if we wait too long, there will be nothing to reclaim…
Exactly.
Farmers, gardeners, bakers, chefs, fishers, and hunters ARE uniting in Maine and in other states like Wyoming too.
Beginning in March of 2011 and now as of a week ago 17 towns spread across almost half of our counties have adopted Local Food and Community Self-governance Ordinances that reiterate our unalienable, indefeasible Natural Right to choose, raise and exchange the foods of our choice between individuals; a re-assertion of our right to private contract.
Every corporate interest imaginable has railed against the “stupidity of such a wasteful and naive presumption of local authority because ‘everybody knows Fed trumps State trumps Local.'” Little do they know; lowly drops of water melt mountains into beds of sand.
Last Tuesday our State House of Representatives passed a resolution to put a proposed Amendment to our State Constitution, “Right to Food Choice” before We The People of Maine on the November ballot. Our State Senate is to vote on Monday as is required before it can go on the ballot. Not surprisingly, the Farm (Factory) Bureau and our State Dept.of(G)Ag have come out against it in the name of the usual cover for corporate servitude, the almighty gawd, Food Safety.
Put forth by Representative Craig Hickman, of Winthrop it reads:
“Section 25. Right to food freedom and food self-sufficiency.
“All individuals have a natural, inherent and unalienable right to acquire, produce, process, prepare, preserve and consume the food of their own choosing, for their own nourishment and sustenance, by hunting, gathering, foraging, farming, fishing, gardening and saving and exchanging seeds, as long as no individual commits trespassing, theft, poaching or other abuses of private property rights, public lands or natural resources in the acquisition of food. Furthermore, all individuals have a right to barter, trade and purchase food from the sources of their own choosing for their own bodily health and well-being. Every individual is fully responsible for the exercise of these rights, which may not be infringed.”
John, you said it first, “Unstoppable if we unite.”
Excellent — this Maine battle was ongoing when Mr. Gumpert concluded his book. And yes I would have expected federal law to supersede state — federal preemption. But there is always the state’s rights divide, which comes into play directly because of the constant battle over interstate (federal) versus intrastate (local) conflict. Thanks so much for this language — it may find its way to the Vermont Statehouse this week….
Yes, the commonly held view is that federal preemption rules the day. I would agree IF and only IF the fed were acting within the parameters of its Constitutionally defined responsibilities which “are few and defined.” In the case of intra-state private contracts vis-à-vis our personal food choices, and I hope the late Justice Antonin Scalia would agree, the fed has no quarter.
James Madison, “Federalist 45” in The Federalist Papers, para. 6 wrote:
“The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite…(federal powers) will be exercised principally on external objects, as war, peace, negotiation, and foreign commerce; with which the last, the power of taxation will, for the most part, be connected… The powers reserved to the Several States will extend to all the objects which, in the ordinary course of affairs, concern the lives, liberties, and properties of the people, and the internal order, improvement and prosperity of the State.” (lifted from Sovereign Duty, pg.25, by KrisAnne Hall J.D.)
Samuel Adams, “The Rights of the Colonists, The Report of the Committee of Correspondence to the Boston Town Meeting,” para. 1 (Nov.20, 1772) wrote:
“I. Natural Rights of the Colonists as Men.
“Among the natural rights of the Colonists are these: First, a right to life; Secondly, to liberty; Thirdly, to property; together with the right to support and defend them in the best manner they can. These are evident branches of, rather than deductions from, the duty of self-preservation, commonly called the first law of nature.”
Our natural, inherent and unalienable right to acquire, produce, process, prepare, preserve, exchange and consume the food of our own choosing IS “First, a right to life; Secondly, to liberty; (and) Thirdly, to property.”
Brake a leg and give’em hell, John!
Excellent! This is LONG overdue for those of us who do not have the knowledge or training to fight the increasing aggressiveness of the federal government intrusions which have been protecting the corporate agribusinesses at the expense of so many local and small farmers! You have several people behind you who will support you, even outside of Vermont (as I am. I am not a farmer but am a consumer who will consume only grass fed humanely treated animals and that is why I am willing to pay the premium they deserve). It is time for the public to wake up and I do believe they are – these things unfortunately take time but it takes only one voice – like yours – to bring the attention to the national stage and give people pause. This country needs to be taken back by the people, and the corporations need to be put in their place – which is to serve American consumer CHOICES, and not DICTATE what they eat. Our Congressional representatives need to hear this loud and clear! So everyone who reads this, please make your voices known! Thank you, Mr. Klar, and good luck!!
And thank you! I have been disappointed in the past that more consumers have not fought for their own food — but as the “food” has grown more toxic, people are waking up to the realities (like The Matrix, blue pill v. red). Wendell Berry has written that, if they could, the large corporations would link a hose right from the factory to our navels, and just pump it through. (I paraphrase) It is getting so bad in the meat industry that I sometimes joke that we would be better off eating soilent green from organic-fed humans than what they are creating in CAFO’s…. Can I make such a joke? I think the contrast is vivid, but maybe too gross.
Sad to hear all of this I hate when someone forces anyone hand and at the same time they are just not right.
All so true, on all Constitutionally rights are under fire. Farming is just but one. Too often most of us have a way of giving in under the pretenses, its for your safety. Most of the time these issues have no bases for being unsafe, they are made to just sound unsafe, unclean, or unhealthy. The list is long and getting longer, business will protect business and if they can make a dollar off your loss they will. Corporation are not anyone friends that can’t make them a profit through name, money, knowledge or leverage.
We are going through Manure management plans right now. Just one more thing to watch for. Better have a plan, if the EPA stop by looking for waste run off. There is one of the self governing departments. The EPA from what I understand they answer to no one. So this said, in PA no plan they stop by going to cost you $300.00 fine to start. Better have a plan on hand.
Look at the 2nd amendment. Basically says no gun regulation. Notes from the writers of the Constitution says that, the forefathers knew that if the people (states) had no protection from, a higher control sooner or later the freedom and liberty, they were fighting for would be for not. Needed to be free from the total control of a central government, or Federal Government.
Business always has had power of money and control of some areas. Only need to look back to the 1900 and look at the huge money that just a few had. We had monopoly and anti-trust laws where are they now?
On and on the list goes. Vote for freedom in elections !! Not just the job, funding, or friend of a friend.
Water quality regs in Vermont are similarly overbroad, and impact small farms while ignoring the CAFO’s.
God bless this farmer! We need more like him!!! And he needs a big fat legal defense fund right off the bat and TONS of publicity for intimidation purposes. I hope he’s a member of F2C as well. Thank you, David. Love, love, love civil disobedience and the courage to stand up to the faux powers that be.
F2C is on board…
Keep up the fight Mr. Klar. Your battle is an uphill fight, but a hill that needs to be climbed. Educated consumers stand behind you.
I wish to make the Ag people have to push uphill to retain their plump payroll.
but they let muslims kill meat in the very store they work in. but tell farmers they can’t kill there meat. I trust good farmers more then our government.
Vermont has a religious exemption, but there is no exception for religious purposes from these limits on halves, or the total numbers of animals (for beef: three annually). We cannot kill meat in our stores.
My Irish husband is a CheFarmer and I am an attorney/farmer and in film school to learn how to make food documentaries. Let’s make a movie.
Heather
Where better than in Vermont? I know the farmers (chicken, pig, sheep, beef and dairy cows), the slaughterers, the veterinarians, the processors…. They are a colorful bunch — not all as unattractive as me. And they are rugged. Robert Redford says that what film viewers desire is that very rare human in modern times — the truly authentic. They are all around me — they do not aspire toward wealth: they are quite content with their “way of life”. Vermont is not a “wealthy” place in dollars — our wealth is in our clean air and water, bitter winters (that keep the population balanced), beautiful scenery, in tact communities….. Also the best place to highlight government overreach, sadly.
I am here to fight the fight with you. I am retired military with health issues like yours. I am seeking some small farm land to do exactly what you are doing for the same reasons, and, your story confirms my fears. There is no where or no one that they will not leave alone. Do you think we have a better shot at farming sustainably if we group together in small villages? Or does that make one a bigger target?
Dave will put the word out and I will be there to stand with you when it is time.
I have long defended the Second Amendment. But Kissinger wrote “Control the guns; control the nations. Control the food, control the people.” Ominous. I realized a few years back that food was primary; and that there was no “other side” — everyone wants clean reliable food. Let us group together in our small State.
Is Mr. Klar saying that the State of Vermont has new meat processing regulations in excess of what the USDA requires? In my state, livestock may be butchered on-farm, without USDA inspection, and processed at a custom butcher shop (licensed and inspected by the state, but not USDA) when the meat is intended for the livestock owner and not for resale. Live animals can be sold to individual owners by halves and quarters, which is more doable for many buyers than purchasing a whole carcass.
So am I understanding that Vermont has additional regs, or is this coming from the USDA?
If the PRIME Act passes, it will in theory grant states the ability to regulate intrastate meat sales without USDA inspection. My understanding is that a state could allow meat slaughtered and butchered by a custom-excempt butcher to be sold by the piece in state…which would be a boon to local food markets! However, if states like VT are leaning towards MORE regulation than the USDA even currently requires, then the PRIME Act is not going to help us much.
I’m actually surprised….I tend to idealize VT as a state with some of the best small-farm food regulations. Maybe not necessarily so?
Yes, this is precisely what I am saying — the Vermont Agency of Agriculture Food and Markets (VAAFM) has specifically prohibited us from selling halves, which is indeed the primary sale for most of us — who can store and afford a whole? Even I don’t do that. I too am surprised, except that the Vermont VAAFM has justified huge increases in its budget by expanding its control. So i am also disgusted — as are many in the State. I have assumed that the ASDA or other feds are behind this, and that is who I seek to smoke out — I expect that later this week we will put the death knell on these regs, which are coming up for renewal if a sunset provision is not extinguished. I think my action may have prevented its continuation — which means that we will see exactly what the feds take as a position. If the feds also overreach, then I will throw down the same gantlet — let’s take it to court. The chip on my shoulder is the same chip for all farmers, and for all agencies….
Vermont is idyllic — but it is being overrun by overpaid bureaucrats. Milk prices are abysmal — the perfect environment (when there are also new water quality regs) in which to push the government back to where it belongs.
If you want a glimpse of how difficult this can be, just look at my home state of Nevada, where it is basically impossible to get a truly pastured chicken unless you raise it and kill it yourself. Believe me, I have tried and have been completely unsuccessful and completely frustrated. They have made the laws here so prohibitive and there is only one “legal” facility in the entire state to process the chickens. And people in other states that are allowed to process their chickens on farm are not allowed to cross state lines to sell them here, even though there are many ranches that are close to Nevada and would have a lot of business if they were allowed to sell chickens here. It is absolutely ridiculous.
While many people still back up these ridiculous agencies and actually still believe that they are looking out for us, many are also waking up. If people truly learned how their food is produced, CAFO facilities would be out of business virtually overnight. People are learning more about them and turning to farmers like John Klar, which is why so many states are trying to sneak in Ag Gag bills. They know if people really saw what happens in CAFO facilities, the outrage would be unbelievable. Just look at the outrage when Cecil the lion was poached in Africa to get a glimpse of what would happen. Mr. Klar is doing it the way it has been done for millennia and just like people drinking raw milk during all of that time, it is by far the healthiest way to go and definitely the most humane for the animals. I love meat, but I also want to know that my meat comes from people like Mr. Klar and I am not only willing to pay someone like him what he deserves for all of his hard work, but am willing to assume my own risk (and that of my family) to allow them to slaughter their own animals. It is a sacred cycle that when done properly, honors the creatures that provide meat for us after living a good and happy life.
Amen — I believe Christians have similar stewardship obligations to halal or kosher. Chickens are a different issue than others, as the profit is in the processing. So these regs are even more onerous for poultry producers. If I cannot kill my meat I should not eat meat. And no styrofoam for me, thanks.
My bull Miro is our Cecil…. I kept him on purpose as our mascot. I can sit on his back….
Amen indeed!! Thanks for all that you do, John.
Fantastic John. The consumer does want to know. Unfortunately too much of our food is processed and we are all guilty of eating ignorantly and it’s making us and our kids sick in numerous ways. You a unique person in a unique circumstance for a reason. A healthy, humane well run farm and slaughter-house can’t exist with the backward regulations the state of Vermont currently has in place. In my opinion.
We must regain the lost knowledge of our forebears. My grandmothers both grew and preserved their own food — we have lost reams of knowledge in a mere 50 years. It must be relearned.
This is crazy over regulation which impose more harm, more risk and more financial burden on our own Vermont farmers. It denigrates everything special about Vermont, our peoples independence and self reliance. Has a discussion occurred yet with our States Attorney General? Good luck & keep up the good fight.
I do not see how the AG can avoid giving an opinion — though our Ag is not known for spine.
Keep up the good work and please keep the public informed. We will stand and fight with you for our food freedom!
I am grateful for the many responses here — I am a bit deflated, as I face many battles. I wish to thank you all for the encouragement — and invite you to contact me directly, so that I may answer the many questions raised here. farmerjohnklar@gmail.com I am very busy next couple of days, but I wish to respond to all comments, particularly those with questions so I can help organize us more….. Please spread the word. I will be speaking at the Vermont Statehouse this Wednesday — we are having an “On-farm slaughter” day at the Legislature. All are welcome to attend or write!
in a word “brilliant”. Thank you John Klar for articulating the problem so clearly = “For government to regulate, it must have a purpose that is legitimate, and laws which reasonably achieve that purpose.” … precisely what I’ll be saying to a Justice of the Supreme Court of BC, arguing my Petition re the validity of the regulation which outlaws raw milk for human consumption.
: this issue is winnable
Hey John,
This note from a sustainable farmer in Minnesota that has been through the abusive constraints of the departments of ag and the legal system as well. We had much support from community and Farm-To-Consumer- Legal Defense, won our right to private food ownership. If you want more info, ask Pete Kennedy, David Gumpert about our case from 2013. The basis of our case was related to raw milk and access to it, but reflects the same issues as harvesting animals that we own collectively thru farm lease and private membership in a club similar to what Vernon Hershberger and Amos Miller now use. This is not a personal challenge as it may seem, but a chance to build real community around a truly healthy food system – grassroots at it’s best:)Be well, Alvin in MN
Thank you, sir!
Excellent article – a real hero. (For the Lyme disease i suggest you make your own colloidal silver – it is the best “anti-biotic” but really anti-pathogen source i know of – and i’ve been looking at this since 77)
There are people here talking about the inability to fight this because it takes grit and suupport. Well – sounds like you have intelligence, grit, and supportive people behind you.
This is going to be VERY interesting to watch unfold, as you have EVERY right and reason on your side, and they have a big stick.
You know your constitution better than i, but my understanding is that for any government to take away a possession of yours – they must provide you with a JURY trial OF YOUR PEERS. i also understand that in order to take away a freedom from a legitimate member of this nation (regardless of your designation) you ALSO are guaranteed, constitutionally – a jury trial of your peers.
Heard about a trial in Texas where they STOPPED all their illegal attacks upon the plaintiff when he demanded proof of constitutional authority over the process and for the reason he was being assaulted…. They worded it differently, no doubt…..
Oh if you want to make colloidal silver – hit a pawn shop and get two .999 silver commemorative coins – they go for the price of silver. Drill small holes through the rim – i did about a 1/32nd. If i had silver wire – i’d’ve used that, but i went to Radio Shack, got some 9Volt battery snap connectors, cut off one neg/one pos wire and put 3 9 vold batteries together. On the open ends – run your wires to the coins, DO NOT LET THE COPPER TOUCH THE WATER or you will make copper and it’s contaminants in your colloid – keep the copper out.
The water must be REALLY pure for contamination prevention also – best is STEAM distilled, reverse osmosis – not as hard to find as i’d expected.
i put the coins in the water, hooked up and not touching each other for a week while my wife dragged me kicking and screaming to Kauai.
When we got back i used it a little, but being healthy wasn’t sure how well it worked.
Enter our heritage hogs. Grace was expecting any day (for forever) and in her little “sled shed” and didn’t come out. i checked on her in the late day/early morn dark and thought she was just having her babes. Wrong (can kick myself) she had conjunctivitis.
i thought her left eye was GONE – her right eye was still weeping and you could see a very ugly looking eyeball – but she was miserable this time.
We looked up solutions to the infection – raw colustrum – EVERY HOUR FOR X DAYS!! Not happening. Veterinary treatments – every 4 hours for days…. Keep searching – Colloidal silver.
So i had two spritz bottles from old supplements filled with my colloidal silver, and took out some warm water and a rag, with the colloidal silver. i wiped away the dried and slimy eye gunk – and it was GROSS! Then i sprayed her eyes a couple times each eye – this was after the morning feeding.
Within a few hours – she was out (for the first time in days i think) and her right eye LOOKED PERFECT, the left eye looked good. Spray morning and night for 3 days – her eyes were fine after the second spraying. Now THAT is EFFECTIVE.
The colloidal silver breaks pathogen walls down with a heavy negative electron charge instead of biological action – so no defense can be developed by pathogens. This is the ONLY substance found to fight Ebola – according to 2008 military studies….
John,
I am not an attorney, however I have a cousin that is and cheese maker that is too.
I am a degreed scientist and have a background in pharmaceuticals. I am also a retired
Military officer and have served in all major conflicts since Panama. I believe we have
Returned to the repeat part (revolution) of our country’s history. The Fed has become exactly
What England was at that time (a tyrrant).
I over 27 yrs of military service to the US, I have helped plan and execute the removal
Of tyrants. I recently informed a US Congressman that the cause for revolution in our country
Is growing and we have been removing tyrants all over the world. It might be close to the time
To remove a tyrranical government on our soil. I say our soil because I am Native American.
We see the government intrusion in our small, all natural dairy, and I am disgusted with it.
Together, lawyers, scientist, vetarnarians, farmers and soldiers can make a change and if not then
We plan for revolution, by whatever means necessary.
Perhaps this is more “radical” than my effort. Or not. I was raised by a Marine Sniper. My grandmother was one-quarter Abenaki Indian. I have fought for our Second Amendment rights for years. The USA Patriot Act permits the feds to seize all food for National Security. And all our food supplies are being monitored and inventoried by the DHS. I have sent freedom of information act requests to DHS, EPA, USDA, FDA and many others — I will report what I learn. Thank you sir for your patriotism. I would prefer to believe that the pen remains mightier than the sword. And so I write.
Thank-you David for introducing John Klar to our community of food and freedom loving individuals. Thank-you John for your courage and I wish you all the best in your challenge of these burdensome, over-reaching laws. As a former vegetarian, I made a commitment to only eat humanely harvested, pasture-raised meats when I became a born-again omnivore. I have watched my husband’s and my beef being slaughtered on-farm for the past 12 years (California). I coordinate with the farmer/rancher and arrive before the mobile butcher. I bring a 5-gallon bucket for the tongue, tail and organs. I know the animal did not suffer and respect the life given for our nourishment.
Exactly.
John, I am willing to pay much more for the type of meat you sell and consume less meat in order that the animals are raised humanely and that my “meat dollars” go to reputable, sustainable, and humane producers like you. I’m really sorry about what’s happening to you and I hope and pray you will come out of this winning.
Please continue to do what you do, it’s so valuable. I constantly tell anyone who will listen that we have to change our consumption of meat habits and be willing to pay more in order to ensure healthy and humane meat.
I believe in what you are doing, thank you and all the very best to you!!
Thank you! I am taking a stand for all the farmers and animals — it is not just me being subjected to this over-regulation. Please spread awareness, as that is the best hope for all of us — animal, consumer, and small farmer.
As of a few years ago at least, Oregon allowed custom sales of halves or maybe even quarters. Any idea if that is still true?
I testified a bunch for onfarm slaughter a while back and will be there again on Wednesday.
What is the reason given for not allowing halves of cattle?
Still allowed in Oregon I believe: http://smallfarms.oregonstate.edu/sites/default/files/small-farms-tech-report/techreport-custommeatfaqs.pdf
They do not allow halves so as to put us out of business. The Ag Dept has been misrepresenting the law. They are bullies and want to expand their turf.
Dear John,
I support what you are doing with my whole heart, and would like to help in any way I can. As a PhD student with the California Institute of Integral Studies, with their Transformative Studies Doctorate program, I am at work on an inquiry which is tracking what I consider to be the most important emerging global movement of our time: The Restorative Food and Farming Movement. The centerpiece of my research will be a qualitative narrative study, collecting the stories of mothers on a real food, traditional diet who are experiencing healthy outcomes for themselves and their babies. What you are doing is completely related, and I hope you have the complete support of your local community. The working title of my dissertation is thus: How Might a Mother’s Story on a Traditional Diet Lead to An Understanding of The Restorative Food and Farming Movement as the New, Emerging, Social, Environmental, and Political Movement of the 21st Century? Do not underestimate the power of a mother’s story. Nothing less than restoring the health of our next generation is at stake.
We are not living in a country that offers true food freedom. I wonder if you have considered engaging with the Farmer to Consumer Legal Defense Fund (http://www.farmtoconsumer.org/)?
Might I introduce you to the Bioneers keynote speech by Micheal Pollan here, both in transcript: http://www.bioneers.org/beyond-the-barcode-the-local-food-revolution/ and in podcast: http://media.bioneers.org/listing/beyond-the-barcode-michael-pollan/ … The voice of such a popular spokesperson on your struggle might also be worth pursuing, his new Netflix doc series based on his book, “Cooked” is reaching many. He makes a point at the end of his 2013 Keynote Bioneers talk to work on local, state and federal government levels to pressure politicians to vote properly on legislation such as the ever complicated Farm (Food) Bill.
Please know that you are supported by a growing community of citizens nationally and globally. I wonder if you might consider going to the trouble of recording your ongoing process, perhaps with recordings and some video as it progresses, for a future film could promote the cause for other farmers nation-wide. Food freedom has become an issue for our national security as well as for the well-being our children, and their ability to have healthy children. May your strength of character and ethical resolve stand strong as you
rally for the protection of us all, for the dear animals in your care, for those of us who wish to restore the health of person and planet through the revolution of the Restorative Food and Farming Movement!
Johanna M. Keefe, MS, MA, AHN-BC, RN, GAPS/C
http://www.growingsuccessstories.org
Johanna, your encouraging message arrives at just the right moment. I have not written to Mr. Pollan, though his books have infused my thinking. I have indeed been in contact with Pete Kennedy of the Farmer-To-Consumer Legal Defense Fund.
If you are not aware of them already, I strongly recommend the books “Mad Cows and Mother’s Milk” by William Lees and Douglas Powell, and “Silent Spring” by Rachel Carson. This latter tome has been very depressing to me — I have heard of it for years (Wendell Berry refers admiringly to it), but it has shown me just how bad things were for our children in the womb before I was born: it was written in 1962. Ms. Carson discusses the transmission of toxins through human breast milk at p.23.
I will be honored to contribute to your effort. We need to “cure” cancer in our children by not causing it in them….
Check out Dr. Tullio Simoncini’s web site,curecancronaturali.com and find out what causes cancer and the cure.
…And a great 2014 follow up is also highly recommended, Poison Spring by E.G. Vallaianatos with Ray Jenkins:
http://www.amazon.com%2FPoison-Spring-Secret-History-Pollution%2Fdp%2F1608199142&usg=AFQjCNGqlgYoZd3n4boED68Jo1QU4q_4Sg&sig2=js2_8zRfEAy5S9d2g0uO4A&bvm=bv.118443451,d.eWE
Thank you!
sorry i am not very knowledgable on th e subject but would a self sustaining ministry take you out of their jurisdiction or as a dairy farm in Glade Hill Virginia has done is to have customers sign contracts becoming sort of a business partner in order to skirt around laws enabling them to sell unpasteurized or homogenized milk to locals.
Ray,
I had to do that in Ohio when the rules changed and I couldn’t buy raw milk anymore. I had to “own” the cow, with lots of other people, so it was legal for me to drink “my” cows milk. Insanity.
John,
Please keep us updated on this situation. I had no idea these horrible things were happening and are very interested even though I live in MA.
My friend from 7 years ago went through the same thing in Skye, Scotland. He wasn’t allowed to have the mobile butcher come to his very small goat farm and butcher the animals (5 a month) anymore. He was expected to bring them to Inverness and have them butchered in a factory. This was not possible. Insanity to expect him and others to do this especially when the goats were predominantly for his family. He did sell some to friends once in a while. The only people he was able to sell to in the end where for Hala, not many requests on a very small island with less than 10,000 people. The customer was allowed to slaughter the goat on the farm.