I always sensed youth football was a dangerous proposition, but I never realized just how dangerous. Recent studies show that at least 9,000 children each year suffer concussions–potentially serious brain injuries–playing youth football like Pop Warner. Some 25 children died playing high school football in the ten years between 2003 and 2012; six have died this year alone.
I throw that data out there to suggest the depth of the hypocrisy going on over raw milk regulation in that football mecca of the Northeast, Foxborough, MA. The Board of Health in the home of the New England Patriots has just posted a revised draft of proposed regulations targeting the last remaining dairy of any kind in the Boston areas Norfolk County, Lawtons Family Farm.
The revised draft is meant to replace the draconian proposal I wrote about in my previous two posts. The main proponent of these regulations, board member Eric Arvedon, indicated to me following the aborted Board of Health meeting last Monday that some of the most obviously harassing items had been removed, like the requirement for weekly testing and the boards option to shutter the dairy for up to 30 days if any tests for non-pathogenic bacteria come back above the towns very tight limits.
But remaining are two requirement that clearly have nothing to do with safety, and are instead designed to harass seriously enough to continue threatening the existence of the dairy, Lawtons Family Farm.
One requirement is for $3 million of liability insurance. As Mark McAfee points out in a comment following my previous post, The requirement for insurance at the $3 million level is unheard of. I have never heard of such a regulatory policy. It may even be unconstitutional. I cannot think of any authority that would vest the power to mandate insurance. Insurance is not in the realm of regulatory authority. I can think of no other food that is mandated to hold insurance. This is an issue between the producer and any retailers or the consumers, but not the regulatory government agencies or local townships.
The other requirement is that Lawtons Family Farms list of current customers shall be made available to the Board of Health upon request. In other words, the list isnt something the town can only demand in the event of an outbreak of illnesses possibly associated with the dairys milk, but rather at any time it suits the boards whims, and to include addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses.
What possible purpose would the town have in demanding a list of the farms customers? The only purpose I can think of would be to share the names with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and other state agriculture and public health agencies that have themselves been collecting such names for the last five years as part of their confiscation of computers in raids on Rawesome Food Club in California, Vernon Hershbergers Wisconsin dairy, Alvin Schlangens farm in Minnesota, and several Amish dairies in Pennsylvania, among others.
Terri Lawton, operator of the raw dairy, says that the farm has liability insurance, but she declines to discuss details because she feels the matter is a distraction from the real issues. We find the proposed regulations unacceptable, she told me. The state does a good job of regulating raw milk. The inspectors at the state level are experts. I like things being regulated by experts…..It is clear by the way the (Foxborough) regulations are written that they have a steep learning curve. The people in Foxborough shouldnt have to pay for the training required to get the local regulators up to speed when the state is already providing the regulation.
The towns initiative to take over raw milk regulation from the state isnt being done to improve public health, Lawton says. If this was really a public health issue, there would be illnesses, and there arent. Indeed, there havent been any from a dairy licensed by Massachusetts to sell raw milk, at least since the state took over its most recent regulatory role in 1993, via the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources, she says.
More troubling to Lawton is the provision in the revised regulations (as in the original ones) requiring handover of the dairys customer list to local regulators. That is unacceptable.. Our customers place trust in us, for the quality of our products, and for their privacy. We have no plans to violate our customers trust.
The timing of the re-scheduled meeting for consideration of the revised raw milk regulations hasnt yet been made public; it needs to be held at a larger facility than the town office where the meeting was attempted last Monday, and aborted because 140 people showed up for a facility that could only seat 79.
This situation could be seen as an isolated incident–one small towns misguided move to harass a local farm, based on some past grudge or another. But when it comes to nutrient-dense food, especially raw milk, we know that seemingly minor, even innocuous regulatory and legal initiatives have a way of popping up in multiple locales. Thats been the case with local regulators in a variety of places using zoning laws to harass small farms.
Thats why it is essential we remember that the effort to force Lawtons Family Farm out of business has nothing to do with food safety, or public health of any kind. While childrens football injuries pile up, a National Football League town conjures up fears about a public health issue that doesnt exist, for the simple purpose of depriving people of healthy food.
I don’t blame the dairy for calling it quits but this also effects other people (related jobs with their dairy farming operation). They may try to continue to provide milk to a “share” type arrangement but I guess that remains to be seen.
So, the idiots from the State Diary and Egg Board got their way. I hope they enjoy their win.
I’m wondering if real estate development and the associated property tax revenue is the underlying cause behind the harrassment. Put them out of business and the land will be cheaper and/or easier to purchase.
Fabricating health issues against a raw dairy would likely create less bad publicity than an act of eminent domain by the town’s redevelopment agency.
Just a thought.
This is what happens when you assent to regulation. In the long term the end is always the same.
It is clear that Foxborough really does not understand what makes for a high risk raw milk! There is not even a mention of pathogens!!! Not one word. It is also clear that Foxborough has no agenda to help raw milk by considering a responsible regulatory structure.
What if the Lawtons raw milk measured under the limits required in the draft Township regs….but pathogens are present?? That raw milk would be completely ok to sell. That is how confused these policies are!!!
This draft policy is written by uninformed staff that really could use some help from someone who knows a little about raw milk. If Foxborough would like some free assistance…I would be more than willing to assist Foxborough in developing a great food safety plan that would increase food safety and assure a very low level of risk and at the same time optimize producer freedom and economic sustainablity. We have done this in other states for regulatory processes, we can help Foxborough. The price is zero dollars.
Call RAWMI…we would be glad to help Foxborough if the Township wants to increase food safety for raw milk. 559-846-9732 and ask for someone to help from RAWMI. We have solid proven solutions that increase food safety…..if that is the true agenda and desire. The cost is free!! and the conversation will be very constructive and progressive.
Shawna, how are tests performed for Coliform and SPC tests are cheap. About $5.
Sounds awful cheap. Do you know what kind of methodology and technology is being used? Is it just a swab test? And how do they prevent contamination pre and during testing?
Most of the high tech methods are much more expensive. Electron microscope imaging, chromatography, reagent mix dilutions, atomic absorption, mass spectrometry etc.
Just curious. But the point I wanted to bring up is actually completely different
As you no doubt have heard by now:
Ever since the Fukushima disaster in 2011, researchers have been testing foods and vegetables for radioactivity. The Department of Nuclear Engineering at UC Berkeley has been taking radiation samples since the Fukushima meltdown. They have tested both raw milk and store-bought, and have detected radioactive isotopes cesium-134 and 137 (Cs-134, Cs-137). This is alarming when you consider dairy as a “radioactive indicator” of our food supply. Dairy is a good indicator for radiation, because cows consume grass, food crops and water supplies. In simple terms, when dairy starts testing positive for radioactivity, it’s an indication of radioactive contamination of the entire food supply.
that quotes from http://www.naturalnews.com/043084_lactose_intolerance_irradiated_milk_osteoporosis.html#ixzz2mMPMzOIG
And the theres this, very scary stuff:
Samples of milk taken across the United States have shown radiation at levels 2000 percent higher than EPA maximums. The reason that milk is so significant is that it it representative of the entire food supply. According to an article published on Natural News, Cows consume grass and are exposed to the same elements as food crops and water supplies. In other words, when cows milk starts testing positive for high levels of radioactive elements, this is indicative of radioactive contamination of the entire food supply.
That ones from http://www.shtfplan.com/headline-news/the-radiation-warnings-you-wont-get-from-the-mainstream-propaganda-machine_04022012
So
My question to Shawna and Mark: Is any ongoing testing being done on your milk for radiation levels? That would probably require scintillation counter technology to measure and be expensive, and the government isnt going to do it lest the results scare the public. And btw, this isnt just a raw milk issue, its about overall food quality and risk even in pasteurized milk, fish, meats, you name it if you eat it.
Why arent regulators on this case?
David, maybe you could look into this and let us know what you find. Could be the beginning of a new book.
I have no idea about radiation levels. I’ve had a couple of share members ask, and I told them if they want to figure out how to run those tests, go for it!
OPDC is in an area that gets little rain…about 10 inches on an average year. Thus…no radiation falling out to effect us.
On another note….one of the best treatments for radiation illness is raw milk and fermented raw milks and seaweeds. Iodine is also essential.
Sounds like Japan has long at last bombed the US after 68 years of being bombed twice by US atomic bombs. Payback is a tragic bitch isn’t it!! We better wake up and realize real quick that we are all each others brothers on this earth and what happens in other countries and our own country has international and very human consequences.
I just watched this documentary today and recommend it to everyone here, no earth shattering news but lots of reinforcement of many points we discuss. Only available for free online for a week so go for it:
http://www.foodmatters.tv/free
I grew up riding the Kerman school bus with John Boss. John grew up on his family CAFO dairy and won the yearly milk producers awards as top Fresno County dairyman many times. The was married to his cows and his dairy.
18 months ago he had to sell his herd because of low milk prices and family dynamics that wanted out of the pain. BUT….could not stay away from dairy and rebuilt his herd anyway in the last year even in the face of below cost milk prices. He loved cows and the dairylife!
Last week, John walked out into and among his dear cows and shot himself dead. He committed suicide among his cows rather that leave dairying. He knew nothing else and he was doing everything perfectly.
Yes….this is a death by pasteurization and it is tragic. Johns dairy is 3 miles north of OPDC. He was a neighbor and a school mate. I even had a crush on his sister in highschool.
I am sad for John and his family and I am sad for all those like John that are paying the huge human price for commodity pasteurized milk even though they are doing everything perfectly and according to the professors at UC Davis and Cal Poly where they teach all the dairymen to be good dairymen.
A moment of silence for my friend John Boss….his loss drives me even harder to change this insane system of dairy with “no possible value-added or created by extreme hardwork done by good people!”.
The way forward is consumer connected value added products with RAWMI like food safety systems. I see and live the future. John visited me many times over the years. He told me once that “the local coffee shop farmers thought I was crazy in 1999…now they think I am a rich genuis”.
The local coffee shop opinion and rumor mill does not drive me on my vision or mission…my consumers do. John never knew, was praised or saw or hugged one of his consumers that I know of. That was his greatest loss. No pay for his work or his milk and no love from a connected consumer. A double loss and a tragic ending to a CAFO dairylife.
John…rest in peace with your cows on forever sunny green pastures.
I am very disappointed to see the article in the natural news link that you provided. Last year they covered raw milk and the story was all about how raw milk was not associated with dairy allergies and how raw milk was not associated with lactose intolerance. The link you provided seemed as if the authors at Natural News never published the article last year. What is up with that ????
The article your link connects too is totally confused and lacks any science in its basis. It is fascinating to me that authors that write about dairy products morph science to excuse the challenges of common pasteurized milk!!!
All of the problems discussed in the article are not associated with raw milk….but all are associated with pasteurized milk. Complete ignorance of milk genomics and the history of mankind !!! Almost like the fake science of veganism. Natural News is anything but news about nature. Sad to say…
What a farce.
Additionally, drinking water tested in some U.S. municipalities also shows radioactive contamination. Is the fallout from Fukushima Daichi falling on us? Yes, it is.”
How do foods become contaminated by rainwater? It is well established that cow milk tends to reflect a concentration about 1,000 times the levels of radioiodines in the air over a pasture. This effect, called bioaccumulation, also applies (although to a lesser extent) to cesium-137 and strontium-90 in milk.
The radioactive ‘distilling’ effect in the air-grass-cow-milk-human chain is enhanced when it rains because precipitation is more effective at depositing airborne radioactive debris to the ground than with ‘dry deposition.’ Even on dry feed lots, cows drink from puddles of rain water and are exposed in other ways to their rain-soaked environment.
So, the slightly radioactive levels in California air – according to recently
released EPA data – that included a high reading of 0.068 picoCuries per cubic meter (March 18, 2011 San Francisco, CA) for iodine-131 means that pasture-fed dairy cow milk measuring 68 picoCuries per *liter* may have recently been on Bay Area store shelves. Iodine-131 levels in milk could have been even higher than this because the EPA failed to correct for the fact that iodine-131 captured on the San Francisco RADNET filter decayed during transit to the EPA’s lab in the Southeast. Although
public health officials might consider these levels to be of zero concern,
prolonged intakes of contaminated milk might pose a health danger to toddlers, infants or young children. State and federal public health officials need to determine the impact of sustained and uncertain radioiodine inputs to the thyroid glands of the young. The daily rate of exposure is not the issue – it is the cumulative exposure that could lead to dire problems down the road.
Calcium Bentonite Clay has a uniquely strong negative ionic charge. When activated with water it works like a strong magnet, adsorbing and absorbing anything with a positive ionic charge (i.e., toxins, pesticides, radiation). The clay captures these substances and removes them as the clay is eliminated or washed off.
To remove radiation from your produce, Perry A~ Arledge, author of Living Clay, Nature’s Own Miracle Cure, recommends starting with liquid clay. This is Calcium Bentonite Clay mixed with water at a ratio of 1 part clay to 8 parts water. In a large non-metallic bowl, mix 1/4 cup of liquid clay with 1 quart of water. Toss your fruits or vegetables in this clay water making sure they’re completely covered and let them sit for about 10 minutes. Rinse and dry them, and store them as you normally would.
You can add Calcium Bentonite Clay to your milk and drinking water if you’re concerned about the possibility of contamination there as well. Add approximately 1 ounce of liquid Calcium Bentonite Clay to a gallon of organic raw milk or water. Some people prefer to let the clay settle to the bottom of the liquid and discard that portion, while others prefer to shake it up and drink them together. Either is fine. Once a contaminant is ‘caught’ by the clay it will not be released, and the clay cannot be digested by your body. All contaminants adsorbed by the clay will be removed upon elimination.
That site is for sensationalist type news.
But – UN-learned as I am about the physics of it all – I am not worried about the amount of radiation we’re getting here in Vancouver, since the Fukushima incident. “Pico-curies” ? Come on … surely the background radiation of cosmic rays zipping through us, is that much, anyway?
My google maps image shows Gillette stadium and quite a bit of areas designated as “Parkland” of some sort. If MA has a lot of open space preserve in the area, the remaining farmland may be the only place developers can build. If there is another underlying cause it would make some of the town’s actions more understandable…..not acceptable but understandable.
I would not be at all surprised if your suspicions are correct. I would never underestimate the shrewdness of a greedy developer.
Gordon S Watson
Justice Critic, Party of Citizens Who Have Decided To Think for Ourselves & Be Our Own Politicians
Of course this has to mean stay away from all forms of legal incorporation, including and especially the for-profit version, and abolishing the corporate form as such, right?
Corporations are, of course, artificial creations of government and extensions of it, imposing taxes and regulations just like the other branches. In the US we have to call them the unconstitutional fourth branch.
” An “action” organization generally qualifies as a 501(c)(4) organization.[46] An “action” organization is one whose activities substantially include, or are exclusively,[47] direct lobbying or grass roots lobbying related to advocacy for or against legislation or proposing, supporting, or opposing legislation that is related to its purpose.[4]” – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/501%28c%29_organization#501.28c.29.284.29
Forget about paying lawyers and other grant-writers = vampires who’ve attached themselves to the jugular vein of the body politic. When the Israel-ites are in the bondage stage of our national cycle, recovery starts by su separating ourselves from the world / the Babylonian system. If we won’t disengage consciously, then our God sends cruel messengers to bring about the same purpose.
As long as its engine is Self-reliance, the Campaign for REAL MILK is unstoppable. The minute it goes hat in hand to Big Sister govt. & the tax racketeers, and the God-damned usurers, is the moment when you ought to say ‘good-bye to all that’