When I wrote about the case of parents suing Minnesota farmer Michael Hartmann in connection with their childs alleged illness from raw milk, and the judge’s suggestion the parents might bear some responsibility for their childs illness, I assumed the judge’s intent was to reduce the potential responsibility ascribed to Hartmann. But alas, as Ron Klein reminds us in comments following the previous post, our legal system doesnt necessarily work in such logical ways. More often than not, the idea is to ascribe blame.
So while our legal system has always provided an opening for the state to intervene to protect children, its only in recent years that the system is being slanted so aggressively this way.
Increasingly, the tenor of interactions between public officials and parents is that the government is in charge, and that parents are guilty until proven innocent rather than the other way around. There is a very moving four-minute film about a Detroit mom who ran into the buzz saw of that tenor when she resisted allowing her daughter to be given psychotropic drugs, and the State brought in the troops.
As Ron Klein reports, there are reasonably intelligent people among the legal profession who say that mothers should be held accountable for possible abuse charges if they feed their children raw milk. But what if they feed them junk food? Interestingly, our legal and social systems may well be moving in a direction of holding parents accountable for that as well. Schools around the country are implementing strict rules prohibiting junk foods in school lunches and vending machines. The Massachusetts legislature just passed a special exemption to such strict rules to allow PTAs and other parent groups to be able to conduct bake sales in schools.
Some schools are even prohibiting sugary food in lunches and snacks children bring from home. I heard a story from someone I know of a childs jelly sandwich being confiscated in a private school because it was considered to be a sweet dessert, and sweet desserts werent allowed in the school.
Confiscation of private food considered to be unsafe. Sound familiar? In such an atmosphere, charges of abuse arent that far down the road.
In the meantime, regulators continue to add new rules and regulations, presumably to ensnare more people as criminals. The latest is Wyoming, which is seeking to restrict cow shares, require licenses for even the smallest producers to sell eggs to restaurants, and make illegal sale of bagged leafy greens at farmers market.
Its not that difficult to imagine parents being hauled in on abuse charges for two very different situations. In one, parents are serving raw milk and a child becomes ill. In another, parents are serving lots of sugary junk food and a child becomes obese and diabetic.
Its such a slippery slope, so beyond the experience of most of us, that its difficult to know what to make of such possibilities. But in our current atmosphere of fear mongering, assigning blame, and State control, the visions may not be as bizarre as one would imagine.
Naturally your mileage will vary from state to state but this is the case in many many places. And in these economic times they often target the poor and helpless; frequently in violation of the law and the constitution.
If the lessons from the battle for homeschooling rights is any guide, the state will start using child services to dissuade parents from feeding raw milk to children. Expect that to kick in as they realize their scaremongering efforts are counter productive and their persecution of individual farmers can’t keep up with the tide of new dairymen entering the fray.
http://www.naturalnews.com/035966_Rand_Paul_FDA_censorship.html
Best, Violet
http://reason.com/blog/2012/05/24/here-are-the-15-senators-who-voted-to-st
So those other 78 need to explain or be voted out the next time they are up for reelection . . .
Best, Violet
Ora, sometimes a break is good. Will miss you, and Kristen. Hope you’ll be back before long.
Alas, we are used to it. The idea of homeopathy is really his Achille’s heel. So the idea that something that might contain bacteria and NOT make you sick is perhaps a huge stretch for him. I fear he marginalizes himself if he continues to bring up such things.
My kids have been raised on raw milk for the last 6 years . . .my 13 year old son and my 4 year old daughter. My little girl has never been sick and has never been on antibiotics . . .my son has never had an ear infection or taken antibiotics either since drinking raw milk for six years . . .so I find your link quite disturbing to say the least . . .
Best, Violet
I think David is quite right to observe that “Increasingly, the tenor of interactions between public officials and parents is that the government is in charge, and that parents are guilty until proven innocent rather than the other way around. ”
This is a disturbing trend. How much better it would be for government advisers to recognize that NO ONE knows how to achieve best nutrition right now (and that it probably varies for each person) and that there is so much work to do. I would be pretty upset if I had followed the recommendations for a lowfat diet for my kids. Now we’re finding out how crucial dietary fat is for brain function (among other body functions). I’m relieved that I followed my gut and my kids have always eaten plenty of fat. I, their mother, will decide what’s best for them.
I find it interesting that for every govt intervention, the right interprets it as Nanny State and the left interprets it as Police State. Yet, neither considers that since none of us wants this intervention, we could work together. Nope, each side just argues louder, often in violent agreement.
It is a fact of life that conspiracies happen every day. We see them with our own eyes. No, they don’t all involve Roswell or grassy knolls. To lump all conspiracies into one bucket is disingenuous and to label people conspiracy theorists is an attempt to silence those with whom you disagree. Unless you are privy to every secret conversation that ever occurred, you cannot claim with any certainty whether something is a conspiracy theory or not. Sometimes events are the result of a couple of wealthy guys tilting the system in their favor with no collusion and sometimes there’s a deliberate plan to subvert some situation.
I find the Pauls to be contradictory at best. Let’s see–I am smart enough to decide to drink raw milk without government intervention. The govt is too stupid to run any federal program. BUT, the govt is better informed than me when it comes to matters of women’s reproductive freedom! Go figure. Perhaps there’s merit to the charge that the Randians are an adolescent boys club.
For context, I’ve mentioned here before that politically, I lean left. (Left as in Peace, Love, and Understanding not Left as in “pay for my student loans.”) I’ve also mentioned that since I got involved with real food that there are folks of all stripes and who for a variety of reasons want real, fresh, nutrient dense food. It has astonished me how often I agree with my counter-parties on the other side of the aisle in these issues. Perhaps we don’t all fit neatly on left/right sides. Unfortunately, out in the “real world,” folks don’t seem to want to let anyone have a hybrid opinion. We are a two party country for better or worse, and in the last decade, my opinion is that it’s worse.
Bill, you might think more of capitalism if we still practiced actual industrial capitalism and not financial capitalism and if corporate charters still meant more than only return on shareholder value.
“Taking an absolutist stand is not helpful to anyone.”
ROFL!!! As the saying goes, Physician, heal thyself.
I loved the reference to a woman who places warning labels on items that are known to have GM ingredients when she is out shopping!! There’s also a great App for your iPad/iPhone with guidelines when shopping or eating out, it is available in the Apps Store and you can find their website here: http://www.nongmoshoppingguide.com/
It just astounds me that there are those who insist that there are no ill effects from GM ingredients when there is increasing evidence to the contrary coming out of the labs. For those of us in the medical field, we need to be promoting more public information. Of great concern is the strong evidence of: damaged immune systems, smaller brains, livers & other organs, odd shaped cell nuclei, compromised pregnancies, alterations of DNA, and many more problems. Recently, the American Academy of Environmental Medicine released its position paper regarding GM foods and they also contend that “GM foods pose a serious health risk”. I would like to encourage those on this blog, especially those that live here in California, to help with this movement, to educate not only your family, friends and relatives, but your elected officials as well. Help to make a major change with regards to this issue. Find out how you can help support this movement, what groups that are in your area, find the websites, spread the word…whatever that it takes, please help with this issue.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/25/science/dispute-over-labeling-of-genetically-modified-food.html
Of course, any state who really wanted to fight Monsanto (which would become a paper tiger the second the government thug arm and welfare sack are withdrawn) could easily make it back off. Any state could easily make things very hard for the GMO rackets if it wanted to. The state governments of Vermont and Connecticut were simply using Monsanto’s threat as the pretext to kill laws they really didn’t want, but were too cowardly to vote down, given the overwhelming public support for food transparency. Monsanto’s threat was the briar patch they begged not to be thrown into.
What part are you having a problem with???
I was blown away to hear the stories from Two female owners of Conventional CA CAFO dairies. They had attended the meeting for the first time. Neither of them cared very much about raw milk ( either way it was not an issue for them ) ,…they were more concerned about rights and regulatory oppression of access to food. When ever they began to speak….their words became choked up and tears welled up.
They were deeply injured by the travesty of regulatory oppression and the financial damage that market disconnection and scars of the RAPE by processing industry had left on them. They loved their animals and their farms…they were so injured…. so financially and emotionally bankrupted. It was a true American story of trauma. I just wanted to share some of the abundance of love and sustained health I have from my experience with consumer connected raw milk. Such a huge difference.
None of the raw milk Cow Share operators or Family Cow Operators has had this damage or injury.
It was a course in American brutality brought by processors.
What was most curious to me was the complete lack of appreciation that they had on how to get out from under the oppression. They just worked harder and harder…they had not spent any time coordinating a strategic plan with other dairies to cooperate and over rule the processors.
So sad. Sounds like the Family Cow is finally nearing its discussion period and it will now go on the legislative process in the next few months.
Great partnerships and good understandings being had by all at this historic common ground meeting at CDFA. There is a bright future for raw milk in CA!! and it is happening because of engagement.
Also…CDFA pleaded with all of us to not listen to internet garbage….they regret the miss information that is going on that makes them look bad. They denied most of the junk that was being rumored and asked us all to look at the facts. They are not at all what the rumors are saying.
I think I have to agree. What might be a simple visit by an inspector…is internet rumored as a SWAT RAID.
When emotions and fear get involved the stories get bigger, longer and grander.
Pattie was following the law and she still got a cease and desist letter from the state…. I haven’t read anywhere where they “support” raw milk. Where is the proof? LOLOL misinformation that makes them look bad?? That would be hilarious if it weren’t so sad. Fact: Pattie was within the law and she received a cease and desist letter….cdfa has proven the words on the internet are true.
David,
If the judge et al were to state that the parents bear some responsibility, then wouldn’t they also bear that same responsibility if the kid is over weight? or injured playing sports? riding their bike? roller skating? Or if they became sick eating lunch meat or a hotdog? Or how about if the child gets a cold or flu? an allergic reaction to something? Where would it all end? maybe the parents aren’t teaching the child the ‘correct’ morals, or religion? Will they stop at just children? What about adults that are obese? or ill? or non compliant with the physician ordered medicines? What will happen to them?
“Peanut crops are exposed to relatively high levels of pesticides, but by the time they turn into peanut butter the residues aren’t significant. ”
This is one example of misinformation to the public.
“10 Ways to Stop Being a Slave and Bring Down the Pyramids of Control”
http://www.activistpost.com/2012/05/10-ways-to-stop-being-slave-and-bring.html
Unjust debt = all top-down debt, all system debt. And the part on money is exactly right. The government abdicates our money sovereignty to private banks, who now rent our own money back to us at an ever-increasing premium. The goal is to get beyond needing cash at all. (Part of the reason for Obama’s health racket mandate, i.e. poll tax, is to impose a mandatory tax which requires us to pay in dollars. But we need on the contrary to deal with one another more and more in kind.)
It’s all of one piece with the corporate/government assault on food freedom, such as real milk.
Indeed, they have to boil any milk from these cows, appears they didn’t clean the cow at all….boiled cow poop that’s what’s for Americans!
I phrase what I post for those with reading skills at a jr. high-school level. I do my best to connect the dots as to how it pertains to comments made on this forum, = in the latest instance, ‘ when the giving of raw milk to a child is alleged to be child abuse, are children property of the parents or state?’
We do know one thing for sure : pregnant moms who drink REAL MILK, deliver healthier babies, and that superior health starts in the womb. Handiest example : children from raw-milk-drinking-families have far less asthma. I say, that’s because raw milk provides the essential nutrients for the body to create surfactants ( lubricating fluid) in the lung
Doesn’t it also seem as though when you really look at most people’s behavior, they’re not actually as different as their talk would lead one to believe?
You would think that parents would bear responsibility in the situations you list. But parents seem to bear more responsibility if they are doing something that the medical community especially disapproves of (like feeding a child raw milk, or taking a child off psychotropic drugs).
But we were one.
Tents laying on organic green pastures with in 10 feet of the cows. A 200 foot long table set with chairs in the pastures covered with the best foods on earth….more than 200 campers all eating together and the food being washed down by the freshest raw milk direct from the creamery…..just a few hundred feet away.
The sincerity of the gratefullness for raw milk was deeply shared by all. The appreciation for the shared raw milk experience and enhanced immune status for everyone was a truth that was held in common.
There were painting events were the kids left painted hand prints on our ECOVISIT TOUR MOBILE, there was a great meal with plenty of chili beans and organic ground beef, there were pot luck contributions by all. There were sunset walks, and the showing of the Movie DIRT.
Speeches were made and round table discussions about all things raw milk and all things related to the immune systems and kids and families. There were shared common testimonials….In the evening there were fires set along the runway and everyone enjoyed the breeze and the fire warmth.
Next year….this will be a massive event. We are preparing already for more than 500.
Camping with the Cows….somehow it triggered something deep in all of us…a consumers connection to the earth, the cows and the farmer. All were reminded that OPDC and the McAfees are just stewards of the land for their short time on earth….these pastures belonged to all of us. If not for the consumers there would be no OPDC or raw milk for all!
A core message of the event was: The world is watching us…we need to build our markets and lead by teaching and dollar voting.
Just last week I met with senate staffers in Sacramento with some of the cow share working group reps…when the staffer sat down and introduced himself…he realized that he and his family drinks OPDC raw milk….the deal was done. We were all in the same chapter in the same book.
Market building and dollar voting closes the gap of experience and brings the GUT truth to more and more people. When it comes time to make legislative change….the votes and support will be there because the Markets have grown to include a broad section of society in common. teaching works!!!
Camping with the Cows was a spiritual, intellectual, nutritional, gutteral, experience. We made life long friends for sure. It was that one connective experience everyone needed so that they knew that they had touched and connected with their farmer and the earth and cows that they depend upon for health.
It mooooved us all.
Mark
Mark, I sense you have tapped into a deep need, just beginning to be expressed on a substantial scale, of people wanting to get in touch with their food’s production. Thanks for sharing this, and congrats on bringing your special event to fruition.
We have so many things to be thankful for…our consumers love raw milk and they teach others about the immune gifts it gives all people.
Wow…the truth sells and educates itself. That is the definition of sustainability.
US congressman John W. DeCamp in his book “The Franklin Cover-up: Child Abuse, Satanism, and Murder in Nebraska.” Documents that government itself is a major player in child abuse.
As usual we are going after the wrong targets. If we truly want to protect children we need to go after the guilty actors and not fall prey to government and media, divide and conquer tactics.
http://tinyurl.com/7q6thwp
http://tinyurl.com/89b5qjx
Ayn Rand was prophetic on the coming intrusions of government 2 generations into the future:
“There’s no way to rule innocent men. The only power government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren’t enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. ” ~(paraphrased: Page 406 of Ayn Rand’s, Atlas Shrugged )
http://www.bergenrefrigeration.com/designs.htm