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Vernon Hershberger signing over-sized Declaration of Food Independence at rally in Baraboo, WI, last year. The trial of raw milk farmer Vernon Hershberger, due to begin Monday in Baraboo, WI, is becoming not just a big legal and political event, but a big media event as well. 

 

The Wisconsin media have picked up on the plans for a major gathering of food rights supporters with a number of thorough articles explaining the background and current stakes in the trial. The coverage is eye opening for its effort to explain to readers the broader issues behind the trial besides whether raw milk is safe to drink. . 

 

For example, the CapTimes’ Jessica Vanegeren provides an excellent explanation of the complex regulatory background leading up to Hershberger’s problems with the state. 

 

The Daily Page from Isthmus calls the event  “one of the most important trials of the decade” because it “will set precedent for whether individuals can enter into private food exchanges with each other, choosing for themselves what food they purchase, or whether such exchanges will be regulated — or even forbidden — by the state.”

 

Rick Barrett of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel explains not only the legal and political background of the case, but the possibly important role of jury nullification in the trial’s outcome. 

 

Nationally, The Daily Beast portrayed the trial as one mostly about the legality of raw milk. 

 

Mike Adams of Natural News sees the case as one of an innocent farmer being victimized by an overbearing state, backed by corporate interests. 

 

I have tried to put the case into legal and political perspective–especially related to other similar cases that have come up in recent years–in an analysis at Modern Farmer. 

 

I also have an article examining the food safety aspects of the case due to be published Monday at Food Safety News

 

It’s encouraging to see a high volume of reporting dealing with some of the underlying political issues, rather than simply spouting the public health line that the case is about “protecting” the public from unsafe foods. Could this be the expansion of a trend?

 

As interest in the trial builds, it seems as if the events around the trial could be almost as interesting as the trial itself, what with a variety of speakers and a gathering of supporters in a movie theatre near the trial to watch the court proceedings. The Farm Food Freedom Coalition has been the moving force behind organizing the support nationally, together with a number of local organizations, and it has been seeking donations to help further food rights cases around the country.