MOUNT HOPE, Ohio (AP) -- Arlie Stutzman was busted in a rare sting when an undercover agent bought raw milk from the Amish dairy farmer in an unlabeled container.[/b]
Now, Stutzman is fighting the law that forbids the sale of raw milk, saying he believes it violates his religious beliefs because it prohibits him from sharing the milk he produces with others.
"While I can and I have food, I'll share it," said Stutzman, who is due in Holmes County Common Pleas Court on Friday to tell a judge his views. "Do unto others what you would have others do unto you."
Last September, a man came to Stutzman's weathered, two-story farmhouse, located in a pastoral region in northeast Ohio that has the world's largest Amish settlement. The man asked for milk.
Stutzman was leery, but agreed to fill up the man's plastic container from a 250-gallon stainless steel tank in the milkhouse.
After the creamy white, unpasteurized milk flowed into the container, the man, an undercover agent from the Ohio Department of Agriculture, gave Stutzman two dollars and left.
The department revoked Stutzman's license in February. In April, he got a new license, which allows him to sell to cheese houses and dairies, but received a warning not to sell raw milk to consumers again.
"You can't just give milk away to someone other then yourself. It's a violation of the law," said LeeAnne Mizer, spokeswoman for the department.
Organizations from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to the American Dairy Association have said that raw milk contains health risks because it has not been heated to kill bacteria, such as E. coli.
Regulators want Judge Thomas D. White to formally order Stutzman to comply with dairy laws. Stutzman said he is fighting the request on principle, saying he should be able to share his milk.
Stutzman's Amish faith places an emphasis on the community. To preserve their lifestyle, the Amish avoid the use of electricity and automobile ownership, which would allow the outside world to enter unabated into their culture.
The Amish typically do not get involved in politics, unless laws impede their ability to make a living or follow their religious beliefs. Stutzman said he is getting some community support.
"It shows he's not going to be intimidated and he's going to do what he thinks is the right thing," said his attorney, Gary Cox.
State officials said they sent the agent to his farm because they received a tip from an anonymous neighbor about raw milk sales.
Stutzman, however, said he believes he was targeted because his cows are partly owned by a group of 150 families in what is known as a herd share agreement. Members pay him a fee for the cows and are entitled to a portion of the milk.
Sales of raw milk are illegal in Ohio and 24 other states. But herd share agreements take advantage of a loophole because the group is buying the cows, not the milk.
Groups such as the Weston A. Price Foundation, which is dedicated to restoring nutrient-dense foods to people's diets, advocate the consumption of raw milk, saying pasteurization diminishes vitamin content and kills beneficial bacteria.
For Stutzman, the herd share agreement gives him an outlet for his extra milk. He also enjoys sharing his product with others who would otherwise not have access to it.
"We know people are deprived of this real food," he said.
Abraham Lincoln's Mother died of what was then known as the "milk sick" , it was caused by drinking milk from sick cows . The cows don't have to display symptoms for them to pass on something that can kill you . Food purity laws exist for a reason .
Now , about that Nevada law that makes it illegal to ride an ugly horse down the street ...
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I keep reading "sold" and "share" trying to be interpreted
as the same thing. He's not charged with "sharing" rawmilk,
which to me would imply giving it away. He's charged
with "selling" raw milk, which is against the law. And
to tell you the truth, it don't sound like a stupid law to
me as there are too manyuh, un-careful people withcows.
As much as I'm discouragedby most things I read/hear
about the FDA we do have the safest food supply in the
world (or so says the FDA[&:])
You think so ? You think for hundreds of years people drank milk that it was bad for them ? C'mon - fresh milk wasn't bad for anyone for a very long time.
What changed to make fresh un-pasteuized milk bad ? Chemicals given to the cow, automatic milking machines that can't tell bad sickly cows from others, the foods that the cows eat etc.
Thats what changed to make cows milk a danger - not the milk itsself.
You know that homoginization is highly suspected of being the cause for heart disease and the clogging of the arteries ?
You see, people took something that was NATURAL, that our bodies know how to consume, and created something that isn't easily digestible by humans.
Read up on it - I haven't bought homogenized milk for my family much at all in the past 2 years. Non-homoginzed cream at the top milk is all I'll buy.
Also - who was the driving force behind the banning of selling of fresh milk ? Fed govt ? FDA ? No - its done at state levels by ................. dairy associations. They have a vested intrest in keeping tight controls on milk productions
My main concerns with raw milk would be the
handling by uncontrolled means. Milk output
is in pretty close proximity to other cow output,
it ya know what I mean[:-]
Don't drink much milk myself. Don't really think
of it as a great "people food". It's calf food.
I was just reading this article and think it is a sad state of affairs to target this guy like that...for two bucks I'd buy some farm fresh raw milk and would through a can a whoop ass at anyone trying to bust me for it...[&:]...crazy crap like this up here too...the milk producers/dairy association is corrupt if you ask me.
You think for hundreds of years people drank milk that it was bad for them ? C'mon - fresh milk wasn't bad for anyone for a very long time.
No one ever said it was bad for them. It was just not as safe as it could be.
Quote:
What changed to make fresh un-pasteuized milk bad ? Chemicals given to the cow, automatic milking machines that can't tell bad sickly cows from others, the foods that the cows eat etc.
Thats what changed to make cows milk a danger - not the milk itsself.
You need to get out more. There is nothing in the food given to cows that makes the milk more dangerous now than it was then. And apparently those automatic milk machines line the cows up and operate everything all by themselves? I've never seen one that didn't still have a person connecting/disconnecting the machine to the animal. Further, symptoms don't show up in sick animals for most things until later stages. The eyeball test may work most of the time, but we pastuerize milk for those few times it fails.
Quote:
You know that homoginization is highly suspected of being the cause for heart disease and the clogging of the arteries ?
You see, people took something that was NATURAL, that our bodies know how to consume, and created something that isn't easily digestible by humans.
Read up on it - I haven't bought homogenized milk for my family much at all in the past 2 years. Non-homoginzed cream at the top milk is all I'll buy.
You're actually quoting something from the Weston Price Foundation? Wow, just wow. Look out Kat, I think you've just been moved to second fiddle.
Quote:
Also - who was the driving force behind the banning of selling of fresh milk ? Fed govt ? FDA ? No - its done at state levels by ................. dairy associations. They have a vested intrest in keeping tight controls on milk productions
They also have a vested interest in keeping idiots from selling dangerous products and damaging their products reputation as a whole. It's called self-regulation (a novel concept[&:]). Regulate yourself effectively and then you avoid more restrictive regulations imposed by the government.
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RE: did you know ( stupid laws )
I was looking at my father inlaws law books the other day, and did you know it is illegal to carry a pair of wire cutters in your pocket in Texas? Still on the books, but not enforced. I found quite a few that were crazy.
Another one, when you come to a four way stop, if a horse and buggy is at one of the stops, you either have to dismantle your car, or cover it so that you do not spook the horse.
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did you know ( stupid laws )
