By Bob
Unruh
© 2010 WorldNetDaily
Federal agents
invaded an Amish farm in Pennsylvania at 5 a.m. to inspect
cow-milking facilities then followed up the next day with a written
notice that the farmer was engaged in interstate sale of raw milk
in violation of the Public Health Services Act.
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A failure to correct the situation could result in "seizure
and/or injunction," the warning letter from Kirk Sooter, district
director of the Philadelphia office of the Department of Health and
Human Services, told farmer Dan Allgyer of Kinzer, Pa., on Wednesday.
The farm invaded Tuesday is the one agents
visited in February, driving past "Private Property" signs to
demand Allgyer open his property for their inspection, saying, " You
have cows. You produce food
for human consumption."
The case is being publicized by the
National Independent Consumers and Farmers Association, which
promotes traditional methods of linking farmers with consumers.
Spokeswoman Deborah Stockton told WND Allgyer "is the type of
farmer who exemplifies what we are trying to restore." On her
organization's website is the commitment "to promote and preserve
unregulated direct farmer-to-consumer trade that fosters availability of
locally grown or home-produced food products."
She reported she got details directly from Allgyer of Tuesday's
early morning inspection, which highlights the growing conflict between
farmers who want to provide health food locally and federal regulators.
Allgyer could not be reached immediately for comment.
The farmer told NICFA he came out of his house about 4:30 a.m. for
his milking routine and noticed a lot of traffic on Kinzer Road.
Shortly later, the cars were coming up his lane.
"I stood back in the dark barn to see what they were going to
do. They drove past my two 'Private Property' signs, up to where my
coolers were, with their headlights shining right on them," Allgyer
reported.
He called to the five men as they were preparing to knock on his
home, where his wife and family remained asleep.
"Two were from the FDA, agent Joshua C. Schafer who had been
there in February and another. They showed me identification, but I was
too flustered to ask for their cards. I remember being told that two
were deputy U.S. Marshals and one a state trooper. They started asking
me questions right away. They handed me a paper, and I didn't realize
what it was," he said.
"Schafer told me they were there to do a 'routine inspection.' At
5:00 in the morning, I wondered to myself? 'Do you have a warrant?' I
asked, and one of them, a marshal or the state policeman, said, 'You've
got in your hand buddy.' I asked, 'What is the warrant about?' Schafer
responded, 'We have credible evidence that you are involved in
interstate commerce,'" the farmer reported.
WND telephone calls and e-mails to the FDA requesting comment did
not generate a response.
Allgyer said he confirmed his identification but then said he
wouldn't answer anything further.
He said he questioned their arrival at his farm at 5 a.m. when
the warrant clearly stated it was valid during "reasonable times during
ordinary business hours," but one of the agents said "ordinary business
hours for agriculture
start at 5 a.m."
The agents spent their time "rooting around, like a couple of
pigs, in the freezer and cooler area and took many pictures," Allgyer
reported.
"They came in the dark, shining bright flashlights while my
family was asleep, keeping me from milking my cows, from my family, from
breakfast with my family and from our morning devotions, and alarming
my children enough so that they first question they asked my wife was,
'Is Daddy going to jail?'" Allgyer said.
The subsequent warning letter was an all-inclusive notice that
federal regulations prohibit "the delivery into interstate commerce of
milk and milk products in final package form for direct human
consumption unless they have been pasteurized."
"It is your responsibility to ensure adherence with all
requirements. … Failure to make prompt corrections could result in
regulatory action without further notice," the letter said.
The letter directed Allgyer to notify Compliance Officer Richard
Cherry of the corrections.
Stockton warned that the requirement now is for federal agents to
claim they have "credible evidence" regarding a case, but a proposed
federal change would strike those words in the law and replace them with
"reason to believe."
"The phrase 'reason to believe' would be inserted 14 times into
the code with S 510," she said. "If this bill goes through, the FDA will
have control of farms. They will not need 'credible evidence' to act.
They will essentially be given a free hand to act as they want. And
look at how they already act, even with the existing constraints in
place."
Allgyer previously had told the officers that as a private
farmer, he does not sell to the public.
Advocates say raw milk is healthier.
According to natural-foods blogger Kimberly Hartke, Kevin Trudeau
touts raw milk in his New York Times best-seller "Natural Cures They
Don't Want You to Know About," and Sally Fallon Morell's cookbook,
"Nourishing Traditions," which has sold 350,000 copies.
On
a forum page at Chronwatch-America.com, a participant concluded,
"The food produced on that farm is probably far safer than anything you
get at the grocery store."
That
opinion was endorsed on the Food Freedom blog, where one
participant wrote, ""Factory foods are the ones making people sick &
getting recalled."
The Weston A. Price Foundation, which is among the nonprofits
that educate consumers about more natural food-production methods, said
demand for such products is growing.
"Raw milk … is a supremely healthy food that should be available
to those who want it," said Morell, the foundation's president.
In
January, Canadian farmer Michael Schmidt won a court victory when he
was found not guilty of selling raw milk to members of a cow-sharing
consortium.
In a
previous U.S. case, Mennonite farmer Mark Nolt of Maryland had his
farm raided by SWAT-type agents. He was fined more than $4,000 and had
his equipment confiscated for providing unpasteurized milk to
participants in his program.