[NHFCStateLeaders] Amish Farmer Fights Raw Milk Law After Sting

[Guest guest]

Perfect timing to coincide with our conversation yesterday about the

problems of finding raw milk in the United States.

Other comments?

Misty L. Trepke

www..com

 

[NHFCStateLeaders] Amish farmer fights milk law after sting

 

Amish farmer fights milk law after sting

>

> Wednesday, June 28, 2006; Posted: 11:56 a.m. EDT (15:56 GMT)

>

>

> 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.

>

> 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.

>

> http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/06/28/amish.rawmilk.ap/index.html