Missouri’s farmstead cheesemaker remains shut down and is in the process of appealing the judge’s ruling. The Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund (FTCLDF) got involved in the case from the very beginning, and the Dixons are very thankful that they had somewhere to turn in their hour of crisis. Joe Dixon has had to go on the road as a construction electrician because he has 12 children (3 of whom are still at home) and a farm mortgage that still needs to be paid.
The Dixon family would like very much to be able to return to running their successful grass-based dairy and cheese plant, Morningland Dairy. Your support for FTCLDF will make it possible for this hard working farm family to prevail. Watch the video of Joe Dixon below speaking about their ordeal.
The Morningland Dairy story was the first story on my blog to go viral, Family Farm Ordered to Destroy 50,000 Pounds of Cheese, screamed the headline. Farm fresh food advocates and food buying co-ops spread the story like wildfire. At the time, the Dixon family was being dragged into the Rawesome raid of 2010, because their raw milk cheese was found in the Venice Beach, California cooperative.
Doreen Hannes, the food activist who wrote the story, met with the family personally and wrote a great article. It generated 175 comments and over 50,000 unique views in a matter of weeks.
Another food activist, who writes under the moniker, The Hen Whisperer, launched a website, Morningland Dairy’s Uncheese Party. Henwhisperer, Doreen and I also put together a pledgie.com campaign, over 1100 people have generously donated almost $50,000 dollars of charitable relief funds for the Dixon family.
We also launched a corresponding facebook page, The Uncheese Party. Right now, I am looking for food activists who would like to grow support for the page by volunteering to be a Co-Administrators. This involves posting content regularly and looking for ways to build the fan base. The more people who know about this case, the better it will be for the Dixon family. Contact me by email at press{at}westonaprice.org if you are active on social media and would like to help.
When the Raw Milk Freedom Riders demonstrated at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Headquarters, Denise Dixon made the trip to Washington to voice her discontent with FDA’s heavy handed, heartless treatment of small farming businesses.
Please see this compelling video of Joe Dixon, sharing the story in his own words. I think you’ll agree, that the United States of America can’t afford to lose such a fine family farm.
View other videos at FarmToConsumerLegal on YouTube
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