Podcast with Laura Bledsoe by Pete Kennedy, Esq.
 Photo Credit: Becca Butcher |
Episode 4 of the Food Rights Hour podcast is an interview with Laura Bledsoe, whose farm-to-fork dinner was halted mid-preparation on October 21, 2011 by the Southern Nevada Health District.
The health inspector would not allow the food, prepared by a certified chef, to be served to the guests for reasons including that some of the meat was not inspected by the USDA, prepared farm produce was considered “biohazard material,” and they didn’t have receipts for the food.
The Bledsoes were not even allowed to feed the pigs the so-called unfit food, and they were ordered to pour bleach on it to ensure that it wouldn’t be served to the public. Laura and Monte Bledsoe hosted their second annual autumn farm-to-fork dinner on Quail Hollow Farm, just one year later, without any trouble.
How did the Bledsoes stop the intervention of the Health District? How can you stop overzealous regulators during a potential farm or buying club raid? Listen to Laura’s heartbreaking yet heartwarming story on the podcast to find out!
The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the speaker(s) and not those of the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund.
About the Guest
L
aura Bledsoe and her husband Monte Bledsoe started the now biodiverse Quail Hollow Farm in Overton, NV in 2006 to provide nutritious vegetables to family and friends. The farm is now teeming with cute critters and boasts orchards and a vineyard. “Making agriculture more efficient” was the lead-in statement about 3 minutes into the National Geographic documentary video that also featured Quail Hollow Farm in 2010. Since the 2011 farm-to-fork dinner, Laura has engaged in grassroots activism for food freedom in Nevada. Learn more about the initiative, Nevadans for Food Freedom. Be sure to check out the many photos on the Bledsoes’ website at www.quailhollowfarmcsa.com
Extras
Read more about the 2011 Farm-to-Fork Dinner Fiasco. Click links in the sidebar to watch videos recorded the day of the raid.
Read “Straight From the Farmer’s Heart at Quail Hollow” then click the sidebar to watch the news clip, “I-Team From Farm to Fork“.
Read “Learning from the Farm to Fork Fiasco“. Visit Swarms of Officers to read about more stories like this and learn more about How to Survive a Farm Raid.
Questions or comments about this episode of the Food Rights Hour Podcast? Please email [email protected], and we will be glad to respond to you via email or even on a future podcast.
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