Comments Due Today (Sep. 23, 2013)
The FDA is yet again putting burdens on farmers who use healthy, sustainable practices, and justifying them with fear-based assumptions rather than data. The agency’s latest move is a draft guidance document that will make it all but impossible for farmers with 3,000 or more laying hens to keep the birds on pasture.
Minnesota Jury Convicts Peaceful Farmer on Five Charges
Alvin Schlangen sentenced to fines, 1-year probation and 90 days in jail suspended
Stearns County, MN—(August 19, 2013)—Long-time farmer, Alvin Schlangen, was convicted by a jury of 6 on five charges related to feeding his community. The conviction came on August 15 after a
Dairy Farmer Hershberger to Hold Press Conference on Upcoming Appeal
Jurors Who Acquitted Dairyman in Criminal Trial to Join in Ice Cream Social
Farmer Vernon Hershberger of Wisconsin, recently acquitted on 3 of 4 criminal charges for food distribution, will host a press conference on his farm regarding his appeal of the 4th charge. Members of the press are invited to attend. Jurors from his trial and members of
Minnesota Aims—Again—to Jail Peaceful Farmer
Schlangen Found Innocent by Jury in Hennepin County Now Threatened with Jail in Stearns County
Stearns County, Minnesota—(August 5, 2013)—Peaceful farmer, Alvin Schlangen, faces five criminal charges with a possible penalty of up to 15 months imprisonment and $5,000 in fines at his trial slated to run August 13-15, 2013, in St. Cloud. Schlangen is no
Tell FDA to Treat Small Farmers Fairly Action Alert
FDA is aiming to undermine the Tester-Hagan amendment which exempts small-scale, direct-marketing farms from the most burdensome aspects of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). This exemption is essential to the continued vitality of the local foods movement.
FDA is proposing rules that would make it very easy for the agency to force even small-scale farmers to comply with the extensive, burdensome