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
Search Results for: case update
New Studies Confirm: Raw Milk A Low-Risk Food
WASHINGTON, DC–June 11, 2013 —Three quantitative microbial risk assessments (QMRAs) recently published in the Journal of Food Protection have demonstrated that unpasteurized milk is a low-risk food, contrary to previous, inappropriately-evidenced claims suggesting a high-risk profile. These scholarly papers, along with dozens of others, were
Wisconsin Aims to Jail Amish Farmer
Farmer Acquitted by Jury Now Threatened with Jail by DOJ
Baraboo, Wisconsin—June 3, 2013—Less than a week after the jury acquitted him of three criminal charges, Eric Defort and Phillip Ferris, attorneys for the Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ), move to have the judge revoke the
Vernon Hershberger Trial Verdict: Acquitted on Three of Four Charges
In what Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund vice president Elizabeth Rich called a victory for the food rights movement, a Sauk County jury acquitted dairy farmer Vernon Hershberger on three of four criminal charges for violations of the Wisconsin food and dairy code after
Farmer Faces Jail for Feeding Community
Customers and Other Supporters to Attend Court with FarmerFood rights activists from around North America will meet at the Sauk County Courthouse in this tiny town on May 20 to support Wisconsin dairy farmer Vernon Hershberger and food sovereignty. Hershberger, whose trial begins that day, is charged with four criminal misdemeanors that could land this husband and father in
Episode 8: National Farmers Union Endorses Raw Milk
Episode 8 of the Food Rights Hour podcast is about the National Farmers Union’s endorsement of raw milk. During this episode, host Kimberly Hartke talks to guests David Gumpert, Mark McAfee, Hannah Smith-Brubaker, Richard R. Oswald, and Danielle Nierenberg about the National Farmers Union’s (NFU) decision to endorse this nutrient-dense beverage. What does NFU’s decision mean for the future of raw milk?
Morningland Cheese to Be Destroyed
A two-and-a-half year battle between Morningland and the Missouri State Milk Board over cheese embargoed at the Morningland facility will be ending on January 25 when Milk Board officials will be carting some 32,000 to 35,000 pounds of cheese off to a local landfill for disposal. Morningland owners, Joe and Denise Dixon, have invited members of the public to be present for
Help Save Drakes Bay Oyster Company
The Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund has agreed to administer a litigation fund to be used to help finance the Drakes Bay Oyster Company’s lawsuit against the United States National Park Service. Drakes Bay Oyster Company (DBOC) is a family-owned, environmentally sustainable oyster farm on the
Victory in Michigan! Shady Grove Farm Protected by Right to Farm Act
Fund members Randy and Libby Buchler of Shady Grove Farm learned today that their farming operation in Forsyth Township, Michigan can continue. Judge Thomas L. Solka of the Marquette County Circuit Court ruled that “because defendants’ farm . . . is protected from nuisance suits under the
Raw Deal in Los Angeles
Cartoon courtesy of Mike Adams at NaturalNews.com I was arrested the morning of August 3, 2011. It was completely unexpected. The arrest happened in the middle of the street, less than a half block from my house. It was surprisingly easy to get arrested: only a