Natural News:California Raw Food Buyers Club Illegally Raided by Government(updated with NYT article)

[Koolblue13]

NYtimes article added

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/05/us/05raw.html?ref=todayspaper

Lela Buttery, a trustee at Rawesome, said it had no license because it was not a store. Instead, she called it a “club.” Club members paid an annual fee, which allowed them to peruse the produce, milk products and honey on Rawesome’s shelves, which they paid for — $7 for a pint of raw goat’s milk — to cover the cost of production. Members also signed waivers to signal they understood the risks of consuming raw food.

Rawesome is staffed by volunteers, who take home food for their efforts, and no one, Ms. Buttery said, is making money from his or her work there.

http://www.naturalnews.com/029547_raw_food_buyers_club.html

(NaturalNews) Rawsome Foods, part of The Right to Choose Healthy Foods buyers` club association in Venice, California, was raided by several agencies. Federal officers, representatives of the State of California, Los Angeles County Health officials and Los Angeles police officers arrived with guns drawn. Although the volunteer workers at the food club had committed no crime, the government agents forced them to remain on the property for the entire 5 hours while they seized 17 huge coolers of high quality food; their warrant, however, explicitly stated that they could only take sample vials of food. The agents threatened and coerced club members who wanted to film the trespass and confiscation of property. The authorities stole thousands of dollars of the club members` raw milk and honey.

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/029547_raw_food_buyers_club.html#ixzz1TzIZypxr

I know our Government has been attacking natural food pretty hard for the last few years, but this is pretty extreme. It's not like they were growing pot or trying to force children to eat healthy.

Am I missing something? Or is this just another step towards not having any non GMO foods anymore?

[zoony]

I know our Government has been attacking natural food pretty hard for the last few years,

They've been attacking the snake oil aspect of it, and at that, I don't think they've been nearly vehement enough. The USDA has done a tremendous amount to promote and regulate the term organic. More than any private party, that's for dam sure.

The raid was targeting unpasteurized milk

This is less about health and more about foodies. non-pasteurized milk and cheese tastes better, they claim.

BTW KB- please fix your thread title to comply with rules

[Koolblue13]

They've been attacking the snake oil aspect of it, and at that, I don't think they've been nearly vehement enough. The USDA has done a tremendous amount to promote and regulate the term organic. More than any private party, that's for dam sure.

The raid was targeting unpasteurized milk

This is less about health and more about foodies. non-pasteurized milk and cheese tastes better, they claim.

BTW KB- please fix your thread title to comply with rules

Title fixed.

You're crazy or just not paying any attention if that's what you think.

[Predicto]

Natural News is hardly the most impartial source for information on this subject, and the way that story was written gave me absolutely zero confidence that the story was accurate.

And I am a San Francisco buy organic, natural foods whenver possible kind of guy.

[Koolblue13]

It's going on right now I believe and they are trying to organize people to immediately come protest.

[PCS]

LA Times article about this.

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jul/25/business/la-fi-raw-food-raid-20100725

Raw-food raid highlights a hunger

Some people balk at restrictions on selling unprocessed milk and other foods. 'How can we not have the freedom to choose what we eat?' one says. Regulators say the rules exist for safety and fairness.

July 25, 2010|By P.J. Huffstutter, Los Angeles Times

With no warning one weekday morning, investigators entered an organic grocery with a search warrant and ordered the hemp-clad workers to put down their buckets of mashed coconut cream and to step away from the nuts.

Then, guns drawn, four officers fanned out across Rawesome Foods in Venice. Skirting past the arugula and peering under crates of zucchini, they found the raid's target inside a walk-in refrigerator: unmarked jugs of raw milk.

Click link for more

[zoony]

claiming that un-pasteurized foods are somehow healthier for you is the very definition of 21st century Snake Oil.

It's a taste issue. You know, foodie dorks.

But let's go protest the evil government. Yay

..

[dockeryfan]

They've been attacking the snake oil aspect of it, and at that, I don't think they've been nearly vehement enough.

False, IMO. If it were such a threat, we would see much more illness and death in Europe. Hell, they have raw milk vending machines, and they've had them for years.

http://hartkeisonline.com/whole-and-natural-foods/milk-o-matic-a-big-hit-in-slovenian-farmers-markets/

Let's get real. If it were a big time threat these would not exist.

ALSO: If it were just a taste issue the government would not be involved. They view it as a public safety issue.

[zoony]

False, IMO. If it were such a threat, we would see much more illness and death in Europe. Hell, they have raw milk vending machines, and they've had them for years.

http://hartkeisonline.com/whole-and-natural-foods/milk-o-matic-a-big-hit-in-slovenian-farmers-markets/

Let's get real. If it were a big time threat these would not exist.

ALSO: If it were just a taste issue the government would not be involved. They view it as a public safety issue.

To claim that un-pasteurized milk has health benefits is false, supported by no reputable scientific backing. It is a taste issue, whether the morons protesting this know it or not.

I also find it strange that you're comparing KRAFT foods and assorted crap American brands to local artisinal cheese-makers in France. With the (lack of) respect Americans show to ingredients and food, we are obligated to have much stricter regulations than in Europe. So your stats comparing us to Europe are absolutely meaningless

[Destino]

This is a lot more simple then people seem to be thinking:

It is legal for licensed dairies to sell raw milk at retail outlets in California and 10 other states, according to research by the National Conference of State Legislatures. Twenty states allow people to buy unpasteurized milk directly from farms, or take part in a "cow sharing" program (in which a person buys part ownership of an animal and gets some of its milk).

But in the case of Rawesome, regulators allege that the group broke the law by failing to have the proper permits to sell food to the public.

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jul/25/business/la-fi-raw-food-raid-20100725

[dockeryfan]

To claim that un-pasteurized milk has health benefits is false, supported by no reputable scientific backing. It is a taste issue, whether the morons protesting this know it or not.

Well, for sure the enzymes in milk are denatured with pasteurization. Does that make it healthy or not, that's another argument, but it does make it different. And if they want to believe it is healthier who cares? How is that any different than someone who wants to take glucosamine? There's no real evidence for that either. So I say who cares.

I also find it strange that you're comparing KRAFT foods and assorted crap American brands to local artisinal cheese-makers in France. With the (lack of) respect Americans show to ingredients and food, we are obligated to have much stricter regulations than in Europe. So your stats comparing us to Europe are absolutely meaningless

Again. I have no idea where you are going with this. Are you saying that the US is a much less regulated place in terms of the food industry, so we need to have more government regulation on what can be sold and what cannot be sold to consumers because of safety issues? That's some serious bass akwards thinking there.

[Koolblue13]

Sorry to start this, then bail. My new foster dog allowed me to get 2 hours of sleep last night and I took a nap, now I have to get to work. I'll be back.

[Special K]

Yeah, soooo...you need proper permits and licensure to sell this type of raw milk in that state and/or municipality. The government agencies allege that Rawsome did not have that.

I don't get what people are whining about, other than wanting to rail against the big,bad government USDA, FDA, etc. If you circumvent the law, you run the risk of getting caught.

[ACW]

If people wanna by unpasteurized milk, they should have that right,

[Special K]

If people wanna by unpasteurized milk, they should have that right,

They do.

[War Paint]

They've been attacking the snake oil aspect of it, and at that, I don't think they've been nearly vehement enough. The USDA has done a tremendous amount to promote and regulate the term organic. More than any private party, that's for dam sure.

The raid was targeting unpasteurized milk

This is less about health and more about foodies. non-pasteurized milk and cheese tastes better, they claim.

BTW KB- please fix your thread title to comply with rules

If people want to drink unpasteurized milk, it is their right. You don't need government raids. Amish drink it. It's not like they are dropping dead in droves.

---------- Post added August-3rd-2011 at 08:25 PM ----------

To claim that un-pasteurized milk has health benefits is false, supported by no reputable scientific backing. It is a taste issue, whether the morons protesting this know it or not.

I also find it strange that you're comparing KRAFT foods and assorted crap American brands to local artisinal cheese-makers in France. With the (lack of) respect Americans show to ingredients and food, we are obligated to have much stricter regulations than in Europe. So your stats comparing us to Europe are absolutely meaningless

Zoony and keestman, if you are for government raids on "hazardous" foods, why not cry out for a raid on Monsanto and their GMO corn that has links to organ damage?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/12/monsantos-gmo-corn-linked_n_420365.html

[twa]

Laws and regs to keep ya in line.

http://blog.heritage.org/2011/07/27/morning-bell-tangled-up-in-washingtons-red-tape/

The costs of regulation are inevitably passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices and limited product choices. Basic items, such as toilets, showerheads, light bulbs, mattresses, washing machines, dryers, cars, ovens, refrigerators, television sets, and bicycles all cost significantly more because of government decrees on energy use, product labeling, and performance standards that go well beyond safety—as well as hundreds of millions of hours of testing and paperwork to document compliance.

The annual cost of regulation—$1.75 trillion by one frequently cited estimate—represents twice the amount of individual income taxes collected last year. Overall, from the beginning of the Obama Administration to mid-fiscal year (FY) 2011, regulators have imposed $38 billion in new costs on the American people, more than any comparable period on record. Consider Washington’s red tape to be a hidden tax.

The mountain of regulations didn’t begin under the Obama Administration. Under the Administration of George W. Bush, for example, $60 billion in additional annual regulatory costs were imposed on Americans. But as Katz and Gattuso write, the rate at which burdens are growing has accelerated under the Obama Administration:

During its first 26 months—from taking office to mid-FY 2011—the Obama Administration has imposed 75 new major regulations with reported costs to the private sector exceeding $40 billion. During the same period, six major rulemaking proceedings reduced regulatory burdens by an estimated $1.5 billion, still leaving a net increase of more than $38 billion.

[zoony]

If people want to drink unpasteurized milk, it is their right. You don't need government raids. Amish drink it. It's not like they are dropping dead in droves

stop, just stop. Again, here we go with comparing artisinal producers to regulations governing the larger food industry. udder to consumption on an amish farm is about 100 feet.

I'm not necessarily defending pasteurization laws, but I get why they are in place. And contrary to twa's BS above, they save this country a lot of money.

Regardless, if we want to think about dropping pasteurization regulations altogether in this country, we better proceed very carefully. And we better not do so with data studies collected from the Amish and the French.

I mean, you do realize that 90 percent of Americans think that the Olive Garden is high class, right? And you do realize the American food industry has shown itself to do WHATEVER it takes to make money and increase profits even at the expense of the greater good, CONSISTENTLY throughout history.

You've got an irresponsible industry and an ignorant public. Yah, I see that going well. :doh:

They self-regulate in France and Spain. Because by and large they are not an ignorant Denny's/TGI Mc****days culture like Americans who willingly and not under durress put Velveeta on the dinner table.

[Enter Apotheosis]

That Natural News piece reads more like a thinly veiled blog entry than an actual news report. In fact, this whole thread has the same kind of overall vibe I'd expect to see in a thread sourcing Fox News. That's not a good sign, Kool.

[twa]

BS???...Dat is Expert opinion you be dissing .

[ACW]

If people want to drink unpasteurized milk, it is their right. You don't need government raids. Amish drink it. It's not like they are dropping dead in droves.

---------- Post added August-3rd-2011 at 08:25 PM ----------

Zoony and keestman, if you are for government raids on "hazardous" foods, why not cry out for a raid on Monsanto and their GMO corn that has links to organ damage?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/12/monsantos-gmo-corn-linked_n_420365.html

Let's not overhype GMO scares here.

[SnyderShrugged]

Another huge win for America!!

Thank Goodness for the year long investigation and fantastically planned armed raid on these dangerous dairyists!

I for one feel much safer now knowing that those sneaky ****s arent forcing people to buy dangerous products that arent sanctioned by the infallible FDA and the corporate farm lobby.

[Koolblue13]

I don't understand the opposition to being allowed to buy Unpasteurized Milk or overlooking the harms of Non GMO crops.

If you want to eat chemicals and food with the nutritional value removed, fine, but why force that down others throat?

Zoony, do you just not know the harms or benefits or do you just assume it's fake?

[dockeryfan]

Zoony, do you just not know the harms or benefits or do you just assume it's fake?

I think like most people, he doesn't know what to believe.

I have no idea why people are so outraged by raw milk. Proper handling, and it is as safe as any other raw food. But isn't that the case with food in general?

Everything has risk. Let people take it themselves. We still let people eat alfalfa sprouts. They are responsible for e coli and salmonella outbreaks. People think it is from improper handling of the sprout itself. But in reality, it's probably the seed itself that is infected, and it doesn't matter how clean your facility is. I stopped eating them years ago just for that reason. But people can still sell them. I think raw milk is actually safer in comparison. True.

EDIT. I misread the post. You were talking about GMO. I'll let others weigh in on that one.

[Koolblue13]

Dock,This is just a blog I found with a quick search, but explains how some foods are getting new diseases they "can't" have.

http://conservativecritic.wordpress.com/2011/08/03/salmonella-outbreak-cargill-industries-and-gmo-turkey-feed/