A Newville farmer is being prosecuted by the State for selling raw milk without a permit. Police and officials from the Department of Agriculture raided Mark Nolt's farm in Newville, Pennsylvania confiscating thousands of dollars in product and equipment and threatening Nolt with jail if he did not stop producing raw milk.
Here's the story from WITF:
"Support voiced for midstate farmer being prosecuted for illegally selling raw milk 08/23/2007Scott Gilbert(Newville) -- Some Cumberland County farmers are rallying around one of their colleagues who's being prosecuted by the state for selling raw milk without a permit. Agriculture Department officials recently raided the farm of Mark Nolt in Newville, confiscating unfinished product and packaging. Authorities say Nolt had sold the milk and products made with it even after his license expired about a year ago. Jonas Stoltzfus, a neighbor and customer of Nolt and fellow producer, says recent highly-publicized crackdowns on raw milk farmers are misguided. 00006_stoltzfus1.mp3 The state says the milk is regulated because it can be harmful if it's mishandled. But Stoltzfus says that factor is outweighed by the need for consumer choice, adding he supports Nolt for defiantly selling the milk without a permit. Stoltzfus is organizing a rally for this Saturday at noon at Nolt's farm at 401 Centerville Road in Newville."
The Sentinel covered the story and has some great input from local people in support of Mr. Nolt: http://www.cumberlink.com/articles/2007/08/18/news/news632.txt
Here's a second story just published in the Sentinel that at least partially answers one of my questions below: http://www.cumberlink.com/articles/2007/08/23/news/news581.txt
Supporters of Mr. Nolt are organizing a rally on Saturday at noon on his farm: 401 Centerville Rd. Newville, Pa. 17241. Please bring a dish to share for a raw milk product picnic, signs, posters and a friend. Media coverage is expected.
After spending a few hours researching Pennsylvania's raw milk regulations, I have a few questions that I can't easily find answers to.
What is the cost of a permit for producing raw milk in PA? Why was Mr. Nolt's permit expired? He had been warned on at least two occassions by the state. It sounds like an act of civil disobedience to me. Is there something inherently wrong with the state requirements or permitting process? Pennsylvania is one of only a handful of states that even allow the sale of raw milk products. At this point, wouldn't it be wise to follow the law? I believe peaceful protests and acts of civil disobedience are the responsibility of the citizens of a democracy, but what exactly is Mr. Nolt protesting?
When I look around at the condition of agriculture in Pennsylvania, my intuition tells me that there is something wrong. I see family farms struggling to survive and going under only to be replaced by shopping centers and developments. The only operations that appear to thrive are what I would call factory farms: those operations in which the animals (typically cows, chickens, or hogs) live in cramped, squalid conditions and are treated like machines that produce milk, meat, and eggs for our supermarkets. We have very few small-scale farmers who take pride in the quality of food they produce, care for their animals and consider themselves stewards of the land. My last questions: Is the state really protecting our health by prosecuting Mr. Nolt? Or is it protecting the financial interests of large-scale agribusiness by squeezing the little guy?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
10 comments:
Hello Andrew,
I just found your blog. Great stuff on the local food- there is alot of really great local food available here in the Cumberland Valley. I can answer your questions about raw milk. I have a raw milk permit to sell raw milk in customer containers (bring your own jar), and a raw milk cheese permit and a pasteurized products permit. It does not cost to get a permit to sell raw milk. There are 2 types of permits allowed- Customer container- customer brings own jar to your farm and you fill it for them or a bottler permit- you get a bottling machine and fill jugs for your customers (this permit allows you to sell your milk at farmers markets and stores with in PA as well). Mr. Nolt had the second type. No permit allows you to sell raw milk across state lines but that is a whole different can of worms. To get a permit your milk must be tested by an independent agency and for 3 consecutive weeks you must have bacteria and coliform counts below the required level. No antibiotic residue is allowed in your milk as well. After you pass the 3 weeks then you must have your milk randomly tested by an independent agency (not PDA) twice a month. You also must have your cows tested once a year for Brucellosis and TB. It is reccomended you test for Johnes as well but not required. Then PDA comes and checks to make sure your barn and equipment are clean and they come every 3 months to check that. That is all it takes for a permit. The cost of the independent testing and the veternarian (to test the cows) can add up but the regular testing protects the farmer as well as the consumer. As a raw milk permit holder I feel that we are very fortunate in this state to be able to get permits and sell raw milk ( over 73 farms permitted at this time) so yes- why protest? I think I can answer your last question as well- the state is not protecting our health by prosecuting Mark Nolt but instead protecting their legal behinds. By allowing him to sell with out a permit they are opening themselves up to be sued by the first person who "says" they got sick from Mr. Nolt's milk. And believe me if someone says they drank raw milk the doctors don't look any further for the cause of the foodbourne illness. At least with milk tests on record you have a leg to stand on to protect yourself from lawsuits. Any way sorry so long, this is an issue I am very passionate about and would be happy to correspond with you on.
Thanks for the info. I understand what you're saying regarding the potential for litigation where raw milk is concerned. To me the testing sounds fairly involved and comprehensive, but I think that's good. It protects the producer and the consumer.
Is it possible or legal to get soft cheeses such as brie made from raw milk in PA?
As a fellow PASA member, I hope you are subscribed to the listserv and were included in the email Brian Snyder sent out regarding Mark Nolt. Brian is indeed correct when he stated that all the facts regarding this case are not being presented. There is much, much more to this case than just a Mennonite farmer being prosecuted for selling raw milk. And heaven forbid the reporting paint a member of the plain community as greedy or ignorant!
PDA turned a blind eye to Nolt's illegal activities, such as selling raw butter, raw cream and raw soft cheese products for years while he maintained his raw milk permit. I've been told he let his permit lapse because he couldn't continue to sell his entire line of raw milk products in good conscience while holding a raw milk permit.
As someone who is in the process of starting a raw milk dairy and micro-creamery from scratch, I question Nolt's sudden burst of conscience since he's decided to go down the road of complete disdain for the law.
I would hedge my bet that Nolt's decision to eschew his milk permit boiled down to dollars. While the state does not charge for permits required for dairy producers, raw milk or otherwise, farmers must still test their milk and herd regularly to ensure cleanliness and health and THAT costs money. It's no wonder that Nolt's raw milk is priced lower than the rest of legitimate raw milk producers in the area. He doesn't need to recoup the costs associated with regular testing.
Over the years I purchased a number of products from Mark Nolt, however, when he relinquished his raw milk permit, he lost my business. I can't stand the government poking their nose into my life anymore than everyone else, but when it comes to raw milk, I whole-heartedly support the permitting process.
And as to your question regarding raw soft cheeses, such as brie, the answer is, at this time, no. However, Pennsylvania's new Director of Food Safety, Bill Chirdon, attended the PASA conference back in February, liked what he saw/heard there, and has been actively working with PASA to encourage even more well-run dairy farms to sell raw milk and raw milk value-added products as a means for remaining viable. The ability to sell raw cream and raw milk butter is only inches away from becoming legal in this state, but I fear that Nolt's actions could now hamper that effort.
You don't change the law by breaking the law.
Thanks for the post. Even from the meager reporting at WITF and the Sentinel one could tell that we were missing significant parts of the story.
I have not yet subscribed to the PASA listserv. I know of the organization and have read one of their newsletters, but until you mentioned it I hadn't thought to check out the PASA.
Ok- two comments- first, yes you can get a raw milk brie in PA, but it must be aged 60 days, which is why most folks don't make it. It is very difficult to make a raw milk brie that is still edible at 60days. All raw milk cheeses must be aged 60 days so there are no raw milk fresh cheeses. There is a farmer around State College who makes a raw milk brie. He calls it Leigh Belle. His name is Brian Futhey, I think his farm is called Stone Meadow. I know he sells at a few small stores in State College,
I'm not sure where else. It is a very good brie-style cheese. Second we sell most of our cheeses in DC at producer-only farmers markets. We have a small, on-farm (beside the farm) self-serve store open Fridays and Saturdays. From the intersection of 696 and 641 in Newburg, go east 2.3 miles, turn left onto Quigley Road (sign for Keswick, go 1.5 miles to driveway on right. Starting September 15 all our cheeses will be available at our farm stand at the Carlisle Central Market in downtown Carlisle. For some fun this Saturday you could go to Troeg's Brewery in Harrisburg where there are having brewery tours and beer and cheese pairings and our cheeses will be included. For more information about Southcentral PA's local food week act ivies check here www.capitalrcd.org/noframes/buyLocalWeek.html
Hi Andrew,
Since I know Mark Nolt personally, I felt I should answer some of the speculations found in your blog. First, Mark would not be fighting this battle for money. To make that speculation shows the ignorance of the issue and also the ignorance of what this could cost the Nolt family. It goes much deeper than that. The issue at hand is simply this: Do individuals have the right to choose what they eat and where they get it?
The answer to this question can be found in a thousand years of history leading up to the founding of our nation. You can find it condensed in the Declaration of Independence and codified in the Constitution of the United Sovereign States of America. It was understood then that any State government has no jurisdiction over the individual’s right to contract with another and hence has no jurisdiction to regulate what we eat, drink, etc.
We have given up so many freedoms in this country in the name of security, health, safety, moralisms, etc., that people actually believe it is the responsibility of the State to provide these things. This is an abomination to the principles of liberty. Furthermore it is ludicrous to believe that the State is now and ever can be capable of providing these things. And, if they could it would simply mean the absence of liberty.
A permit is simply a granting of permission. However since Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness are unalienable rights and the right to contract as well as the right to eat what you want to falls in those categories it is a fallacy that the government has the jurisdiction to grant permission to do so. Government permits for unalienable rights are a form of tyranny and those that believe that their safety is more ensured by giving over liberties to the government will find themselves in an ever increasing bondage to illegitimate government power.
The very fact that PA has a Director of Food Safety and that people actually believe that he and his underlings can ensure their safety is testimony to how fascist we have become. Furthermore the fact that our government has deceived the masses that someone like the Director of Food Safety can grant permission for them to enjoy an unalienable right demonstrates the damage that several generations of government schooling has done by erasing the knowledge of the proper role of government.
This is a problem of huge proportions and people need to wake up to the last remaining struggles for liberty in this country, not in just the raw milk and clean food arena, but in many other areas as well. It is not about health, it is about liberty versus the powerful elite and mercantilist government policies of control.
How anyone could claim to dislike the State poking their nose in the citizen’s business while wholeheartedly supporting the States intervention in milk production is beyond comprehension. They obviously don’t recognize the irrationality and inconsistency of their position. This is the same irrationality of those that don’t trust anything the Pentagon says, but at the same time believe that the USDA tells the truth. Or the same as those that deplore big socialist government intervention at home but at the same time support empire building and military intervention abroad. These positions are irrational. You are either for liberty or not, for interventionist government or not.
Obviously we are not a free country anymore when the government claims the right to grant you permission to produce, sell, or drink a product that has been a staple of health for thousands of years. How did we go from believing in individual liberty enough to die for it in 1775 to the whole country being a bunch of Statists?
In the subject arena it comes down to this: Do you as an individual have the right to choose what to feed yourself and your family?
We need more principled people like Mark Nolt who will sacrifice much to say NO to an increasingly totalitarian government and hold them to obey the laws of the land. Rather than a “disdain” for the law as someone in your blog accused him of, Mark has a respect for the law and is willing to resist tyranny to hold his government to obey the law. We should support and applaud his efforts to keep the government in check from its attempt to usurp our rights for which our ancestors from at least 1215 to 1780 shed their blood for.
By the way for more info on government intervention in small farm food production, I recommend Joel Salatin’s latest book, “Everything I Want To Do Is Illegal”. It is available from Polyface Farms directly or from Acres USA.
Joe
The problem with the Constitutional argument is that people tend to pick & choose what "rules" they feel should apply and those that don't. The "freedoms in this country in the name of security, health, safety, moralisms, etc." that Joe believes we have given up usually come about due to the needless deaths of innocent American citizens. I don't care why Mark Nolt has chosen to give up his raw milk permit, the fact remains that Mark has flagrantly broken laws set forth by officials elected in our democratic society. Granted, our government is far from perfect, but it's better than what many other inhabitants of this planet have. Mark has all the available tools that allow him to LEGALLY sell raw milk products through labor contracts as long as he holds a raw milk license from the state. Unfortunately, a labor contract requires a relationship between the producer and customer and doesn't allow for the sale of products, such as those Nolt complains he cannot sell to just any ol' customer when they want it. It's as simple as this...the government regulates those things that can harm you. Yes, the reality is there are plenty of unscrupulous farmers out there who would willingly sell dangerous raw milk products that could kill someone. I bet if Joe's grandma or child died as a result of drinking raw milk full of coliform bacteria he'd be howling to the state to do something. In my opinion, the raw milk licenses are no different that the licenses we obtain to drive a vehicle. If Joe is so hung up on our "big socialist government intervention", I suggest he fail to renew his driver's license and see how far he gets next time he's pulled over by the police or worse, in an accident. We have rules in our society for a reason. Rules CAN BE CHANGED when done so through proper channels. It's a simple Civics lesson that all publicly educated Americans are taught and many average citizens do it every day. Just ask the two dairy farmers in Maryland who have changed their state's restrictive laws regarding raw milk.
Mark and Mel: Thanks for the info. I hope I get a chance to try your cheeses sometime soon. I'll check out the info you posted about the local food events as well.
Painted Hand and Joe and Linda:
Some great points. I agree that we have surrendered far too many rights in this country, and it's clear that governments (not just the U.S.A.) have been in the business of protecting businesses over individuals for centuries. (Just take a look at the actions of England as related to the China and India tea/opium trade during the 19th century.)Civil disobedience is a time-honored tradition, however, in this case, it looks like Mr. Nolt had other avenues available to him. It's hard work, but has anyone/organization lobbied the state or attempted to change the laws? Didn't I read somewhere that PA is considering allowing more raw milk products to be sold legally? That seems like a positive trend that could be encouraged. I have a difficult time seeing Mr. Nolt as a martyr for the cause when I think he had other avenues available and should have been aware of the consequences of his protest after two warnings.
I think Joe & Linda make some valid points that Painted Hand has overlooked. What this boils down to is not a question of whether government will be involved in our lives -- that we can take for granted -- but the degree to which it is appropriate. If raw milk producers wish to sell to an informed set of consumers via private transaction, then the Commonwealth should keep its nose out. In essence, if I grow tomatoes in my back yard and give them to friends, the Commonwealth has no say over that. If I give them a bushel of tomatoes, and they insist on paying me for them? Should the Commonwealth then enter the transaction because money is involved? What's to ensure my tomatoes don't have E.Coli 0157 from manure?
Clearly, we don't want instrusion into a certain level of transaction. If a farmer kills a chicken for dinner at his home, fine. If he kills it for a store, well, it has to go to a processing plant. But if he kills a chicken and wants to barter it to a neighbor? What we're allowing is that the Commonwealth should regulate such a barter; that money has entered the equation in place of, say, bartered peaches or tomatoes.
It is important to realize that people buying raw milk are indeed informed consumers. They are aware of both purported health risks and benefits. It would be much simpler to run to the local Giant or Weis Market and buy a half gallon of commercial pasteurized, homogenized milk. That they choose not to is an implicit agreement to waive the protection of the Commonwealth and its agencies. Most folks have to travel some distance to purchase this milk; for me, it's about a 90-minute round trip; for a woman I met this past Saturday, it's a drive up from Maryland. These are not the actions of the uninformed. The nascent real food/slow food movement is getting information out there and consumers are responding. What's heartening is that farmers are too, switching back to traditional methods.
The REAL issue here is PDA's galling sanctimonious irony. (There's a mouthful.) They don't mind pursuing farmers like Mark and Mary Ann Nolt, whose customers may number in the dozens or hundreds, but what about Pennsylvania's commercial farmers? The ones whose produce leaks tons of nitrogen into the Susquehanna and burns the land? The ones whose CAFOs treat tens of thousands of animals in a way totally out of step with nature (crammed in pens and boxes)? The same CAFOs that inject your beef and milk with antibiotics and growth hormones, and feed them dead cats and genetically modified corn and whatever else the feed suppliers tell them to?
These practices are inherently unsafe, and a clearer explication is found in Michael Pollan's wonderful "The Omnivore's Dilemma." But because big agribusiness and its deep pockets declares them safe, PDA, USDA, and FDA all fall in line. Ike's admonition of the military-industrial complex can now be simplified to the indusrial complex, and its pervasive sway into the lives of all Americans.
Lest this sound like the ranting of "one of those people," I'm a normal suburbanite, who became concerned over the scare with pet food, and where it came from, and where our food came from, and why I was personally gaining weight and not feeling good. It led to a lot of reading, and now I stock my fridge and freezer with goods right off the farm.
And I most heartily do not appreciate the Commonwealth's unwelcome intrustion into my consumer choice. If the Commonwealth wanted to see farmers prosper and its consitituency healthier, it promote small, sustainable farms over big industrial farms. It would not only allow the sale of raw milk and raw milk products on farms, but would encourage their sale in stores (without the 60-day cheesemaking restrictions). In fact, since such a move would replace the implicit consumer-producer agreement, PDA could then put its efforts into two areas: consumer education, by providing in-store literature on raw vs. pasteurized (real vs. industrial), and engaging in scrupulous testing of ALL farms, not just raw milk farms, to ensure that sanitary practices are being followed.
You can't tell me a chicken farm with 100,000 birds in coops is more sanitary than the majority of raw milk farmers whose cattle graze meadows of grass. Not with a straight face.
Thanks for the post, Finnegans Wake.
You make some good points about the different types of transactions- from gift and barter to commerce. Are you suggesting a change in the legal/regulatory process for raw milk producers? Is anyone currently lobbying the commonwealth to change the law?
I am not very familiar with the laws that regulate the exchange and sale of food items, but I assume that there is greater regulation of dairy and meat products because there is a greater potential for food-borne illnesses when they are not handled properly. I agree that there are problems with the current laws that give corporate farms the upperhand and handicap small farms, so what do we do? Can you suggest any good resources or actions?
Post a Comment