A Lingering Question in the Michigan Raw Milk Case

As Linda Diane Feldt points out in her generous acknowledgment on my most recent post, Steve Bemis played a huge role in helping mediate a highly favorable settlement for Richard Hebron in his tussle with the Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA). I didn’t do Steve justice in my previous posting about the case, but I think you’ll get a fuller understanding of his role in a new BusinessWeek.com article I’ve written about the case.

I should add that Linda’s description of the case as “strange” is quite apt.

One of the things that made it strange has been the disconnect between the nature of the possible “crime” and the official force applied. A lingering question for many Family Farm Cooperative members and others has been why the MDA felt compelled to organize the equivalent of the cavalry to go after a lone farmer hauling food products. Even if his products were legitimately suspect, is that how such enforcement should be carried out?

I asked Katherine Fedder about why so much force was applied, and she launched into “bureaucratese”: “Issues related to food safety are very valid issues.” The tactics used to go after potential violators “are specific to that individual and that operation.” And so on and so forth.

While she wouldn’t discuss the specifics of the planning for the Hebron sting operation, she said something that seemed to clarify things a bit. “The action taken (against Hebron) was consistent with other actions that have been taken.” In other words, for the MDA, working with the state police, pulling vehicles over, executing search warrants, confiscating property, and other such enforcement actions “are not unusual,” in her words.

Part of the implication of her admission is that employing such tactics isn’t generally a problem for the MDA because it’s so unusual for the details to wind up in the national media and being followed in detail on the Internet. I don’t know enough about the ongoing enforcement actions of the MDA, except to see from its web site that much of its activity has to do with quarantining farms, enforcing bans on certain animals and plants, and going after retailers possibly violating food safety regulations. It certainly does make me wonder: Does the MDA throw its weight around because few outsiders are paying attention?