You can tell in Mark McAfee’s rapid-fire-staccato speaking style that the head of Organic Pastures Dairy Co. is a no-nonsense type. He doesn’t take well to being screwed with, as California’s Department of Food and Agriculture did in closing his Fresno, CA, raw milk dairy for a week through last Friday.
Now that the agency has lifted the closure, McAfee is staying on the offensive: He wants $500,000 of reimbursement for his costs in being shut down and fulfilling endless requests from state and federal inspectors for a week, such as moving his butter storage containers to various places around the farm and dumping large amounts of milk. (For details on his ordeal, see my BusinessWeek.com article last week.)
McAfee says he is negotiating with the state to be reimbursed $500,000 for his troubles. (Dr. Joseph Mercola, a Chicago chiropractor, incorrectly reported in a video he put out yesterday that McAfee had filed a $500,000 lawsuit; if you listen to the video, be prepared for all kinds of propaganda about the dangers of soy milk.) In any event, McAfee says in an email: "We have not started litigation yet…we are negotiating and sending them an invoice for $500,000." Stay tuned.
Recent Comments