Yes, I guess it was it was an oversight in my previous post, on the absence of popular opposition to raw milk, to neglect to mention the role of the dairy industry in pushing regulators to take such a hard line on raw dairy. But as long as I’m admitting to oversights, there is another one, as well, and that’s the role of the media.
Here’s the problem: The efforts to clamp down on raw dairy (including raw cheese, as Bill Anderson correctly points out), are being carried out supposedly in the interests of food safety. The regulators, in their quest to promote goodness and the American way, want to “protect” us, they frequently tell us.
What tends to get overlooked is that the media buy into the regulator shtick…hook, line, and sinker. For corroboration, all you have to do is look at two recent news stories—first, the case of Morningland Dairy, the Missouri raw cheese maker being singled out for the equivalent of State-sponsored torture by the Missouri Milk Board, and its overseer, the FDA…and second, the fate of S 510, the U.S. Senate bill designed to give the U.S. Food and Drug Administration vast new powers over the food system.
Morningland Dairy’s only “crime” was selling cheese to Rawesome Food Club, the Los Angeles private food club that’s been targeted by The State apparatus because of its vendetta against the club’s co-founder, Aajonus Vonderplanitz. Plain and simple.
Morningland sells cheese around the country, and has been doing so for thirty years without problem. But The State is having difficulty finding ways to counter Vonderplanitz, so it’s searched high and low for some way or another to interfere with his food club initiatives. And finally, after months of poring over the crates of food it seized in the armed June 30 raid on Rawesome, which included some cheese from Morningland, The State (California Department of Food and Agriculture and the FDA in this phase) found what I am assuming was a few cells of listeria in some of the Morningland cheese (since no one has become ill). That was in August. Since then, The State (now in the form of the Missouri Milk Board) has not only prohibited Morningland from shipping any cheese, but is insisting on destroying $250,000 worth of cheese in inventory. The Milk Board has even obtained a court injunction to force the issue. The effect has been to put Morningland on the verge of bankruptcy.
The State’s posture on Morningland is unprecedented, from what I can determine. I have been unable to find any other such case in which a food producer that has made no one ill, and has no documented problems with its production facilities (the FDA took more than 100 swabs in an inspection of the Morningland facilities a few weeks ago and found no pathogens), is prohibited from selling its product.
You’d think this might be a story in some of the media, even the big foodie blogs that worry so much about such things as what Michelle Obama is serving at luncheon in the White House or whether dairy cows are producing too much methane might pick up on the Morningland case. No, the only other foodie blogger besides me who has done anything substantial on Morningland is Kimberly Hartke, who ten days ago published a piece by Missouri food rights activist Doreen Hannes that Kim says brought a lot of traffic to her site.
The second news story at work here is U.S. Senate Bill S 510. If you look at the media coverage of S 510, you’ll be hard pressed to find a single major media or consumer organization seriously questioning S 510. Yes, the media may quote some opponents here and there, but mostly, they can’t express enough outrage about the highly publicized outbreaks of illness from spinach, ground beef, eggs, and other such products that they are certain S 510 will end. Typical is this article on Huffington Post criticizing the efforts of Sen. Tom Coburn to block the legislation.
A couple days ago, one foodie blogger on a listserv I subscribe to that includes dozens of food blogs, sent out a plea for support of the efforts by proponents of S 510 to invoke cloture, and thus end debate on S 510. The cloture vote, if successful, would render Sen. Coburn and other Senate opponents mute, unable to block a vote. I wrote a comment on the listserv expressing serious reservations about the additional powers granted the FDA by S 510. The unprecedented stomping on Morningland Dairy is just one glaring example of FDA excess we’ll see more of if S 510 passes.
I asked in my comment whether there was a single food blogger who had any reservations about S 510. The ether went silent.
Most reporters and bloggers like to think they are standing up for ordinary people in their reporting and positions. In the case of S 510 and food safety regulation, the ordinary people likeliest to suffer the biggest impact are the ordinary people like those who run Morningland Dairy, and are being tarred, feathered, and run out of town by the FDA.
***
And when reporters try to do their job, in reporting on a Big Ag company and its milk hormone, well, this can be the result.
We've put a WordPress blog together for Morningland at
http://uncheeseparty.wordpress.com/
where we are also asking people to sponsor an 'uncheese'. The Dixons are going to need help keeping afloat. They've been able to sell milk, but that into the cooked milk supply chain.
Thanks for all you do.
Sharon
When OPDC was shut down for six days in 2006 the consumers went radical. They started doing things like standing with their farmer with signs and stories of healing. I threatened national media interviews to expose the details that did not match the CDFA story of six critically sick kids.
I knew the truth and the details and I threatened the CDFA with real action that they could not bear. Instead CDFA settled and signed settlement agreements and wrote a check for the recalled raw milk. CDFA gave us back our raw milk permit in seven days.
Where is the consumer outrage for Morningland? Where is the "consumer to farmer connection" and its closely associated upheaval?? I may not know the local consumer unrest regarding the state sponsored torture being inflicted on Morningland but I do know this, I have not seen the farm doing anything radical to gain the attention of CNN or CBS.
It must bleed to lead….
It must scream loudly and with some very distinct cry. The shrillness of the desparate cries must be heard and the "consumers" must threaten to do illegal yet moral things and make demands. The consumers must start quoting MLK!!
The media love a bleeding story. Nice stuff is buried and makes no money. Now if Morningland threatened the FDA and told their story in the national media backed by Willy Nelson, thousands of pissed off people with Oprah, Chelsea Clinton and Martin Sheen leading the charge now thats a story.
We farmers need to be activists and more like Martin Luther King and Michael Schmdit. We must be all-in and think about the grand stage and melodrama of it all. We can no longer be passive and agreable. The FDA is a bunch of drug pushing criminals. We farmers must stand up and make and stake out our medical claims on our wholefood ie… cherries, pom juice, cranberries and grass fed organic raw milk.When was the last time you heard a farmer calling the FDA drug pushers on national TV and sighting international studies of how their cherries are more effective than the FDA NSAIDS ( celebrex, VIOXX ) that kill thousands.
The health of our country is at stake…the health of our future ( and present ) generations have already been put at stake. The revolution is something that takes guts and that means painful upheaval led by the consumers defending their farmers.
Consumers are sacred and the FDA will not touch them….but the consumer must be led by the farmers. The farmers must become much more radicalized to lead this charge and change.
So help me if the FDA challenges CA raw milk…it will be their last mistake they make. Every raw milk mother lion mom in CA that has given their last asthma inhaler or antibiotic for an ear infection will come to the dairy and drive the message home….the media will be there because the cause will be alive and real. The FDA are cowards and will not be quoted or stand before a microphone. They have no science and they are greedy corporate fascist fool puppets.
Stand and fight…..!! It is a time to stand-up and stand-out. Something Americans have been taught not to do….we must be much more like our founding fathers and pioneer and resist the king and his henchmen. In this case….we must connect to our consumers through email and teach the media….as well as the people that connect to us through our whole foods. The Consumers!!
There does not need to be violence….if that comes it is at the hands of the FDA not the people or the farmer. They have their silly ass guns….but we have the video cameras and the moms and babies. The power comes in the truth and the mass numbers of pissed off people. Some one is not organizating the movie stars and taking a stand.
Stop being nice. Infliction of political pain wins!!! My suggestion is this….someone at Morningland needs to get radical and do something to gain attention.
I sent Morningland some money this week. Everyone needs to do the same.
Now….Morningland needs to stand and fight!!
Mark
That is radical….the farmer is innocent…the consumer is the bad-guy.
Now wait…consumers can not be bad-guys can they. The FDA must get the message….
The Farmers and their consumers are in charge of their food and the FDA is nothing.
Mark
This was mentioned before, but will repeat. The test used for Listeria is not quantitative. It does not differentiate between a few cells or large numbers. Your argument loses credibility when not sticking to the facts of the matter…
Regarding illnesses, for some with very compromised immune systems, a few cells could be enough. Maybe no one got sick because the contamination was limited to a small batch, and the cheese was pulled off the market. Also, the contamination may not have occurred at the facility in Missouri, which could explain negative tests at that point in the distribution chain. How was the cheese packaged? Was it in large blocks that were later cut and repackaged at the store? I have seen this at retail many times with cheeses.
MW
So why is FDA trying to force a recall and destruction of all cheese this year, based upon such flimsy and unverified evidence?
Clearly, this is a vendetta against Rawsome and raw milk.
Heads need to start rolling at FDA!
I think we agree about the appropriate use of data and test results. It seems possible some of the cheese was contaminated at Rawesome, and does not involve everything produced at Morningland.
MW
Even IF some of the cheese in Morningland's possession has a few cells of Listeria (a highly questionable claim, given the evidence being presented), being cheddar and colby cheese (very durable varieties of cheese…. I've had excellent cheddar that was 17 years old) it would only be a matter of time before those organisms perished as the cheese aged.
Repeat after me, MW:
Heads need to start rolling at FDA!
How does one go about rolling heads at the FDA????
I am interested…! I have tried my best already. Any new ideas???,
Food Inc, Fresh, Food Matters, Sicko…none of that seems to have worked.
What does seem to work is the "grass roots dollar voting "…this takes time but will eventually bankrupt them and their corporate sick industry " Pill for every ill" cronies!!
Mark
I believe this to be true. This country is for the big business, not for the people as was originally intended.
The government is not really a government. It's a place for the cronies to network and tilt the playing fields between their corporate gigs.
If the corporations are successful at removing all the real food from the country/planet, I'm still not going to eat their crap.
cp
CP…great link. I would also add that the genetics of the bacteria that make up 90-95% of our human cell count play a hugely dominant part of our human genetic tendancies as well on top of toxins in our environment or our foods.
When the human cell waits arround to figuer out what to do next and that information comes from a diverse bunch of bacterial cells that are colonized arround that human cell, it is very much the food and the bacteria direct our futures and our health risks etc.
Change the bacteria and their food sources and you change human genetics. Change the chemicals and toxins that damage our geneitc functioning and you stop the apparently huge excuse given to so many by their FDA trained doctors.
"Mam I am sorry that your child has luekemia or your daughter has breast cancer at 23 years old….it must be genetics". What a pathetic non sensical statement repeated over and over. It would seem that our doctors are not thinkers but rather just repeaters of dogma and pharma blather. The doctors do not even read the side effect statements of the pills they push.
This is totally corrupt and incomplete science and piss poor medicine. The genome project tells us the truth. But unfortunately the truth does not sell more drugs or more cancer chemotherapy sessions.
Even though I was trained in protocol and compliance to orders as an EMT-P and medical educator… the more I grow older and the more I listen and learn, the more I dispise modern medicine as it is applied to illness and disease. Modern medicine does miracles for trauma….but one sure way to die is to go to a FDA dogma following doctor for illness. And the more you go the more you need to go!!??!!
We have seen this time and time again…people that go to doctors get sicker and sicker…people that do not go the doctor but eat well and excercise never get sick and do very well. Modern medicine and modern food are the root causes of todays epidemics of illness.
Soory….I am preaching to the choir again….but it is 1045 on Sunday Morning so I thought I might preach a little.
Mark
Truly, this is beyond the pale.
http://seattlelocalfood.com/2010/10/23/please-help-estrella-family-creamery/
http://wholefoodusa.wordpress.com/2010/10/24/fda-shutdown-award-winning-artisan-raw-cheese-producer/
The reeks of corporate industrial food politics — crush the small farmer while making millions in corporate profits. Where is Bill Marler when you need to grill him for his support of SB510?
You're right Bill," corporate industrial food politics " follow the money. For at least 10 months, there have been illnesses from this celery..yet it was allowed to continue, What other foods has this plant contaminated? Shame on TPTB for continually not looking out for the people and and NOT informing the public of the potential contamination and allowing this plant to remain open …yeah they really care about the people…not
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/11/lies-damned-lies-and-medical-science/8269/1/
As far as David's main question and comment that only him and Hartke did anything, geeez, we had previous two series Doreen did on my blog with personal permission. Many others were involved in that one too to some extent. All I had to do, however, was to offer to reserve some of the forbidden cheese for later payment and shipment and the idea turned into the fundraiser, according to a phone call I got from the organizer.
If the raw milk moovers cannot get organized and capitalize on these crises and on the next round of busts, the moovement will be ineffective, reactionary and on the defensive rather than playing some offense.
http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm224990.htm
MW
My oversight on your great efforts for Morningland, sorry. And excellent point about moving away from playing defense.
David
http://www.foodqualitynews.com/Innovation/Codex-confirms-alternative-approach-for-listeria-monocytogenes-in-ready-to-eat-food
"Industry reaction
CFA Secretary General Kaarin Goodburn welcomed the clarification and explained its importance in terms of the potential consequences a blanket imposition of zero tolerance to listeria in RTE foods would have. Clearing up any confusion was important both for the food industry and the future of food safety, she said.
We were concerned about the summary statement because if this had been true, food safety would not have been improved and it would have resulted in some companies going out of business, she told FoodProductionDaily.com.
"FAO incorrectly stated in that "in ready-to-eat products where growth is possible, no listeria monocytogenes will be allowed", (zero tolerance). This does not reflect the position agreed, which took nearly 20 years to reach because the zero tolerance position is not accepted by the EU and several other countries.
A Codex decision in favour of zero tolerance would have required revision of EU law without affording any additional public health benefit since this target is impossible to achieve consistently as Lm is ubiquitous in the environment. In addition, as has been demonstrated in the USA, zero tolerance reduces the incentive to regularly sample food, with relatively little testing being carried out.
For the average healthy person the risk of becoming ill with listeriosis from food is very small and scientific evidence has shown that listeria are consumed commonly with no ill effects, said the CFA. The organisation has consistently argued that the best way to control Lm is through monitored preventative measures and appropriate controls including HACCP monitoring. "
I just got off the phone and had a nice long chat with her. The good news is that she is getting tons of support from consumers and citizens from accross America.
My big message to her was this…capture and use that support. Take donations…call a press conference and call all of her consumers to attend. Then,…..expose the differences between what the FDA says and what the facts actually are. Demand a route back to business. If the FDA is going to shut you down….they must also at the same time tell you what to do to comply and when they will reinspect. Demand a reinspection and demand your permit to make cheese back.
Make it a war cry….plaster the media with it…tell everyone that not one illness has ever been reported….tell everyone that the FDA allows listeria in processed foods but find one in raw milk cheese and it would seem like they found Bin Laden.
Mark
In the chapter, Food-borne bacterial infections by R.W. Lacey, Dept of Clinical Microbiology, University of Leeds,UK; from the book HUMAN NUTRITION AND PARASITIC INFECTION, published in 1993, Vol 107 of Cambridge University's ongoing series on parasitology.
Page S88-89 Listeria monocytogenes: its thermotolerance………..In experiments using milk inoculated with L. monocytogenes, Doyle et al. (1987) studied the viability of the listeria in a sort-time plate heat-exchange pasteurization unit. In 6 out of 9 trials at temperatures between 71.7C and 73.9C listeria was recovered.
Recovery of heat-damaged bacteria. Garayzabal et al. (1987) used Listeria monocytogenes type 4b to inoculate milk treated in a pasteurization plant…….Immediately after heating, attempts to culture L. monocytogenes from milk were made and were always negative. The samples of heated milk were then stored at 4 degrees C for several days and tested daily. Surprisingly, listeria was recovered in a high percentage of samples, so that in 71.5% of milk samples that had been heated to 72C for 15seconds, listeria reappeared. In a typical experiment, in which milk had been inoculated with about 10 to the 8th bacteria/ml and heated to 72C, the numbers of listeria/ml were 0 at 0-1 days after pasteurization, 40 at 2 days, 150 at 3 days, 800 at 4 days and 2500 at 5 days.
Here is the clincher:
Page S86
Since the initial claim that 25% of cook-chill products were contaminated [with listeria], (Kerr, Dealler & Lacey, 1988)], many other surveys have confirmed this.
Imagine what would happen if 25% of our deli meat, hot dogs, cheese, milk, etc. where recalled due the FDA testing all products.
They should check all these, if the govt REALLY cared, they would, since they don't, it is obvious they care not who aborts.
More on the Estrella family and cheese. Don't forget to read the comment.
cp
Isn't this letting the fox guard the hen house?
http://www.marlerblog.com/lawyer-oped/the-tester—hagen-amendment-to-s-510-protects-food-safety-and-small-farmers/
http://efoodalert.blogspot.com/2010/10/us-marshals-seize-cheese-from-estrella.html
http://www.marlerblog.com/case-news/should-estrella-family-creamery-be-treated-differently-than-sangar-when-it-comes-to-listeria/
This is absolutely ridiculous and untrue, Bill Marler. The Estrella family is in the process of writing a detailed rebuttal of FDA's false claims. And they should be suing you for libel, as far as I am concerned.
It is true that there was a single batch of cheese from earlier this year which was contaminated with Listeria, and was subsequently quarantined. All the positive listeria tests came from this single batch. The Estrellas were hoping that the listeria would die off as the cheese aged, but it did not unfortunately. They have not sold any of the contaminated batch, and they did not intend to unless it was proven safe.
Further, of over 180 environmental samples taken by FDA, only 3 came up positive for Listeria. This is hardly cause to shut them down and put them out of business.
As for some of the other points, they are absolutely absurd and ridiculous. Point #11, for example, talks about grading cheese. FOR YOUR INFORMATION, THIS IS THE WAY THAT PROFESSIONAL CHEESE GRADERS AND JUDGES GRADE CHEESE!!! Yes, you take a plug using a cheese iron, you remove a sample for tasting, and you put the rest of the cheese back into the wheel/block to close it up and prevent oxidation on the inside of the cheese. That is the way that cheese is judged at prestigious competitions such as the American Cheese Society and the Wisconsin Cheesemaker's Association World Cheese Championship.
It speaks volumes about your fascist/corporatist agenda, how you simply parrot the FDA propoganda, Bill Marler. Your "food safety" ideology is nothing more than a cover for totalitarian corporate dominance of our food system, and the destruction local food sovereignty, to enrich yourself and your corporate friends.
Please retract this disgusting and untrue article, Bill Marler. You should be ashamed of yourself for your continued efforts to shut down small scale farmers and food processors.