An Amish farmer in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, embroiled in a lawsuit by the state’s Department of Agriculture over the sale of his raw dairy products, will once again be permitted to sell his goods across state lines, according to a statement released on social media by his attorney.
In an interview with The Epoch Times, Mr. Barnes claimed prosecutors had tried to make an example out of his client, Amos Miller.
“The goal of this case was to make a precedent out of Amos Miller and to discourage small farmers from being in existence,” Mr. Barnes said.
“If they control our food, they can control the people.”
In January, the state attorney general’s office had obtained an injunction preventing Mr. Miller, owner of Miller’s Organic Farms, from selling his raw dairy after alleged failures to adhere to the state’s regulatory policy led to the farm being the subject of an armed raid by officials on suspicion of selling “illegal milk,” among other products.
“The regulators believed they had the power to govern any food that happens to travel in or out of the state, which would create an obvious constitutional quagmire with products crossing state lines every day,” Mr. Barnes said.
“State law limits the power of regulator to only protect the state’s consumers—not the producers. Yet the state was trying to claim interstate commerce because the food went through the state, which is asinine,” he continued.
Misleading Case?
In the complaint, Pennsylvania authorities allege that the armed raid “revealed an expansive operation that manufactures and sells a vast array of illegal food and dairy products throughout the United States, including raw milk and raw milk products that have since been tested and found to contain the Listeria monocytogenes bacteria, which poses a significant health risk.”Mr. Barnes had argued during a Feb. 30 court hearing that the agriculture department “materially misled the court with perjured affidavits based on events that occurred many years before.”
Following the raid, the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General and the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture filed a lawsuit against Mr. Miller, alleging that he had violated the state’s Milk Sanitation Law by operating without government-mandated permits.
However, in an affidavit submitted to obtain a search warrant, agents falsely claimed a person died in 2016 after drinking raw milk traced to Mr. Miller’s farm, according to Mr. Barnes.
In the filing, Mr. Barnes wrote: “The problem is: it never happened. ... In fact, the elderly lady who died had advanced cancer, and never drank any raw milk product of Amos Miller’s, as her caretaker testified to under oath and a former Wall Street Journal reporter had already previously investigated and independently found.”
Raw Milk
The ruling is expected to allow Mr. Miller, who was facing bankruptcy because of the injunction, to remain in business.Mr. Miller has served over 10,000 customers during his 25 years as a farmer, none of whom has ever complained about the safety of his food, according to his lawyer, who submitted 170 pages of testimonials to the court from customers, many of whom claiming his products have helped them with health problems.
Pennsylvania grants permits to manufacture and sell raw milk and raw cheese but not butter, yogurt, and eggnog, which Mr. Miller sells to customers nationwide. It’s illegal to commercially produce those products in the state.
The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture did not respond to a request for comment.
For decades, a community of dairy farmers and nutrition advocates have campaigned for the right of individuals to produce, sell, and consume fresh, unprocessed milk. Advocates claim the consumption of raw milk can lead to numerous health benefits, including improving the immune and digestive systems, as well as being a cure for eczema and irritable bowel syndrome. The pasteurization process not only destroys dangerous pathogens like E. coli, salmonella, and campylobacter but also destroys its healthy nutrients, according to raw milk enthusiasts.
However, government agencies insist the potential downside of drinking raw milk far outweighs any perceived benefits.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other agencies advise against it, claiming that raw milk “can carry harmful germs, such as campylobacter, cryptosporidium, E. coli, listeria, brucella, and salmonella” that “can pose serious health risks to you and your family.”
The CDC claims that raw milk-related outbreaks led to 2,645 illnesses and 228 hospitalizations between 1998 and 2018.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) also warns against its consumption.
‘Legal Circus’
North Dakotan farmer Peter Bartlett, whose family owns Bartlett Farms, which sells raw dairy products, told The Epoch Times that while lifting the injunction may appear to be a positive step, the greater fight for food freedom continues to be under assault.“This entire case is a legal circus intended to scare and intimidate other farmers,” said Mr. Bartlett.
“There was never any actual threat posed by the farmer selling his products, just unfounded tips. For this case to continue to carry on and not be dismissed in its entirety shows that they are pushing an agenda that is not about public safety,” he continued.
“This might look like a small victory. But until the right is affirmed by individuals to buy and sell the food they choose to eat, I see this as a case of one step forward and two steps back,” he added.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) told The Epoch Times he believed cases like these were part of a corrupt alliance between “Big Ag” and policymakers.
“Why is the government spending resources prosecuting an Amish farmer who sells to willing buyers when we have so many real problems at the moment? We should empower small farmers instead of prosecuting them,” he said.
The Processing Revival and Intrastate Meat Exemption (PRIME) Act would give individual states the freedom to permit “intrastate distribution of custom-slaughtered meat such as beef, pork, or lamb to consumers, restaurants, hotels, boarding houses, and grocery stores.”
“Amos Miller is being prosecuted for operating outside of the onerous regulatory regime that keeps small farmers from providing nutritious food directly to consumers,” said Mr. Massie.
