Transcribed by Aajonus.net & Rawmeatgang
Date: 11 September 2010
M = Host (Michael Olson), A = Aajonus, B = Brigette Ruthman
M: Hey, by golly, look who I just found on the line here. We gotta pick him up, Aajonus... Aajonus joined us. Aajonus, are you there?
A: I’m here, Michael.
M: We tried to call but couldn't get through, you're in the Philippines?
A: Yes, but other people have called me, and no problem. I don’t know why you couldn’t.
M: I was fumbling around on the phone here and trying to get on the radio at the same time. That’s probably my mistake. Can you tell us a little bit about what happened to you at the Rawesome food collective in Venice, California?
A: Well, the six branches of government showed up and raised their guns when they started searching the walk-in where we keep some cold food stored. Basically, what we have there is a place for people to come and pick up the food that they own because we have lease agreements with farmers for their land and their animals. So we own the food so there's not a sale of food at this co-op. I had to set it up that way. I created these leases because the FDA wants to shut down raw milk because they think it isn't healthy. I think it's bull. I think they know it's healthy. They just are kowtowing to the big food producers, especially the dairy industry, which is $2 billion a year in this country. And they just don't want to lose anything, so I think that's why they're coming after us. Anyway, there were six government...
M: Can you hold? We have to take a quick break. Did they come at you with their guns drawn?
A: No, they didn′t. They threw the guns after they started searching the property.
M: Can you hold on for just a minute?
A: Yes.
M: Okay, good. Folks, this is the Food Chain. Michael Olson here. Today we′re talking about the little people the government is going after in its quest to control the Food Chain. We will be right back. Please do stay tuned. 800-624-2665. 831-479-1080. Why is government so terrified of fresh whole milk and yet so friendly to the drugs that are killing us by the millions? Why is government telling us that we have no absolute right to consume any particular food, that we have to have the government′s permission for that food? Why is government attacking the little people who have few, if any, food safety problems instead of the big people who have most, if not all, of the food safety problems? With us today, Brigette Ruthman, Joshua′s Farm in Massachusetts, Aajonus Vonderplanitz of the Rawesome Food Collective in Venice, California. Aajonus, have you guys ever had any food safety issues with your Rawesome Food Collective?
A: Yes, they came in 2005 and tried to close us for not having a permit and a health license, and I instructed them then they have no jurisdiction. They only have jurisdiction over commerce. This is a private club, people just coming to pick up their food, and what they pay for when they pick up their food is what we have to pay the farmer for him producing, you know, caring for our animals, housing them, feeding them, milking them, bottling our product, and then shipping it to us. So it′s not an actual sale of merchandise, because we own it. So they didn't do anything for five years. Then when they came in, the FBI, the Canadian FDA, the USDA, I mean the U.S. FDA, the California State Government, Agricultural Department...
M: General Custer and the whole crew.
A: Yes, the Los Angeles Health Department, and let′s see, Building and Safety, I think it was. Anyway, they came in with a warrant. Now the warrant was issued for, you know, you can only get a warrant issued on a felony suspect. And everything that they claimed was a problem was just a misdemeanor. So it was a false warrant. We can sue them on that, those grounds. We can sue all of them.
M: Are you going to fight?
A: Your charge balance is getting low. Take advantage of our low recharge rate of 3.47 cents.
M: Aajonus, are you going to... Let's see, I think I lost him there. Aajonus, are you going to fight?
A: To make a call, press 1.
M: I guess not. I guess we lost Aajonus. Aajonus is in the Philippines right now, so we've been stretching really far to use our calling cards to get him, and I guess one of our calling cards just ran out, but Aajonus is fighting. Brigette, does that sound familiar?
B: I'm still here, yes.
M: Does his fight sound familiar?
M: It sounds like almost exactly the same thing you're going through.
B: It does, and I'm actually very heartened to be included in a group of people across this country who have done far more than me to support the ability to provide people with what they want in their food choices and to provide a really good product. I think in the long run, and this needs to be said, that it's not me or anybody else in this country that's going to decide who's providing the food source, it's the people who are buying it, and they really need to make themselves known, because in this country we have the right to change government and change what we don't like about the laws, and that's what's going to make a difference. You can't be ambivalent, you really have to be active and have a voice in this.
M: So it's not just the farmers here, is it?
B: No. No, it's not. It's the people who are interested and want the product. And actually the three people who are my herd share members were ready to storm the Bastille and go to Boston with their fists up in the air more than I was because I wanted really to make this work and do a little detente, and they were more angry than I, and that's good because they're the ones that will end up without the product that they want if I can't produce it.
M: Craig, welcome to the food chain. Go ahead.
Craig: Yeah. Hi, Michael. How long have these kind of food raids been going on and who the hell's behind this all is my question.
M: Brigette, how long has this been going on?
B: For me?
M: No, for everybody.
B: Well, for everybody. You know, you should watch this video called Symphony in the Barn. It's about Michael Schmidt's story in Ontario, and that has happened some time ago. Really, this attack on small food producers is not new, but it's now just gaining some attention.
M: Why is it gaining attention? Why is it?
B: Well, that's a good question, because you know what? There is a very, very strong growth in community agriculture, and especially in the Berkshires, we see it, in places in California, in Vermont. People are no longer satisfied to go to the store and buy a dozen eggs that were produced in a place where the manure piles up eight feet and it's still allowable. They want to buy eggs from a place where the chickens roam free and they're healthy, and they want to buy milk from a place where they know the cow, and they know the cow has no chemicals in it, and they know the cow's well cared for, and it's fresh milk. They want to know where their food sources are, and we see that a lot in the country, quote-unquote, in the places where you're close to the farm, in the city, the process is happening, the progress is a little slower, but it's also happening there, too. People are no longer satisfied with what they're presented with in a grocery store.
M: The big lie. Craig, can you hang with us? We're going to take a quick break. This is the food chain, Michael Olson. Phone numbers today, 800-624-2665, 831-479-1080. We have Brigette Ruthman with us. We had Aajonus with us from the Rawesome Food Collective, and you do stay tuned. We will be right back. Why is the government attacking the little people who have few, if any, food safety problems instead of the big people who have most, if not all, of the food safety problems? This is the food chain, Michael Olson here. Big thanks to Brigette Ruthman from Joshua's Farm in the Berkshires of Massachusetts. Also, Aajonus Vonderplanitz from the Rawesome Food Collective, who is with us in spirit, if not on the phone today. He's out there in the Philippine Islands and we lost the call. Let's go quickly through, we have a full board here, so let's go quickly and get as many as we can. Craig, you want to follow up?
Craig: Well, okay. My second question was who's behind this in the government? You know, who are the names? If you have a really good lawyer, I'd want him to find out exactly who and expose them and put him on trial, him or her on trial.
M: Well, hey, here's an answer for you. Google the food safeties of the federal government and you'll find a guy named Michael Taylor. And Michael Taylor was the person who's responsible for getting bovine growth hormone through the FDA so that you can drink it without knowing you're drinking it. And he also wrote a book about how you, Craig, could sue people like Brigette for labeling their milk as having had no bovine growth hormone in it. Is that about true, Brigette?
B: Yep.
M: There you go.
B: I have labels all ready to go if I ever got to that point, but I can't use the labels.
M: Okay. Thanks, Craig. Appreciate your call. Let's go to Scott really quickly. Scott, go ahead.
Scott: Of course they want to control us all. Fresh whole milk is the most wonderful food I've ever tasted in my life. I honestly wondered how anyone could be ever addicted to heroin. It's beyond wonderful. You know, have you ever heard of the Oath Keepers? It turns out our local sheriff has the power to protect us. The sheriff is the highest elected official in the land. Sheriff Mack was...
M: I've heard about this.
Scott: Yes, he was going to be arrested for not enforcing an unconstitutional law. He challenged it and won in court. And the court determined that...
M: And was he not pictured drinking a glass of fresh whole milk?
Scott: I'm not sure. Probably.
M: I think he was.
Scott: Yeah, I'll bet he is.
M: Alright, thanks for the call, Scott. Michael, let's go to Michael. Michael, welcome to the Food Chain. Go ahead.
Michael: Yeah, hey, I just wanted to know what the present status in California is for fresh whole milk and what happened to Altadena. And I'll take my answer on the air. You're doing a great job, all of you. Thanks.
M: Thank you very much. I don't know what the status is, I know that you can get fresh whole milk. Brigette, do you have any idea?
B: Each state has a different set of regulations. And one of the things that I argued in Boston in testimony is that I can take my cow, I am very near the Connecticut border, march her down to Connecticut and I could sell that milk at a retail store. I can't do that in Massachusetts under any conditions.
M: OK, and Jim down there with the Rawesome Food Collective, you got a contact for us for Aajonus?
Jim: Well, yeah, he actually, in answer to many of these questions, he and Dr. Douglas wrote a 63-page report on raw milk. It gives the whole story of the who and the when. It's not up to date because it was written a couple of years ago and handed to each congressperson by Aajonus personally. It is on his site, which is www.wewant2live.com. You have to go down, find purchase books, and then it'll be listed just as a milk report.
M: There you go, and thank you very much. Brigette Ruthman, what can we do as consumers to help you as a producer?
B: Don't forget that many of these fights, as mine is, is being fought with tax dollars. In fact, the enemy is being paid for through the tax dollars.
M: Stop spending our taxes attacking Brigette Ruthman. Brigette, thank you so much for joining us. Folks, stay tuned next week for part three in The Gods that Damn Food. We're going to talk about Senate Bill 510. Stay tuned.
Outro: You've been listening to the award-winning Food Change Show with Michael Olson. If your friends missed the show today, tell them to log on to the radio page at www.metrofarm.com for a listen. Now go out and find some food with a farmer's face on it and live.