Morningland Dairy on KY3 Springfield Missouri

Yesterday, a reporter and crew from Channel 3 KY3 in Springfield went to Morningland and visited with Denise Dixon about the order to destroy issued by the Missouri Milk Board and the attempt to get a court order to destroy tht is in process by Missouri Atty General Koster.

Here is a link to the video:

KY3 Morningland Dairy 10/29/10

I am hoping that someone will put it up on youtube and get the video out there for all. It was a pretty fair job for sound bite short attention span theater mainstream media.But to be totally fair, it is very difficult to cover the ins and outs of the issue in less than 5 minutes. It's great that they did this piece and that they didn't slam either the State or Morningland in the final piece! Also, they said, "We'll continue to follow this story", so it definitely peaked their interest. Let's keep it in the forefront and thank this television station for covering this tragedy.

Please copy the link and leave comments so they know their coverage of this story is appreciated!

Missouri Milk Board Declares They Have No Appeal

Morningland Dairy to go to Court
©Doreen Hannes

Those following the saga of Morningland Dairy should be aware that this past week has been a relentless roller coaster ride. On the upside of the roller coaster, many have donated to the Uncheese Party to help the family farmstead business in this battle, and Joe and Denise Dixon, owners of Morningland Dairy, are humbled and grateful for the generosity and dedication those committed to preserving access to real food have shown.

On the downside, the FDA sent a rather nasty toned letter asserting that they consider Morningland cheese “to pose an acute, life-threatening hazard to health”. While not a single complaint of illness has been reported in the 30 year history of Morningland, the FDA states in their letter that “because of the seriousness of this situation” Morningland “should conduct inspections for 100% effectiveness at their accounts”. You could accurately translate that to “more downtime, more money out of pocket, less likelihood of recovery”, and you’d be right.

Then, on Friday, the 22nd of October, Morningland received a certified letter from the Missouri Milk Board, that flatly negates the “Objection to Destruction and Offer of Remedy” Morningland sent on October 6th by stating that “No administrative regulations allow the appeal of the State Milk Board’s administrative order...”. So the Missouri Milk Board believes it has no reason to follow due process, nor any requirement to be held accountable for their actions if they feel like destroying someone’s lifelong-work and livelihood.

Charges Levied for Questioning Destruction Order

Apparently, the Missouri Attorney General’s office agrees that the Milk Board is above all, as on Friday, after the close of business, they sent notice of service to FTCLDF attorney Gary Cox, notifying him of a Court Ordered Injunction and charging Joseph and Denise Dixon with three counts of violating state law, as set forth by the Missouri Milk Board.

Morningland Dairy, a licensed, inspected facility that has conducted all required tests, is being charged with “Unlawful Sale of Dairy Products”.....rest of article is on Kimberly Hartke's blog

Holy Cow! It's Viral!!

Last week I did a guest blog on Morningland Dairy for Kimberly Hartke and that went absolutely viral! It has nearly 19,000 Facebook "likes" and 145,000 views. Pretty amazing, and I am so thankful that people are learning about this story. There is a new Uncheese Party site where people can donate to make a stand for freedom of food choice and help keep Morningland in business.

Here is a link to the blog, and there is more to update....I will be doing another post either late tonight or very early in the morning tomorrow about recent developments. In the meantime, here is an excerpt from Kimberly's blog:





Dry Cows Coming In at Morningland Dairy

Reality? Reason?
Nah, We’ve got Regulatory Authority!

by Guest Blogger, ©Doreen Hannes 2010

Morningland Dairy is the latest attempt by the FDA to fulfill the Healthy People 2020 objective to kill raw dairy. Morningland is owned by Joseph and Denise Dixon, who operate the cheese plant and make raw cheese from cows kept right on the property and managed by one of their eldest daughters. They have 12 children, 4 who still live at home, and they have been actively engaged in real food for decades. They were caught up in the Rawesome Raid dragnet and many believe the questionable California Dept of Food and Agriculture tests on their cheese are the legal justification for the multi-agency guns drawn raid at Rawesome.

Joan Veon Passed Away

I learned this evening that my friend, compatriot, and my sister, Joan Veon, passed away at 4am. Central time this morning...Ocotber 18th, 2010. I am looking forward to seeing her in the Resurrection, and I want to ask that those who feel led pray for comfort for her husband and for her family.

Joan gave much more than we can even appreciate. She attended 109 meeting of the international elites, and I know what a drain those can be. I was blessed to interview her on my show, and you can download that here: Liberty News Radio Joan Veon on Truth Farmer

To be honest, I am stunned. I am sad for all of our loss. She gave it all, and I am glad she won't have to witness the financial devastation that is coming upon us.

May she rest in peace that passes all understanding.

Radio Show Appearances-- 10/16/10 and 10/18/10

Tomorrow morning I will be on Darren Weeks radio show, Govern America, at 8am Central time until 10am, or thereabouts. We'll be talking about Morningland Dairy and the facts in that case, and whatever else comes up!

On Monday, I will also be on the radio with the Intel Hub, discussing Morningland and Rawesome and similar attacks on food freedom and food choice.

In all seriousness, we need to make educated decisions about our food choices. We certainly have the capacity to do that, and we appear to have a duty to do so now with all the actual issues in the consolidated industrial food chain. Raw milk is a very hot button issue for many people, and I am a staunch proponent for raw milk. I do, however, believe that people should make informed decisions about whether or not they want to consume fresh milk. Where you get your fresh milk from does matter, and not all milk is created equal.

Personally, I like our milk the best, but those goats don't give me butter as they produce naturally homogenized milk! I really want a Jersey cow...just for butter! If anyone has a healthy Jersey they don't want, let me know! (lol)

Thanks and I'm hoping we get lots of call ins on these upcoming shows.

Morningland Dairy Moderate Update

Hello All,

As many of you know, I have been actively helping Morningland Dairy in their problem with the FDA and the Missouri Milk Board. Kimberly Hartke, publicist for Weston A Price Foundation asked me to do an exclusive guest blog for her on the issue. So, of course, I did. You can read it here. She even put some pics from the farm on there!

Some very serious issues need to be addressed here. It isn't even all about our ability to make informed choices about our food. It goes much deeper than that to the very core of our justice system. Where is due process in this issue? When did we give agencies the authority to destroy our property with no indemnity? How is a business that has followed all required testing and never had an illness suddenly shut down and put out of business entirely? Why is there no clear process to be followed by agents that can then be given to businesses so they can have an idea of the processes if there is a problem? Where -in the name of all that is logical- has common sense, common courtesy and decency gone?

Please read the article, and if you have questions, I will be happy to try to answer them.

Be blessed!!!

Doreen

Go to www.newswithviews.com for my articles and many other excellent researchers on topics affecting your freedom...also my blog, www.truth-farmer.blogspot.com

"It's dangerous to be right when your government is wrong"==Voltaire

As the Worm Turns....100K fine over Worm Castings

Even when you are generally quite informed about things going on in a particular sector, as I often think I am with food and ag, you miss stuff. Sometimes really, really big stuff. Last night, when I was searching for something completely unrelated, I found that I had completely missed yet another insane regulatory action. I came across an article on a blog about a man, George Hahn, in California being fined $100,000 over touting the benefits of his worm castings. After searching the actual case, I found only one other article from a newspaper that had any kind of depth to it.

WORM POOP IS A PESTICIDE, AND THEREFORE MUST BE REGULATED

Here is an excerpt from the first article I found. It's from Pacific Legal Foundation:

“Healthy plants resist pests naturally by producing enzymes that smell bad to bugs,” Sandefur explained. “Fertilizer made from worm castings helps plants to grow strong. It doesn’t do anything to bugs directly, and isn’t poisonous to them.”

“Unfortunately, Worm Gold is so effective that it alarmed state bureaucrats, who simply couldn’t allow a businessman to provide a safe, natural product to help gardeners without the state’s say-so,” said Sandefur.

The DPR determined that, because Hahn’s fertilizer boosts plants’ natural resistance to pests, it qualifies as a “pesticide” and he must obtain DPR registration – involving years of testing and thousands of dollars in fees – before he can sell it to the public. Worm Gold is already licensed as a fertilizer.

“The DPR is twisting the dictionary as it tries to fertilize and expand its bureaucratic empire,” Sandefur said. “These regulators would have us believe that anything that deters pests in any way should be called a ‘pesticide.’ At a hearing last summer, a couple of these bureaucrats were even brazen enough to say that water is a pesticide, when it is used to keep insects off of plant stems.”
Timothy Sandefur---Principal Attorney


YET ANOTHER DIGGING EXPEDITION

As I dug, I found only one article from a Sacremento site that had any depth to it and revealed any particulars on the case. Evidently, there were allegations that Hahn, the owner of the company selling Worm Gold had asserted that worm castings were somehow pesticides. While you certainly can't dump worm castings around a squash bg infested zucchini plant and expect it to kill them, if you have really good soil with proper microorganisms, some of those microorganisms will inhibit pests and make the plants less susceptible to infestation as well as help the plant to generally be more thrifty and fruitful.....But evidently, you can't say that any thing is good for anything any longer without paying boat loads of money to some agency to have them verify that there is some science based fact that they recognize as valid. Kind of like when Diamond Walnuts said that walnuts are good for your health and was fined quite heavily by the FDA.

On August 16th, Hahn was found guilty of not registering worm castings as a pesticide with the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (so he could validate making any claims about it) and fined $100,000 for this violation. Pacific Legal Foundation is appealing and, if there is any reason left in this world (LOL), they will prevail.

THE FUTURE LOOKS BRIGHT!

It appears that in the not too distant future mothers across the country may be thrown in jail for telling their children to eat their vegetables because they are "good for them". Apparently the only legitimate way to nutritionally distinguish a twinkie from broccoli may rest on the FDA and their enforcement abilities, and differentiating between milk and oil and worm poop and Sevin Dust is on the EPA. Since the FDA approves GMO's and says nanoparticles haven't yet caused a problem and are therefore acceptable, and took 30 years to finally concede that vitamin C may strengthen the immune system, I'm sure we can all be content with any federal or state agencies thinking on our environment and health.

Every day there appears to another travesty of justice occurring, and I find that the refrain from that old Talking Heads song runs regularly through my mind...."and you may ask yourself, "Self, How did I get here?" I guess the answer is via regulations. Sheesh.

WalMart Wants More!

What do you want when you are the new Global Supply Sargent? More purchasing power, of course! WalMart is dominating the American grocery retail sector already and they want the world....I think they may get it, too. I often call them the New World Order Company Store, but, I guess I'm a bit of a cynic.

I wonder what will happen when Walmart, who is too big to fail, founders?

Here's an article about how much they love to keep giving you the lowest price.....



Wal-Mart Wants More Buying Clout

The world's largest retailer is convinced it can cut even better deals by consolidating its purchasing of raw materials with partners

By Matthew Boyle and Carol Wolf

Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) purchasing chief Hernan Muntaner has a dream: teaming the giant retailer with soda and snack maker PepsiCo (PEP) to buy potatoes jointly for a lower price than either company can get on its own. That would allow both to earn more money on the chips and spuds they sell in Wal-Mart's supermarkets. So far, Pepsi isn't playing along. But with sales slowing in the U.S. and the price of sugar, meat, and wheat on the rise, the world's largest retailer is jointly purchasing a growing share of raw ingredients with manufacturers of food and household products sold in its stores. Products already being purchased with suppliers include sugar, which goes into the company's store-brand soda and five-pound bags, and paper, used in Wal-Mart's back-office printers. Muntaner envisions a day when his company will do it with most goods it sells.

"Around the world, we found we were buying the same raw materials" that Wal-Mart suppliers buy, says Muntaner, whose official title is vice-president for international purchase leverage. "When you put the volume together of what we bought and what [suppliers] bought, and buy from just one supplier, you can reduce the cost."

It's all about the retailing giant doing what it's become famous for: squeezing costs out of its supply chain. And although Wal-Mart is already feared by many suppliers for its enormous buying clout, it's convinced it can cut even better deals by consolidating its purchasing with partners. Currently, only makers of private label goods sold under Wal-Mart's house brands have joined in its so-called collaborative sourcing program. Manufacturers of branded products have taken a pass because they're loath to share pricing data and product formulas, say executives at three companies approached by Wal-Mart. Pepsi declined to comment.

Muntaner says that "in most cases" the branded companies "are more sophisticated than we are" in buying raw materials. "But we have found times when that wasn't the case," he adds. He declines to give specifics. "Sometimes it's very hard with a big company to have conversations like this," Muntaner says. "That is the main reason why we don't have Pepsi yet."

Muntaner's primary job is to circle the globe helping Wal-Mart's international divisions, from China to Japan to Brazil, find ways to use the company's massive buying muscle to lower what it spends on everything from copier paper to store-branded bottled water. Increasingly, that means selling the benefits of sourcing collaboratively. Muntaner says a soda maker, which he declines to name, has teamed up with Wal-Mart in Britain to buy sugar. The soda company paid 14 percent less, he says. Wal-Mart's sugar costs also fell, savings it used to lower the price of bags of its own house brand of sugar.

In Chile, where Wal-Mart has 259 locations, the retailer teamed up with a paper supplier and managed to cut Wal-Mart's own paper costs by 2.5 percent because of the greater bargaining clout. Wal-Mart is also jointly purchasing rice and could extend the program to everyday products such as household cleaners, vitamins, and produce. "We can do this with anything that is sold," Muntaner says.

This is just the company's latest attempt at slowing expense growth. Wal-Mart is already consolidating its roster of suppliers, eliminating distribution middlemen in nations such as Japan, and taking over the U.S. trucking operations from some of its suppliers in a bid to haul goods more cheaply. International chief Doug McMillon says the company is saving hundreds of millions of dollars a year from such changes—and wants savings of over a billion dollars eventually.

The bottom line: Wal-Mart is trying to increase its buying clout by teaming with suppliers to jointly purchase raw materials at better prices.

Boyle is deputy Corporations editor for BusinessWeek. Wolf is a reporter for Bloomberg News.

Morningland Dairy- Update

If you read my article on News With Views about the FDA and Missouri Milk Board shutting down Morningland Dairy, then you have a good background for a quick update....If not, I suggest you read the article and perhaps visit the Morningland blog to get a good idea of what is happening.

Yesterday, after Morningland published their "Objection to Order to Destroy" and sent out a press release about it, they were contacted by the Attorney General's office and told to be in court TODAY for a hearing in Howell County Circuit Court asking for a restraining order against them to protect the public from the cheese, I guess, and also a preliminary injunction to (among other things) prevent them from "continuing and future violations of Missouri's dairy law."

If their actions alone don't say it, that citation from the notice of service clearly indicates that the Missouri Milk Board is acting as the agent for the FDA and believes that raw dairy is inherently dangerous and -all- adulterated. That's how I see it anyway. If others see it differently, I would like to know how.

Here is the Press Release and Objection to order to destroy copied and pasted below.You can find the documents from the state at NICFA's website, and the court docs will be posted there soon.....BTW, the Attorney General's office called at 4:50pm yesterday to tell them court was canceled because they couldn't get 2 of their witnesses there. I think giving 24 hour notice of a court date over approximately $250,000 worth of product is less than honorable. One assertion in the court docs is that the product is that "immediate and irreparable injury, loss or damage will result if the condemned cheese products are not destroyed". As if cheese sitting in a cooler can climb out and go kill somebody. Hyperbole, anyone?

Here are the Press Release and Objection to Order to Destroy:


=====================FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE===================
Date: October 6th 2010
Subject: Family Run Dairy Ordered to Destroy 50,000 Pounds of Cheese
Subheading: Battle Over Raw Dairy Products Has a New Epicenter

Morningland Dairy has issued an objection to the Missouri Milk Board’s “order to destroy” their inventory of raw aged cheese. The cheese is being held on their property under an embargo issued by the Missouri Milk Board on August 26th, 2010. The embargo on all Morningland’s product was issued in response to tests done by the California Department of Food and Agriculture on cheese seized in a raid on Rawesome Foods in Venice, Ca. on June 30th. The embargo halted all production and sales of Morningland cheese.
Missouri Milk Board gave Morningland a verbal order of destruction on September 24th. Joseph Dixon, owner and General Manager of Morningland, then requested that Gene Wiseman, Executive Secretary of the Missouri Milk Board, provide written notice of the order to destroy and the method of destruction. Wiseman wrote the order to destroy on October 1st and it was hand delivered by Don Falls of the Missouri Milk Board to Morningland Dairy on October 1st, but it did not include the destruction procedures.
Denise Dixon, owner and General Manager of Morningland Dairy says, “Morningland has been producing raw aged cheese for 30 years, and in that time, absolutely no reports of illness have been made by anyone who has consumed our product. We are, and remain, wholly committed to providing good, healthful food to our customers. The order to destroy nearly 50,000 or so pounds of our cheese is not associated with even one complaint of illness, and we believe it’s an over reaction at best.”
In their objection to the destruction order, Morningland offers a remedy based on sound and verifiable scientific testing. Denise Dixon says, “It is our hope that reason and common sense will prevail. Until that happens, it appears that the State of Missouri and the FDA are more interested in putting us out of business than allowing consumers to have a choice in their food.”
At this point there is no written assurance from the Missouri Milk Board indicating that Morningland will be allowed to resume production or distribution of their products.

Objection to Order to Destroy Dairy Product at Morningland Dairy

Morningland of the Ozarks, LLC, dba Morningland Dairy, is in receipt of recommendations by the Missouri Milk Board and representatives of the Missouri Department of Agriculture, ultimately ordering the destruction of ALL cheese produced by Morningland Dairy from January 1st, 2010, through August 26th, 2010. Morningland Dairy LLC hereby gives notice to the Missouri Milk Board and the Missouri Department of Agriculture and their agents, that we object to this order and request due process be followed before any further destruction of our property, wealth, and ability to provide ourselves and our customers, with a desired and healthful product is incurred.

Morningland Dairy is, and has been, committed to providing a growing clientele with raw milk cheeses for more than 30 years. In thirty years, there have been no reports of illness associated with consumption of our cheese.

Because of the untenable nature of the order of destruction, we cannot comply and we formally lodge our objection to this order and request that the order issued by Gene Wiseman, Executive Secretary of the Missouri Milk Board, be immediately rescinded. Instead, Morningland Dairy requests that all parties involved consider the scientifically sound and common sense remedy to the allegations of “contamination” of our product be applied. This remedy can be found at the end of this document.

Many of the “facts” as stated by the Missouri Milk Board et al in the order to destroy and the attachments thereto are both incorrect and unscientific. A brief rebuttal to the major inconsistencies and substantive errors follow:

1) To date, there has been no legitimate test performed on Morningland Dairy cheese, although Morningland Dairy owners have repeatedly requested that proper tests be done. California authorities did not sign the test they allegedly performed until 55 days after product was seized at gunpoint from Rawesome Foods. No sample of said product was shared with Morningland Dairy as is required by California and Missouri statutes; therefore, there is no confirmation of the findings reported by California Food and Department of Agriculture.

2) Morningland Dairy plant manager, Jedadiah York, and Plant Owner/Gen.Manager, Denise Dixon, apprised Don Falls of the Missouri State Milk Board that more than two samples of Morningland Dairy cheese had apparently been tested in California, and that those results should be considered in the situation of alleged contamination of Morningland Dairy cheese. Mr. Falls’ reply was that he was not told about it, and we repeatedly asked him to look into that situation. Mr. Falls later stated he could not get that information from California, and that it was up to Morningland Dairy to request it. Instead of getting the requested information, he repeatedly stated that we just needed to “concentrate on doing the recall”.

3) Despite being aware that several types of Morningland Dairy cheese had been tested and evidently tested clear by the California Department of Food and Agriculture, Mr. Falls insisted that all of our cheese must be recalled, not just the two batches that were identified from the alleged contamination found in the California test.

4) No Missouri State Milk Board representative obtained samples from Morningland Dairy. Instead, at the request of Morningland Dairy owners, samples were taken by a Morningland Dairy employee, and submitted to Microbe Inotech Laboratories, Inc., of St. Louis, MO, (this lab was suggested by Don Falls of the Missouri State Milk Board) on August 27, 2010 for testing.

5) The only witness to the sampling from Morningland Dairy was the employee who did the sampling. When Morningland Dairy owners, Joseph & Denise Dixon, learned how the samples were taken, they knew that the tests would be inaccurate and, consequently, erroneous. Despite repeatedly informing Don Falls and also Audra Ashemore, of the FDA, of the faulty sampling methods, both of these individuals used the results of this inept test in their reports.

6) Mr. Falls failed to see to it that samples bore the signature of the person taking the samples, which is required by section 196.565 of the Revised Missouri Statutes. Although Mr. Falls states that an employee of Morningland Dairy delivered said samples to Microbe Inotech Laboratories, Inc., the samples were in fact given to a family member of Joseph & Denise Dixon. She, in turn, met another family member in Edgar Springs, MO, who then took said samples to said lab. Neither of these family members is an employee of Morningland Dairy. These facts are reported to illustrate the falseness of Mr. Wiseman’s statement that “State Milk Board staff documented chain of custody and maintained the integrity of samples by ensuring the storage containers where the cheese products were kept were properly sealed, labeled and secured.”


7) Three FDA representatives took 100 swab/sponge tests of the cheese plant and the milk barn at Morningland Dairy during the first week of September. The following week, Audra Ashemore of the FDA, called Plant Manager York, to say that the swab test results were in, and that the tests came back clear. When Mrs. Dixon requested a copy of these test results, Ms. Ashemore stated that Morningland Dairy would receive a copy, and that the FDA did not have a copy. To date, Morningland Dairy has not received a copy of said results, and no mention has since been made of the fact that both the cheese plant and the milk barn tested clear.


In conclusion, due to the lack of scientific evidence, lack of transparent protocol and complete lack of any illness associated with our cheese, and the absurdity of the assertion that ALL, nearly all, or even some of Morningland Dairy cheese is actually below standard, we –again- offer to test each batch of cheese in our cooler prior to shipping the product to our customers.
Because of the fact that it is far from a light matter to put families out of work and out of business when no harm has occurred to anyone in a thirty-year history, we are more than reluctant to destroy nearly 50,000 pounds of food based on erroneous tests. We have always appreciated the input and advise of the Missouri Department of Agriculture and Milk Board and have no issues with following logical and scientifically accurate suggestions and recommendations. We do, however, have no desire to harm our customers or ourselves by following unjust, unscientific, faulty processes that destroy the health and livelihoods of those involved with our company.

At this point, October 6th, 2010, we have been required to recall 6 months of work, have been completely shut down and forced to dump milk for nearly 5 weeks, are being told we must destroy at least 8 months of work, and have no assurance that we will be allowed to continue to produce our product without further subjection to overzealous enforcement actions on the part of the FDA or the Missouri Milk Board.

We seek justice, reason, logic and decency, and we desire to live peaceably and to profit from our labor. Due process is inherent in our system, and we request that it be followed.


Proposed Remedy from Morningland of the Ozarks, LLC to the Missouri Milk Board and Representatives of the Missouri Department of Agriculture

1) Morningland Dairy will diligently strive to put into action those reasonable procedural recommendations rendered in the Memorandums from the MO State Milk Board and Dr. Harold Treese, as soon as finances and circumstances allow.
2) Morningland Dairy will diligently perform two microbial tests, using a state approved lab of our choice, on each batch of cheese in order to identify any contamination, and will offer for sale only cheese batches that are found to be free of contamination. Any cheese batch that tests positive for contamination will not be offered for sale.


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