SAVE OUR FARMS & THE RIGHT TO PURE CLEAN FOOD: HERSHBERGER

Close to State of Emergency: Update on Hershberger and the Raid on the Farm Food Ministries

We are sliding into a state of emergency if farmers, 
the foundation of society, are systematically eliminated through 
over-regulation, licenses, raids and economic strangulation. Unless the
 consumers who care about their food rally around the last remaining farms 
we will face a crisis beyond imagination. Our food system
 is a fragile house of cards.—Michael Schmidt, Canadian biodynamic dairyman, ARMi Co-director

“There is a power that kicks in, which is beyond measure” . . . Vernon Hershberger

I spoke with Vernon Hershberger again tonight to let him know nice money is coming in for his defense from the Wisconsin ARMi fundraiser. He also gave me some big news you have not yet heard that I will reveal at the end of the article.

For the third time since the raid last week, the State and its agents came on the property. Yesterday, as the armed deputies with the judge’s warrant approached the door after Vernon refused them entry, “the kids locked the door from the inside . . . just in the nick of time.”

With continued courage, Vernon Hershberger and his family, continues his acts of defiance and disobedience to the government officials and bureaucrats—who demands that he stop providing food to those who already own it—until he gets a license that they will not issue—and threatening fines of $4000 per day per violation of rules he believes do not apply.

There are the constitutional guarantees at issue here:


1) the right to own private property


2) the right to privately contract (make an agreement) with individuals


3) the right to learn and decide what foods and health options are best for you and your family


4) the right to do business with those you trust and honor and wish to trade with;


5) the right to contract for one’s food for a future delivery; the right to take delivery; and the right to own a share of a farm/food production operation.


Why must we run to the State to ask permission to exercise rights that have already been given freely and endowed by the Creator and affirmed by the Constitution?

Then there is the major issue of interference of the State on freedom to practice ones religious faith—in this case the belief that the purpose of work is in part to have something left over to share with someone who is in need.

Many believe in the command from a higher law to share and give of their abundance to those you choose. There is the right to believe that when the law of the State and the law of God conflict, the right to obey the latter and disobey the State– and to suffer whatever penalty is applied. To break one’s faith in action is difficult– and not without public outcry.

The State is claiming jurisdiction over these simple basic rights—the right to work and share/give of the food they produce to those who have said they need it for their health as the choose and have agreed to accept the food in a private arrangement.

Pete Kennedy, an attorney with Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Foundation quoyed Vernon’s own words in a legal update yesterday:


Coming from an Amish background, we had been taught the biblical principles of non-resistance and loving and praying for our enemies and those who persecute us.

I slept only a few hours and meditated a long time, seeking the Lord and His will in these troubling circumstances. What would Jesus do? Bible passages like: “Blessed are you, when men shall revile you and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake”. (Matt. 5:11) “But I say unto you, ‘Love your enemies, Bless them that curse you, do good to them which hate you, pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you’.” (Matt. 5:44) Also Psalms 37 has promises that we can claim for our own if we trust in him.

There is another phrase that is very powerful that I strongly believe in: There’s no greater love that a man can have than to lay down his life for his friend. If we become so passionate about something that we are willing to lay down our lives for it, there is a power that kicks in, which is beyond measure. As all these things were going around in my head, I thought to myself: As we head into the future we do not know what it holds but we know Who holds it and that’s what counts.

Many may not understand “laying down one’s life” does not require dying for a cause or a person—it means a huge sacrifice in some way—to make the way better for others.

Rosanne Lindsay is co-director of the Wisconsin Alliance for Raw Milk (WI ARMi) a rapid-growth 1000 member-Facebook site. Lindsay told the Journal:

The state’s invasion of Vernon’s farm and the threats against Vernon and his family represent a broader threat against liberty. Raw milk has become a linch pin in a fight for food sovereignty and health freedom. Vernon and Erma are leading us to the truth by their actions of civil disobedience. Will we follow and preserve the rights we were born with?

Many are saying now (along with actions taken by state and federal agents nationally) that the State is calling evil good and good evil. The fires of passion are beginning to spread.

In my opinion, I think if the farmers and consumers of Wisconsin should join together in a class action against the state in a civil suit for triple personal and business damages. I also challenge those within the local and state agencies who might side with the Hershberger’s situation to come out of the closet and speak out.

Vernon told me a lawsuit against the State may be pending for its actions—being called by his supporters as illegal. The Hershberger Farm Food Freedom Fund has reached only $1600 for his defense and what may be a countersuit ($2300 total gifts received). Give generously and help make the point where the line is drawn.

TV NEWS STORY   http://www.channel3000.com/localvideo/index.html?v=29206
To take action...read more..... http://tinyurl.com/2wels4v