Raw Milk Ohio: Part 2

For Part 1, go here.

When we last saw our intrepid heroes, Mr. and Mrs. Scrimp were on their way to the market to meet the mysterious "Joshua," a raw milk distributor who was to weigh them in the balance and see if they were worthy of receiving his goods. 

In all seriousness, though, we weren't really expecting things to be that crazy. Maybe a five minute chat about the summary of the contract, a few minutes reading it over, a signature, and we'd be on our merry way.

Well, not quite.

Raw Milk Ohio: A Thrilling Tale of A Covert Operation, Part 1

Recently, as those who follow us on Facebook are already aware, Mr. Scrimp and I purchased an interest in a local dairy herd. We did this because we really wanted to start drinking raw milk. But, because Ohio raw milk laws prohibit sales of unpasteurized milk, we had to work pretty hard to find a safe, legal source.

Photo credit

I am going to share the story of how we came to be investors in a cow (or group of cows), because I want everyone to know what we had to go through here in Ohio to exercise our rights to food choice and food freedom. Sadly, I will not be able to share the real names of anyone involved in this story, because even though no laws were broken, the ODA have still been known to open investigations that often end in the unjust arrests of farmers involved in providing raw milk here.

The whole thing felt like some sort of drug deal or espionage. And, although everything we did was legal, according to our state and federal governments, it sort of was.

Raw Milk and Food Freedom

Certain portions of the news and the blogotwittersphere (that's what we're calling it now, right?) are still going crazy over the raid at Rawesome in Venice, CA yesterday.

Photo from LA Weekly

Mostly, the outrage is coming from raw milk/raw food devotees who feel, with some justification, that they are being persecuted for choosing to drink raw milk. But here in Ohio, raw milk is strictly illegal, so it isn't really a personal issue for me. I would drink raw milk if I could get it, but I can't and so I drink the best milk I can get and I'm happy with that.

You don't have to drink raw milk, or even approve of it, to get involved in food freedom issues like this one, though.

Fed Raids Food Club in California

Twitter and Facebook pages run by real food advocates are lighting up this afternoon with the breaking news that private food club Rawesome has been raided by the Federal government this morning. Rawesome is a private food buying club that gives its members access to, among other things, raw dairy products.

Blogger Cheeseslave is on the scene and reports: "Rawesome was raided again by SWAT teams. James the owner has been arrested. They just poured at least $10k worth of milk down the drain. Bail is set at $123,000. Warrant: selling unpasteurized milk. If you're in LA please come right now to Rawesome at 655 Rose at Lincoln in Venice. We are standing out front protesting."

Rawesome was also raided last year. Selling raw milk is not illegal in California. There is no evidence that Rawesome's milk has made anybody sick. Why is the federal government arresting law-abiding citizens for selling food?

Keep Your Arsenic Off My Dinner

It's time for yet another food segment here on Scrimpalicious. Today, we're going to talk about chicken.

Specifically, we're going to talk about how the FDA recently admitted that grocery store chicken contains small amounts of arsenic.

I have a few questions after reading the above-linked article on ABC.

I'm happy to hear that Pfizer agreed to pull the offending product. I'm glad to know that it's "only" a little carcinogenic poison in the meat that I buy to feed my family.

What I am not happy with is finding yet another piece of evidence that food in America is no safer now than it was a hundred years ago when Upton Sinclair wrote The Jungle. I'm not happy knowing that people are adding dangerous things to our food supply without being sure, and I mean really sure, that it's safe.

Food Renegade also makes the excellent point that the arsenic being fed to these chickens is, according to ABC news, safe because the chickens are mostly excreting it. What does that mean? It means that the arsenic that those chickens are eating is being leached into soil, dumped into rivers, turned into fertilizer--oh, and ground up and mixed with the feed given to cows and pigs.

People ask me sometimes why we're so picky about where we buy our groceries.

This is why.

Finding Real Food

Found this on facebook, posted by a friend. Love it. Not sure who the original attribution should go to--if you know, tell me!

Click on the image to make it bigger.

Why Keep Eating Poison?

GMO crops, conventionally grown corn and soybeans chief among them, can be found in a huge proportion of our foods these days. It's one of the big reasons that Mr. Scrimp and I changed our eating habits. We became convinced that we were eating foods that had been contaminated with poison.

A report at the Huffington Post now tells me that we were right, and I only wish we had run away screaming from conventionally grown food even sooner. You see, those GMO crops have been modified to be resistant to the weed killer RoundUp. They get sprayed with it again and again throughout the growing season. It cuts down weeds and increases crop production.

It also causes birth defects in mammals, and that has been kept secret from the public for quite a long time now.


I know there are readers of the blog who have maintained that Mr. Scrimp and I are overly concerned about GMO foods and conventionally grown vegetables. I hope this makes you reconsider.

Chicago: Whaaaaaaaaat?

The other day, I saw this article about a school in Chicago that has decided to ban all lunches brought from home by students unless the student has an allergy or other excused medical condition. I like that what is basically a total ban is here referred to as "some lunches banned."

I know this is really not the sort of thing I typically write about here, but I am furious to read this! I understand--the school is trying to ensure that kids are eating healthy meals. But they're losing a golden opportunity to be proactive about not only educating their students but the families of those students.

Don't ban lunches from home. Give nutrition classes. At least come up with food that tastes good, as the fallout from the project at the school seems to be a vast number of children simply throwing their food away and going hungry because the food isn't even good.

Require nutrition class. I and many others will back you up. Better yet, teach Home Economics to all high schoolers. Do it for all four years, even. Make damn sure that children graduating today know not only how to plan and prepare nutritious food, but also balance a checkbook, plan a budget, and take care of themselves. By serving bad-tasting food in the name of health, all you're doing is teaching children that healthy food has to taste bad. By requiring students to eat at a cafeteria without the option of bringing food from home--yes. You're stopping some students from eating McDonald's every day for lunch. But you're also teaching the lesson that you aren't responsible for your own diet, health, and welfare.

Is that really a lesson we want to support?