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.

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?