On December 7th we featured Nnater's blog entry Got Milk?, which linked to details of the Ohio Government's aggressive raid on the business and personal residence of John and Jacqueline Stowers. Thousands of dollars worth of property, including $10,000 worth of food, has been seized. The Stowers, parents of eight children (including one son serving in Iraq), have been accused of violating retail food establishment licensure laws.
They describe the events of December 1 in the following video:
... seizure of private property without compensation, unlawful exercise of administrative authority and unlawful application of state police power, among other violations of freedoms guaranteed by the Ohio Constitution.
This case appears to be similar to that of Mark Nolt, who had been selling his farm products to his eager customers for years. When he neglected to renew his state issued permit, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture began to harass him and his family, raiding his farm several times and confiscating over $50,000 dollars worth of food, including stores of personal family food.
This kind of aggression is disturbing on several levels. On one hand, the state is at war with small-scale farmers: the health and agriculture departments work to discourage farmers from providing alternative food directly to consumers. On another is the degree to which these same agencies are uber-controlling in what we are and are not permitted to put into our bodies all in the name of safety and protecting us from ourselves, or even worse, protecting children from their parents.
In his book, Everything I Want to Do Is Illegal, Joel Salatin discusses the plight of the small farmers and all the cumbersome regulations and laws surrounding the sale of food direct to consumers. In an ironic twist, PDA officials took this book during one of the raids on Mark Nolt's farm in Pennsylvania. The title of the book begs the question "why is a farmer writing a book titled Everything I Want To Do Is Illegal?"
It is unfortunately all too clear to our country's small-scale farmers, as in the cases above, that they are the targets for much government aggression. At this point in the local foods movement, it is clear that the state is doing whatever they can to discourage consumers from using their purchasing power to support small, local farms that provide healthy foods to people; however, when that tactic ceases to be effective, they go after the source.
Update: the Stowers family can be reached at Manna Storehouse, 43565 State Route 303, LaGrange, OH 44050 or at mannastorehouse@windstream.net.
Good to see follow up story here. The ConCon last week pushed this important Ohio story out of the news. Everyone be sure to click the 'share' link above and DIGG.
The state is nothing more than a sophisticated criminal gang hiding behind a rigged electoral process. The mafia probably affords more due process in terms of notice than these state thugs did.
I appreciate the link for the video clip but in a way I wish that the gentleman had refrained from his quasi sarcastic comment on the "government".
I believe herein lies a critical issue, what is wrong with current trends is thinking, or ideals, or philosophy that government can take care of us better than free markets or liberty.
What needs to be criticized or better yet adequately debated is this philosophy that government regulations and growth is what is best for us as a nation even at the expense of our personal liberty and freedom.
I recommend mises.org for those of you who may be visiting this web site for the first time and the ideas of liberty integrated with economics may be foreign to your paradigms.
has any one in Ohio asked them to join the C4L??? This is how we can help them and us. We have to find people who are victims of terrorism and ask them to join are revolution.
This is another disgusting display of power by the state. It really makes me sick to my stomach - watching this video, with the crap this poor family has been put through. There's no justice in this country.
Posted 12/18/08 10:52 AM Deb Wells Kansas City, MO
Another form of aggression against small farmers - NAIS.
Vote to Stop NAIS! It is currently in 1st place in Agricultural Policy on the change.org website: http://www.change.org/ideas/view/stop_nais
'They' want complete control of EVERYTHING. If you are eating self grown healthy food, that means you are not eating the poison they want you to eat, and as such, you can not be controlled. GEN Sherman ordered that all Bison be killed, which destroyed the very powerful nations of the Great Plain Native Americans. What the FDA is in charge of today is just an extension/modification of Sherman's plan. If the American populace is always sickly, and are on three or four prescriptions drug plans for life, then the FDA has done their job. The biggest threat to our 'controllers' is a healthy populace which is able to think for themselves, and are able to RESIST when opressed. There has been alot of these type actions the last 10 years, but they are having a harder time keeping the wool over our eyes as these police state tactics have become their tactic of last resort to scare us away from the growing trend of We the People taking control and responsibility over our own health. Obviously current laws (the Constitution) make this style of oppression hard to execute, so expect new Federal regulations to come down the pike (probably by Executive Order) that make the growing of your own food illegal because of safety issues. Get caught committing the felony of eating from your own garden grown from your own seeds and guess what happens then; can't vote, can't buy a gun, can't be an AMERICAN. Of course the Constitution doesn't specfically make mention of my "having the unalienable right to eat out of your own garden," so why should I expect to be able to?
'They' want complete control of EVERYTHING. If you are eating self grown healthy food, that means you are not eating the poison they want you to eat, and as such, you can not be controlled. GEN Sherman ordered that all Bison be killed, which destroyed the very powerful nations of the Great Plain Native Americans. What the FDA is in charge of today is just an extension/modification of Sherman's plan. If the American populace is always sickly, and are on three or four prescriptions drug plans for life, then the FDA has done their job. The biggest threat to our 'controllers' is a healthy populace which is able to think for themselves, and are able to RESIST when opressed. There has been alot of these type actions the last 10 years, but they are having a harder time keeping the wool over our eyes as these police state tactics have become their tactic of last resort to scare us away from the growing trend of We the People taking control and responsibility over our own health. Obviously current laws (the Constitution) make this style of oppression hard to execute, so expect new Federal regulations to come down the pike (probably by Executive Order) that make the growing of your own food illegal because of safety issues. Get caught committing the felony of eating from your own garden grown from your own seeds and guess what happens then; can't vote, can't buy a gun, can't be an AMERICAN. Of course the Constitution doesn't specfically make mention of my "having the unalienable right to eat out of your own garden," so why should I expect to be able to?
Im moving to Galt's Gulch and seceding! (Free State Project)
Posted 12/18/08 3:32 PM sweetliberty San Rafael, CA
I don't understand -- why did the state do this to these people? All over a licensing disagreement? That's, like, a half-day's worth of paperwork and a processing fee, at most.
Was the state upset because the Stowers were ordering extra food to give some to neighbors who'd pay them back later? If so, that's ridiculous.
I used to live in a tiny rural town, which was 2 hours from the nearest quasi-city. Every time someone drove to the city for supplies, they'd make it known to all their friends & neighbors. Neighbors would give them a list of stuff they needed (including *gasp!* organic food!) and either pay them upfront, or pay them when they got back into town. Nobody needed a license to be neighborly. One time, the owner of the local coffee shop ordered flour and sugar in bulk, to sell cheaply to a friend who was making massive amounts of cookies for the holiday craft fair. I guess that was illegal, too. The cafe owner should have been bullied with a gun! Teach him to help out his community!
This whole story is ridiculous. Ohio, you're off the charts right now. You've got some apologizing to do...
This makes me sick to my stomach. What happened to those people is not only unforgivable, but also monstrous.
What the Ohio state did was not only unconstitutional, but was also a form of terrorism.
And I agree with that chase said. We need to find people who have been treated like this, and make sure that they know about the C4L and the revolution.
I hope they sue the pants off the ODA! As for the swat-team ..they all can be fired and replaced with more common sense officers that won't keep women children and babies at gun point for 8 hours.
No more Nazi Jack Boot tactics!!
Posted 12/19/08 11:29 AM Tatsit West Valley City, UT
I Received an email from Katie Stowers today:
-----Original Message-----
From: Manna Storehouse [mailto:mannastorehouse@windstream.net]
Sent: Friday, December 19, 2008 12:27 AM
To: mannastorehouse@windstream.net
Subject: update on Manna Storehouse
Hi everyone. We are happy to announce that you can now follow our case through our attorney's website: www.buckeyeinstitute.org . The press statement can be seen directly at: http://www.buckeyeinstitute.org/article/1284
We are unable to personally answer questions about the case or do interviews at this time, so please direct those types of questions to our lawyer, who is doing that for us. His contact information:
Maurice Thompson
(614) 224-4422
mthompson@buckeyeinstitute.org
We would also encourage people to write letters, especially to the Governor of Ohio, the Ohio Department of Agriculture and the Lorain County Health Department.
We have had people inquire about making a donation to our legal fund. We would encourage anyone wanting to make a donation for that purpose to make it to the Buckeye Institute. The following is from their website:
"The Buckeye Institute is an independent research and education group. As such, we do not perform contract work or accept government grants. To maintain the highest degree of intellectual integrity, we need the support of the people whose lives we're seeking to improve through sound public policy. We thank you in advance for your support. "
Jackie would also request that anyone who has a similar story to share (government abuse), please mail or email it to us!
Thank you again to everyone for your encouragement and support!
Katie Stowers
(for the rest of the family) :)
Manna Storehouse
43565 State Route 303
LaGrange, OH 44050
(440) 355-5826; (440) 355-5831 fax
www.mannastorehouse.com
mannastorehouse@windstream.net
A fully informed jury could put an end to the abuse suffered by Mr. Miller and others. It needs to become common knowledge that juries have the right to judge both the facts of the case and the law. A jury can decide that a law is unjust and not enforce it. They can also decide that the application of an otherwise good law is in a particular case, unjust, and again, vote to acquit. Spread the word, far and wide.
What the article does not address is that in the case of Mr. Miller, there were some diseased animals on his premises. Given the abusive nature of WI bureaucrats, I would not be surprised if they planted the disease in order to make an example for the Amish community. But as the article states, either way, animal ID system does not prevent such occurrences.
jrbowery-
While the USDA program is voluntary, it appears it is voluntary but encouraged for states. In WI, the STATE has made it mandatory, which is in keeping with the mindset here of taxing, licensing and regulating darn near everything. Case in point, after swinging a hammer for 35+ yrs. I now need the state's permission to do contracting. And that came about by "emergency" rule making of the Dept of Commerce. So far, I am "non-compliant" and will so remain.
"Educate and inform the whole mass of the people... They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty."
—Thomas Jefferson
Campaign for Liberty is a 501(c)4 lobbying organization which neither supports nor opposes candidates for public office and claims no responsibility for the actions of individuals or groups of individuals who use the Campaign for Liberty logo or name or who may claim to act as representatives of the Campaign for Liberty without prior written consent of the Campaign for Liberty. [?]
