Sheriff Defies FDA Over Warrantless Search Of Raw Milk Farm

The FDA’s persecution of David Hochstetler is part of a larger war on individual rights by the federal government. Raw milk is but one of the many fields it seeks to exercise control over, as it’s continued campaign against it’s producers and consumers shows.

“On December 5 of last year, he wrote a letter to FDA officials warning that if their agents continued their harassment of Mr. Hochstetler by showing up at his farm again without a warrant, he would place them under arrest. For Sheriff Rogers, it seemed clear that the FDA was abusing their authority by using the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act as an excuse to repeatedly violate David Hochstetler’s Fourth Amendment rights, while also violating Tenth Amendment limitations on federal authority with respect to the national govenment’s dealings with individual states. Even though interstate commerce in raw milk is prohibited by law (thanks to the lobbying of agribusiness), states still have jurisdiction over what happens within their borders, and the state of Indiana allows raw milk producers to sell their products legally as long as they don’t sell it to consumers directly, which Forest Grove Dairy apparently was not doing (although it appears they may have broken the law against interstate commerce in the past). But from Sheriff Rogers’s perspective, FDA actions were clearly far over the line of what was constitutionally permissible. They were carrying out a vendetta against a law-abiding Elkhart County citizen, and he was bound and determined to use his authority to put a stop to it.

At first, the FDA and the Justice Department reacted with indignation and outrage at Sheriff Rogers’ actions, haughtily informing him in a written retort that federal law gave them jurisdiction to inspect any farm at any time in any location. Interestingly, however, shortly after word of this incident broke in the national press, the Justice Department announced without fanfare that they were dropping legal action against David Hochstetler, who had been facing a grand jury subpoena for denying FDA personnel access to his farm in the days before Sheriff Rogers had decided to come to his rescue on constitutional grounds. It appears the bad publicity they were getting has been enough to convince FDA officials to back off, at least for now.

Health Under Siege

But regardless of whether or not they decide to challenge Sheriff Rogers’ authority and renew their campaign against Forest Grove Dairy, there is little doubt that the federal government/agribusiness war against raw milk producers – and by extension against those Americans who choose of their own free will to consume this product – will not be ending any time soon. We can only hope that in the months and years ahead, other local law enforcement officials will have the guts to stand up to the campaigns of harassment that are being launched against the producers of a perfectly healthy and respectable substance, which is only being attacked because corporate agricultural interests want to eliminate their remaining competition.”

People like Sheriff Rogers understand that this is part of a much larger struggle, which is why he has pledged to defend not just their right to produce raw milk, but their right to bear arms as well.

Source: Off The Grid News