Feds Raid Amish Farm
Action Tip: There was a time when the FBI was held in high honor as a virtuous law-enforcement agency. Beware, they are throwing that away.
Many early Americans lived by the creed of self-determination and self-reliance. People like Henry Thoreau, Charles Ingalls, and his daughter Laura Ingalls Wilder come to mind. Homesteaders plowed the soil to grow food for themselves and the country. They raised cattle and chickens for meat, dairy, and eggs. If they didn’t have bacon, they might trade for it or buy it from a nearby farm. However, if you try that today, armed U.S. Marshals might bang on your front door and demand entry.
Amish farmer Amos Miller runs a holistically managed farm in Bird-in-Hand, Pennsylvania. There he grows and prepares food in tune with nature, the way he believes God intended. From the farm, he sells meat, eggs, and dairy products to his private 4,000-member food club across the country. Check his website for more information. I live too far away for most things, but I’d be a regular customer if I lived closer to the Amos farm.
According to Rebel News, U.S. marshals recently raided the Miller farm charging Amos Miller with “failing to comply with federal regulatory requirements.” They searched every building and inventoried his livestock, prohibiting him from selling products from his farm.
Food Safety News, an online news publication focused on modern food safety, reported that earlier this year Federal Judge Edward G. Smith of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania had appointed George Lapsley to inspect the facilities on the Miller farm. The judge ordered that Lapsley receive “unimpeded access.” Mr. Lapsley reported to the court that, “Mr. Miller did not fully cooperate.”
Judge Smith then authorized Lapsley to return on March 17, 2022, with U.S. marshals. Food Safety News reports that the judge authorized the armed marshals to “use whatever reasonable force is necessary to gain entry into the Premises and to ensure that Lapsley has access thereto: (a) any buildings, rooms, and compartments, whether or not sealed or locked—Including but not limited to trailers, storage areas, offices, records used for any meat and poultry related purpose, boxes, containers, freezers, coolers, etc.; and (b) any meat and poultry related inventory, records, employees, and staff. Such authority to use any necessary, reasonable force includes the authority to break open locks, to remove barriers to entry, and physically to remove persons from the Premises.” The marshals were also authorized to enlist the help of other federal, state, and local law enforcement as they deemed necessary.
Doug is not Amish but lives a simple, off-grid, life and talks about related issues. He discusses the raid of Amos Miller’s farm starting at about four minutes.
The Amish have been pacifists for longer than the United States has existed, so is all of that necessary to inspect an Amish farm? When asked, Amos did refuse to provide business records but, the court does not appear to have ever subpoenaed them.
Farming is a dirty job. In 2016 CBS News reported that a case of listeria from 2014 had been traced to unpasteurized raw milk from Amos Miller’s farm. According to the report, the case caused illness in one person and the death of another. In the following eight years, no other cases have been attributed to the Miller farm. Years ago, my wife was giving a tour of our garden to an acquaintance from the city. Apparently incredulous that food plants grow in dirt, the person asked, “You eat this stuff?” My wife told her that yes, we do eat it. Although we clean the food we grow, the thought that something can be grown in or raised on dirt and be completely safe is hubris.
The court has ordered Amos Miller to pay $250,000 for “contempt of court.” Other than “not fully” cooperating with the inspector I’m unaware of what “contempt” this Amish farmer might have displayed. Amos has also been ordered to pay the salaries of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) investigators assigned to his case and to pay a further $50,000 as a gesture of “good faith,” to avoid going to jail.
What we see here is government overreach to the extreme and a lack of understanding by secular officials. Amish communities are highly self-reliant with a strong desire to determine their own futures. According to The Western Journal, “Miller claims he is being persecuted by the federal government for practicing his religious freedom to grow and prepare food according to his religious beliefs.” For the Amish and many other religious communities, all of life revolves around faith. My body, my choice is a popular chant among liberals. There is a place for USDA-inspected and approved food, but the Amish and many other Americans would prefer something simpler, fresher, and unpackaged. Their body, their choice, right?
The Western Journal ends its article with, “Godspeed, Amos. Stand tall.” I concur.
Is the growth of government a threat to freedom? Should the USDA, or some other government agency control what food you can buy? Tell us what you think in the comment section below.
Update!
January 11, 2024
Judge Andrew Napolitano comments on the most recent raid on the farm of Amos Miller. Click on the link below for the full text. https://www.creators.com/read/judge-napolitano/01/24/milk-and-the-police-state
