Reneau’s is limiting government power, not surprising for someone who endured a combined three-year investigation of the Tennessee Department of Agriculture (TDA) and USDA’s Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS), all in connection with providing nutrient-dense food to her community through a food buyers club. Reneau was able to turn this adversity into a major legislative success.

In 2016 Reneau along with Nate and Ajnu Wilson started the Weekly Fig, a private membership association that distributed raw milk, meat and other nutrient-dense foods from local farmers to members of the food buyers club. A passage in Weekly Fig’s Articles of Association stated, “We proclaim the freedom to choose and decide for ourselves, the types of products, services and methods that we think best for healthy eating and preventing illness and disease of our minds and bodies, and for achieving and maintaining optimal wellness. We proclaim and reserve the right to healthy food options that include, but are not limited to, cutting-edge discoveries and farming practices used by any types of healers or therapists or practitioners the world over, whether traditional or non-traditional, conventional or non-conventional.” 

Weekly Fig rented out space to handle the storage and distribution of farm-produced food to its members; a short time after it had been in operation, a health department inspector barged in on the facility and conducted an unauthorized, warrantless inspection. The health department subsequently issued the Weekly Fig citations for not having the proper licenses for what they were doing. Soon after, TDA became involved sending its own inspector over to the facility. Reneau refused to let the inspector in, claiming TDA did not have jurisdiction over a private buyers club distributing food only to its members. TDA followed up by sending a warning letter to Weekly Fig stating, among other violations, that it was illegally operating a food establishment without a license and offering raw milk for sale. When TDA and the buyers club couldn’t come to a resolution on the matter, the department sent further correspondence to Weekly Fig putting Reneau and the Wilsons on notice that “future violations of the same or similar sort, i.e., unlicensed operation as a food establishment or sale of raw milk—will be considered grounds for the department to seek actions for injunction and or criminal charges.”

TDA did not take an enforcement action against Weekly Fig, but the threat of one remained over its head; so, when the 2017 Tennessee legislative session rolled around, Reneau contacted State Senator Frank Niceley to see if he could help the food buyers club with legislation.  Niceley introduced Senate Bill 651 (SB 651) which established that there was no regulation or licensing requirement for a “farm to consumer distribution point.“ Reneau testified at a Senate committee hearing for the bill; on May 11, 2017, SB651 was signed into law. A law distinguishing between the public and private distribution of food was now on the books—a major victory for food buyers clubs and farmers in Tennessee.

Unfortunately, Reneau’s problems did not end, even though there was no longer a conflict with TDA. Shortly before SB 651 became law, the Weekly Fig received a visit from two FSIS officials seeking to inspect the facility and the freezers in it. Reneau refused to let them in, telling them this was a private membership association and that, unless they had a warrant, they could not conduct an inspection of the facility.

FSIS Inspectors attempted a second inspection, and Reneau refused them again. When the inspectors provided her with copies of the laws they claimed gave them authority to inspect, she told them those laws apply to the general public, not a private membership association. In battling FSIS, Reneau showed the same courage and tenacity she did in her dispute with TDA—not accepting the government’s general assertions of authority and contesting the regulators point by point, asking for specific citations in the law to back up their claims. She grudgingly gave up ground to regulators, standing on her belief that there is a legal distinction between the public and private distribution of food.

Reneau said, “My whole life I have typically been a law-abider. I very much have a great respect for authority. It became very clear to me though, in my journey over the last 10 years with health and food and medical, that I need to be cautious about any authority exerted from those places because they had already proven themselves wrong in many cases.”

FSIS sent warning letters to Reneau and Weekly Fig after the attempted inspections and subsequently filed a court action to inspect the facility and look at the buyers club’s records. During the standoff, Reneau decided to shut down the Weekly Fig when it lost its lease and a suitable replacement within its budget could not be found; being pregnant with her fifth child made the decision easier to discontinue with the day-to-day operations. Nevertheless, FSIS pressed on with the case seeking records from the Weekly Fig.

In April 2019, Reneau had a court hearing, attending it while 37 weeks pregnant; the judge ordered that she appear for a deposition and bring buyers club records. The deposition took place in July 2019; Reneau brought her two-month-old baby with her—nursing the baby throughout the questioning from DOJ and USDA attorneys. She was worried about protecting the privacy of her club members and farmers; as it turned out, the deposition was more about getting the matter off FSIS’s desk—after two years, the federal investigation of Weekly Fig was over.

Through her experience with the Weekly Fig, Reneau has seen a side of government that most have not. She says, “I would just like to see less of the government making decisions on behalf of people as it affects their private lives. We should be able to make decisions for ourselves as long as it is not impacting other people … I just feel like the government has taken too much of a role in private life and that is where I would like to see things shift.”

Michele Reneau is active in defending faith, family and freedom, and constitutional rights—including the fundamental rights of parents to direct the upbringing, health and education of their children according to their values and beliefs. Acting on the courage of her convictions, she is someone who walks the talk.

The post How One Weston Price Chapter Leader Made an Impact appeared first on Real Milk.

Niceley, an honorary board member of the Weston A. Price Foundation (WAPF), is one of the more productive and liberty-minded legislators in the country and an effective advocate in Nashville (the state capital) not only for his own constituents but also for numerous other Tennessee residents, especially farmers. It’s common for farmers around the state to contact Niceley, a fifth-generation cattle farmer, for help instead of their own legislators if they are having an issue with a regulator or government agency, be it state or federal.

The successful legislation he has sponsored and policies he has helped implement as both a state representative and state senator have made a huge impact on small farmers and local artisan food producers and many others in Tennessee. In his latest term, Niceley sponsored successful bills legalizing the over-the-counter sale of ivermectin (Tennessee was the first state to do so), taking the sales tax off gold and silver coins, legalizing the unlicensed, unregulated sale of cottage foods not only direct from the producer to the consumer but also to third parties such as grocery stores, and establishing a state meat inspection program.

Niceley has done more to deregulate local food production and distribution than anyone in the past 15 years, enabling family farms and local artisans to have a better chance to make a living. His list of accomplishments include:

2009 [HB 720]
Sponsored bill legalizing the distribution of raw milk through herdshare agreements. In 2012 Niceley followed up on that bill by getting an Attorney General’s opinion that it was legal to distribute other raw dairy products through a herdshare agreement as well.

2012
Got an Attorney General’s opinion that farmers didn’t need a permit to sell eggs from their own farm.

2014 [SB 1707]
Sponsored a bill adopting the federal poultry exemption enabling farmers to process up to 20,000 birds a year. The Tennessee Department of Agriculture has since expanded the exemption by policy to include processing rabbit meat on the farm.

Before the bill passed, Tennessee had one of the worst regulatory climates for on-farm poultry processing in the country; during that time, the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund (FTCLDF) received a call from a poultry farmer in Bristol, Tennessee, getting ready to move across the state line to Bristol, Virginia, because he was so fed up with the restrictive laws and policies on on-farm poultry processing.

2017 [SB 343]

Sponsored a bill adopting the federal exemption on custom slaughter and the exemption on non-amenable species. The latter exemption allows the sale of meat from animals such as bison and domestically raised deer that are slaughtered and processed at a custom facility.

2017 [SB 651]
When Weston A. Price Foundation (WAPF) chapter leader, Michele Reneau, was threatened with prosecution because the food buyers club she co-managed did not have a permit, Niceley passed a bill, exempting food buyers clubs from licensing and regulation.

2017
Received Attorney General’s opinion stating that there can be an unlimited number of owners for an animal slaughtered and processed at a custom facility and that entities such as a food buyers club can be an owner of such a custom animal.

2019 [SB 358]
Sponsored bill legalizing sales of raw butter by licensed dairies.

2020 [SB 2049]
Sponsored a bill requiring that any meat labeled as a product of Tennessee must be from an animal that was born and raised in the state.

2020 [SJR 841]
Sponsored a resolution commending the Weston Price Foundation for its 50-50 Campaign urging people to buy at least 50% of their food budget direct from the farm.

2022 [SB 693]
Sponsored the Tennessee Food Freedom Act legalizing the unlicensed unregulated sale from homemade food producers of food that does not require time and temperature control for safety, including fermented foods; these sales can be direct to consumers and also by some third parties such as food buyers clubs and grocery stores.

2023 [SB 123]
Sponsored the bill to establish a State Meat Inspection program in Tennessee; like many states, Tennessee has a shortage of federally, inspected slaughterhouses, especially in the eastern half of the state.

2024 [SB 1914]
Sponsored a bill providing for vending machines with whole milk in the schools, giving children a more nutritious option while still preserving federal funding for Tennessee’s school lunch program. The federal rule that withdraws funding from Washington if whole milk is served in a school lunch has worsened children’s health and the economic condition of the dairy industry.

Niceley‘s work impacts the local food movement around the rest of the U.S. as well. The first thing legislators typically ask when a constituent requests that they introduce a bill is: “Has this been done elsewhere?”

The senator has introduced and helped pass a number of bills that were law in few, if any, states outside Tennessee. In the 2024 session he helped pass a bill defining and regulating as a drug any food that contained “a vaccine or vaccine material.”

Legislation he introduced this past session includes: a constitutional resolution to protect the individuals right to grow and acquire the food of their choice [SJR 902]; a bill that would have barred any prohibition on the growing of produce and the raising of chicken or meat rabbits on a residential lot [SB 1761]; a bill that would have exempted farms from any vaccine mandate for their livestock or poultry, if the farms practice was not to vaccinate their livestock or poultry [SB 2543]; and legislation that would have prohibited cell-cultured meat from being defined as “meat” [SB 2603].

Niceley has been generous with his time in helping legislators, farmers and eaters in other states working on food and agriculture bills. As for Tennessee, there is no one who has done as much for the small farmer and local food producer in that state as Frank Niceley.

[Photo credit: Solari.com “Blast from the Past“]

The post The Farmers’ Legislator appeared first on Real Milk.

“Tennessee Welcomes You” sign at the state border

On July 1st Senate Bill 693 (SB 693), also known as the Tennessee Food Freedom Act, went into effect as law. SB 693 is a major step in expanding consumer access to homemade food in Tennessee and keeping more of the food dollar in the state. State Senator Frank Niceley sponsored the bill; Representative Justin Lafferty was the sponsor of companion legislation House Bill 813 (HB 813).

SB 693 allows the unregulated sale of all food that does not require time or temperature control for safety (including fermented foods) by homemade food producers direct to the consumer or “a third-party vendor, such as a retail shop or grocery store.” Sales can be made to the consumer remotely through telephone or internet order. Deliveries of homemade food can be made through third-party carriers; all transactions under SB 693 must be in intrastate commerce only.

The production and sale of homemade foods is exempt from all “licensing, permitting, inspection, packaging…laws of this state, except when the department of health is investigating a reported foodborne illness.” The only requirement under the bill is the disclosure through labeling or other communication (depending on the food sold and the type of transaction) of the following information: the producer’s contact information, the name of the food item, its ingredients, and the statement: “This product was produced at a private residence that is exempt from state licensing and inspection.”

Prior law allowed the sale of “not potentially hazardous” foods (mostly the same foods that can be sold under SB 693) by the producer without a permit directly to the consumer only; further, the producer was subject to inspection and other requirements under the old law. The deregulation of the production and sales of homemade foods along with the now legal third-party sales of these items should increase the number of homemade food producers as well as consumer access substantially. Food buyers clubs, food hubs, and mom-and-pop stores are all possible venues for the sales of homemade food

Niceley has made a huge impact on the fortunes of small farmers in Tennessee. In 2009 he was the sponsor of a bill legalizing the distribution of raw milk through cowshare agreements; he followed up on that success in 2012 by getting an Attorney General’s opinion that it was legal to distribute other raw dairy products through a cowshare arrangement as well. In 2019 he sponsored a successful bill legalizing the retail sale of raw butter by licensed dairies.

In 2014 Niceley sponsored a bill adopting the federal poultry exemption enabling farmers to process up to 20,000 birds a year; the state has since expanded that exemption by policy to include rabbit processing on the farm. In 2017 he sponsored a bill adopting the federal exemptions on custom slaughter and on non-amenable species—the latter exemption allows the sale of meat from animals such as bison and domestically raised deer that are slaughtered and processed at a custom facility. That same year he also sponsored a bill that exempted from licensing and inspection food buyers club and other entities that distribute the products of farmers.

A fifth-generation cattle farmer himself, Niceley is largely responsible for Tennessee having one of the strongest local food systems in the country. He is the legislator small farmers across the state most turn to when they have a regulatory issue.

With the looming engineered shortages in the conventional food supply, it is critical to deregulate the production and sale of locally produced foods. Shortening the supply chains and enabling communities to be more self-sufficient in food production is a way to fight back against corporate tyranny and the threat of food scarcity. All 50 states have Cottage Food laws, with some states such as Wyoming and Montana allowing the unregulated sale of nearly all foods other than meat; illnesses attributed to producers operating under cottage food and food freedom laws are almost nonexistent. States like Tennessee and laws like its Food Freedom Act can be a model going forward for deregulation in other states.

Congratulations to Senator Niceley, Representative Justin Lafferty, Weston A. Price Foundation chapter leader and lobbyist Shawn Day, and others who worked in support of the bill for their success!

Photo Credit: Andrey Krav via iStock.com

The post Tennessee Food Freedom Act Now Law appeared first on Real Milk.

On June 15th Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed Senate Joint Resolution 841 (SJR 841), a resolution to commend and support the Weston A. Price Foundation’s “50% Pledge” campaign. State senator Frank Niceley sponsored SJR 841 which passed unanimously.

The resolution reads:

• • WHEREAS, this General Assembly finds that the family farmer is the backbone of the Tennessee economy; and

• • WHEREAS, Tennessee family farms produce some of the highest quality food in the country; and

• • WHEREAS, it is the policy of the General Assembly to support Tennessee residents in their endeavors to purchase as much of their food as possible from Tennessee producers; and

• • WHEREAS, prosperous family farms improve food security and the ability of our State to be self-sufficient in food production; and

• • WHEREAS, keeping more of the food dollar in the local community will strengthen Tennessee’s rural economy; and

• • WHEREAS, the Weston A. Price Foundation, a nutrition nonprofit organization, has launched a campaign called the “50% Pledge,” a campaign to encourage people to purchase at least half of their food directly from local farmers and artisans; now, therefore,

• BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED ELEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING, that we hereby commend and support the Weston A. Price Foundation and its “50% Pledge” campaign.

Demand for food direct from the farm, especially meat, has skyrocketed since the onset of the covid-19 crisis in March. This has resulted in the single greatest shift away from the cheap-food, high-healthcare-cost paradigm the country has been mired in for decades. The highest quality food is mostly found from small farmers and local artisans. The more food that is purchased direct from small farms, the stronger individual health, consumer freedom of choice, rural economies, food security, food safety and the sense of community will become. WAPF’s “50% Pledge” campaign is an effort to help make that happen.

For more information, click here for the story on realmilk.com about the 50% Pledge Campaign. Those interested in supporting the campaign can order free “50% Pledge” postcards through this link on the westonaprice.org website.

The post Tennessee Passes Resolution Commending WAPF and 50% Pledge Campaign appeared first on Real Milk.

by Pete Kennedy, Esq.

On April 30, Governor Bill Lee signed into law Senate Bill 358 (SB 358); the legislation legalizes the sale of raw butter by licensed producers in Tennessee. SB 358, sponsored by Senator Frank Niceley, a long-time champion of the small farmer and local food, goes into effect immediately. SB 358, as amended in the House and passed, provides that “the department [of agriculture] shall not regulate the production of unpasteurized butter provided that it is produced:

(A) In a facility separate from production of pasteurized products;
(B) Solely for intrastate commerce; and
(C) By a person licensed by the department as a dairy plant.”¹

On any raw butter sold, the bill also requires a warning label stating, among other things, that the product has not been inspected and that butter “may contain disease-causing micro-organisms.”¹ According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), between 1998 and 2016, there was not a single foodborne illness outbreak attributed to the consumption of commercially produced raw butter;² during that time, California-based Organic Pastures Dairy Company (OPDC) sold over two million pounds of the product without incident.³ The labeling requirement was a concession needed to pass the bill.

It’s not clear why the Tennessee Department of Agriculture (TDA) would not agree to regulate the production of butter under current regulations from a licensed dairy plant but the answer could possibly be because of some agreement the department has with the federal government. SB 358 allows the retail sale of raw butter; Tennessee joins Arizona, California, Idaho and Maine as states allowing the sale of the product in retail stores. There are around a dozen states that allow the sale or distribution of raw butter for human consumption.

Niceley introduced a bill in 2018 that would have legalized raw butter sales, but that legislation didn’t make it out of House committee after passing the Senate. With the accelerating decline of the state dairy industry over the past year, SB 358 did not have any significant opposition. One point Niceley made during consideration of the bill was about the increasing competition from lab-grown dairy products to the conventional industry, saying that laboratories could produce pasteurized dairy products at a much lower price than the dairy industry could and that the industry needed to separate itself from that competition with the production and sale of raw dairy products. It is uncertain at this time how many of the state’s licensed dairy plants are interested in selling raw butter, but the potential is there. None of Tennessee’s neighbors allow raw butter sales; there could be out-of-state customers buying butter in Tennessee. Cheesemakers from other states could be moving in with an additional high-demand product to sell. If demand does take off, some of the state’s remaining dairies could obtain higher prices for their milk by selling some of their production to dairy plants instead of cooperatives where most are losing money with each load they ship.

The Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund (FTCLDF) has a citizen petition4 before the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to lift the interstate ban on sales and distribution of raw milk and other raw dairy products (except aged cheese). If the petition is successful, it is likely raw butter sales would be legal in all states within a few years. Until that time, there should still be a steady increase in states allowing raw butter sales or distribution. Brentwood Chapter Leader Shawn Dady lobbied for the bill on behalf of the Weston A. Price Foundation (WAPF). Congratulations to her, Senator Niceley and the other Tennesseans supporting SB 358 for legal raw butter sales,⁵ in time for the spring flush.

1. House Amendment Number 1 to HB0532 (HA0116), Tenn. House § 1 (2019). Last accessed 5/7/2019 at http://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/111/Amend/HA0116.pdf.
2. Mark McAfee and Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund, “Citizen Petition Seeking Legalization of Interstate Transport of Unpasteurized Butter”, petition, June 22, 2016; p. 10.
3. Ibid. p. 11.
4. For more details about the citizen petition, read “FTCLDF Hires Jim Turner to Litigate Raw Butter Petition” at https://www.realmilk.com/turner-litigate-raw-butter-petition/.
5. Thanks to an opinion from the Attorney General, the state has allowed the distribution of raw butter and other dairy products since 2012 through herdshare agreements.

The post Raw Butter Sales Now Legal in Tennessee appeared first on Real Milk.

On April 30 Governor Bill Lee signed into law Senate Bill 358 (SB 358); the legislation legalizes the sale of raw butter by licensed producers in Tennessee. SB 358, sponsored by Senator Frank Niceley, a long-time champion of the small farmer and local food, goes into effect immediately.

SB 358, as amended in the House and passed, provides that

“the department [of agriculture] shall not regulate the production of unpasteurized butter provided that it is produced:

(A) In a facility separate from production of pasteurized products;

(B) Solely for intrastate commerce; and

(C) By a person licensed by the department as a dairy plant.

¹

On any raw butter sold, the bill also requires a warning label stating, among other things, that the product has not been inspected and that butter “may contain disease-causing micro-organisms.”¹

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), between 1998 and 2016, there was not a single foodborne illness outbreak attributed to the consumption of commercially-produced raw butter²; during that time, California-based Organic Pastures Dairy Company (OPDC) sold over two million pounds of the product without incident³. The labeling requirement was a concession that had to be made if the bill was going to pass.

It’s not clear why the Tennessee Department of Agriculture (TDA) would not regulate the production of butter from a licensed dairy plant but the answer could possibly be because of some agreement the department has with the federal government.

SB 358 allows the retail sale of raw butter; Tennessee joins Arizona, California, Idaho, and Maine as states allowing the sale of the product in retail stores. There are around a dozen states that allow the sale or distribution of raw butter for human consumption.

Niceley introduced a bill in 2018 that would have legalized raw butter sales, but that legislation didn’t make it out of House committee after passing the Senate. With the accelerating decline of the state dairy industry over the past year, SB 358 did not have any significant opposition. One point Niceley made during consideration of the bill was about the increasing competition from lab-grown dairy products to the conventional industry, saying that laboratories could produce pasteurized dairy products at a much lower price than the dairy industry could and that the industry needed to separate itself from that competition with the production and sale of raw dairy products.

It is uncertain at this time how many of the state’s licensed dairy plants are interested in selling raw butter but the potential is there. None of Tennessee’s neighbors allow raw butter sales; there could be out-of-state customers buying butter in Tennessee. Cheesemakers from other states could be moving in with an additional high-demand product to sell. If demand does take off, some of the state’s remaining dairies could obtain higher prices for their milk by selling some of their production to dairy plants instead of cooperatives where most are losing money with each load they ship.

The Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund (FTCLDF) has a citizen petition⁴ before the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to lift the interstate ban on sales and distribution of raw milk and other raw dairy products (except aged cheese). If the petition is successful, it is likely raw butter sales would be legal in all states within a few years. Until that time, there should still be a steady increase in states allowing raw butter sales or distribution.

Brentwood Chapter Leader Shawn Dady lobbied for the bill on behalf of the Weston A. Price Foundation (WAPF). Congratulations to her, Senator Niceley, and the other Tennesseans supporting SB 358 for legal raw butter sales⁵, in time for the spring flush.

===============
[1] House Amendment Number 1 to HB0532 (HA0116), Tenn. House § 1 (2019). Last accessed 5/7/2019 at http://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/111/Amend/HA0116.pdf
[2] Mark McAfee and Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund, “Citizen Petition Seeking Legalization of Interstate Transport of Unpasteurized Butter”, petition, June 22, 2016; p. 10
[3] Ibid. p. 11
[4] For more details about the citizen petition, read “FTCLDF Hires Jim Turner to Litigate Raw Butter Petition” at https://www.realmilk.com/turner-litigate-raw-butter-petition/
[5] Thanks to an opinion from the Attorney General, the state has allowed the distribution of raw butter and other dairy products since 2012 through herdshare agreements.

The post Raw Butter Sales Now Legal in Tennessee appeared first on Real Milk.

Just when you think you’re making progress in the food freedom arena, along comes a kind, sincere-minded loving zealot to throw a monkey wrench in things.

Such is the case in Tennessee, where Senator Briggs, a medical doctor, has filed Senate Bill 15 [SB 15] to criminalize drinking the milk from your own cow. An ecoli outbreak in Knox County apparently triggered the Draconian response from this well-meaning doctor. Of course, as is common in these cases, the outbreak was never actually tied to raw milk, but government bureaucrats color any opportunity to question and science generally flies out the window.

The bill “prohibits a person who owns a partial interest in a hoofed mammal from using the milk of the animal for the person’s personal consumption or other personal use.” If you ever wanted to see a bill targeted specifically at food freedom, this one is the prime example. Aimed squarely at herdshare, which has been the work-around for raw-milk prohibitive states, it also denies a person who owns a cow or a goat (any hoofed animal) the freedom to consume the milk from their own animal.

“Partial interest” would include both partial and full interest; in other words, if I have a goat that I want to milk and it’s mine alone, I certainly have a partial interest; lots more than partial, but at least partial. You don’t have to be a lawyer or linguist to appreciate the broad reach of this terminology. Every homesteader and farmsteader who has a goat or cow for their own personal milk consumption would be a criminal under this statute.

The sad part is that this doctor is a kind, well-meaning fellow. He doesn’t want to see anyone else get hurt. Therein lies the crux of the problem. It isn’t the government’s responsibility to keep people from getting hurt. If we really want to keep people from getting hurt, we should fill in all the backyard swimming pools, where we know 50 children will drown this year, just like every year. We would outlaw skiing, race car driving, and certainly football. We would outlaw pets because they scratch, bite and sometimes kill.

Safety is highly subjective. I don’t think it’s safe to drink 3 cans of Coca-cola a day, but that’s legal. I don’t think it’s safe to eat veggie burgers, but people do. If we’re going to pick and choose everything that could be unsafe and outlaw it, we might as well all go live in a bubble room and put on respirators. We pick and choose risks. Some eat at McDonald’s; others don’t. Some take the flu vaccine; others don’t. The critical thing to understand is that if the government is responsible for my health, then it necessarily has a fiduciary responsibility to penetrate every health-impactful decision I make in order to protect itself from economic liability.

It comes down to who owns the person. As long as the state owns the person, which is where America is right now, nothing is beyond the regulatory purview of the police, the ultimate enforcer of the laws. As the state micromanages our lives, the need for more police to enforce those regulations increases. The more police, the less freedom. Any society needing more police per capita is a society heading toward tyranny.

So here’s to hoping the good folks of Tennessee raise their milk glasses to liberty and defeat the good senator’s bill, regardless of how well intended. It’s a diabolical attack on freedom and personal autonomy.

Can you think of any food that should be illegal? Yeah, I didn’t think so.

WHAT YOU CAN DO
SB15 has been referred to the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee. Email committee members asking them to refuse any hearing on SB15 and to vote NO on the bill.

1. Email these Honorable Senators (PLEASE DO NOT CALL); you may copy/paste the entire block to email the whole committee:

sen.paul.bailey@capitol.tn.gov; sen.art.swann@capitol.tn.gov; sen.jon.lundberg@capitol.tn.gov; Sen.Raumesh.Akbari@capitol.tn.gov; sen.dolores.gresham@capitol.tn.gov; sen.jack.johnson@capitol.tn.gov; sen.frank.niceley@capitol.tn.gov; sen.steve.southerland@capitol.tn.gov; sen.bo.watson@capitol.tn.gov

2. Please call and email sponsors of the legislation, asking them to withdraw their respective bills.

sen.richard.briggs@capitol.tn.gov

• Contact Senator Briggs (615-741-1766, his staffer is Sarah Adair) and ask him to withdraw SB15.

rep.patsy.hazlewood@capitol.tn.gov
Contact Representative Patsy Hazelwood (615-741-2746, staffer is Kyle Faulkner), the sponsor of the companion bill banning herdshares in the General Assembly (the bill doesn’t have a number as of yet) and tell her to withdraw the herdshare bill.

The post Joel Salatin: Illegal to Drink Milk from Your Own Cow in Tenn? appeared first on Real Milk.

Herd share agreements are private contractual arrangements in which someone purchases an ownership interest in a dairy animal (or herd of dairy animals) and pays a fee to a farmer for boarding, caring for and milking the animal(s). The owner has the property right to obtain raw milk from the animal(s). It’s legal to purchase ownership in a dairy animal and it’s legal to obtain milk from a dairy animal you co-own; currently, there is nothing in the Virginia Code on herd shares. Herd share programs have been thriving in Virginia for many years.

In 2017 an amendment to a food freedom bill was introduced that would have banned herd shares; the inducement for the ban was the legalization of the regulated on-farm sale of raw milk. The Virginia Independent Consumers and Farmers Association (VICFA) and others–including the bill’s original sponsor, Nick Freitas–was successful in killing the legislation.

In 2018 opponents of herd shares–such as Virginia Farm Bureau, Virginia Agribusiness Council, and the Virginia State Dairymen’s Association–took a different tact; supporting the introduction of legislation in the Senate (SB 962) and the House of Delegates (HB 825) that would have officially legalized herd shares while attempting to intimidate both consumers and farmers from either entering into or continuing on with herd share agreements. Both bills required that shareholders assume joint liability if the herd or any milk produced by the herd was responsible for injury or illness; the way both bills read, giving raw milk to family or guests would be a crime. Both bills provided that violating any of the requirements in them would be first degree misdemeanors with criminal penalties of up to one year in jail and $2,500 in fines; everyday the violation continued would be a separate offense. Strong grassroots mobilization led by VICFA with help from the Weston A. Price Foundation (WAPF), FTCLDF and other organizations, carried the day; both bills died in committee.²

VDACS has long had a hands-off policy towards regulating herd share agreements but there have been reports of agency inspectors telling farmers that herd share agreements are illegal. Having a statement in writing from VDACS should help increase the sizable number of herd share programs in the state that already exist. The position of VICFA and its members has always been that the state has no jurisdiction over property rights in dairy livestock acquired through private contract, but there are others who were more hesitant to enter into herd share agreements without something in writing from VDACS on herd shares; they now have it.

In the past VDACS has been reluctant to acknowledge the legality of value-added products distributed through a herd share agreement, but recent precedent in other states shows the wisdom of VDACS current hands-off policy towards the distribution of raw dairy products other than milk.

In 2016 a Michigan court found a herd share operation not guilty of contempt for distributing butter and cream, among other product, to its shareholders; there was an injunction against the operation prohibiting it from violating Michigan’s dairy laws. The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) had adopted a written policy allowing only the distribution of fluid raw milk through herd share agreements; in spite of the policy and plenty of evidence showing that other raw dairy was distributed through the herd share, the judge ruled that MDARD had not made its case that there were any violations of the state dairy laws. The case turned in favor of the herd share operation when one of its shareholders, Mike Lobsinger, successfully intervened as a party to the contempt proceeding. One of the arguments made by Lobsinger’s attorney was that, with the raw milk being his property, it was none of MDARD’s business if he had that milk processed into cream.^3,4

In 2012 the Office of the Tennessee Attorney General issued an opinion finding that an “independent or partial owner of any hoofed mammal” may use a dairy product made from the milk produced by such animal for the owner’s personal consumption or other personal use.”⁵ Tennessee has a herd share statute recognizing that anyone who has an ownership interest in a dairy animal can use “the milk from such animal for the owner’s personal consumption or other personal use.”⁶ When the Tennessee Department of Agriculture claimed that the statute only allowed the distribution of raw milk and no other dairy product, State Senator Frank Niceley, the sponsor of the herd share bill that passed into law in Tennessee, sought the attorney general opinion.

Herd share programs are at the heart of Virginia’s local food system; the written statement of policy from VDACS should only strengthen that. Hopefully, it will help convince herd share opponents not to introduce legislation again in the next legislative session; if they do, the grassroots will be there once more to contest them.

[1] Email dated August 7, 2018
[2] Pete Kennedy, “Victory in Virginia – Bills Threatening Herd Shares Now Dead”, RealMilk.com, 6 February 2018. Last viewed 9/12/18 at https://www.realmilk.com/victory-virginia-bills-threatening-herd-shares-now-dead/
[3] Pete Kennedy, “Wild Day in Michigan: A Court Victory and A Raid”, Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund website, 13 December 2016. Last viewed 9/12/18 at https://www.farmtoconsumer.org/blog/2016/12/13/wild-day-michigan-court-victory-raid/
[4] James S. Jamo, “Opinion and Order”, MDARD v Hill High Dairy, LLC et al, File No. 15-574-CZ, 8 December 2016. [view PDF]
[5] Robert E. Cooper, Jr., “Owner’s Use of Milk and Licensing of the Sale of Eggs”, State of Tennessee Attorney General Office, Opinion No. 12-04, 13 January 2012
[6] Tennessee Statute 53-3-119

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The ordeal of the investigation has led the owners of French Broad Farm, Earl and Cheri Cruze, to shut down their herd share operation, a huge loss for the local food community in the Knoxville area. Earl Cruze, 75 years young, has milked cows for 68 years and has always been the only milker for the herd share. Raw milk drinkers in the metro Knoxville area are now out a source of their sustenance.

The department decided to lift the directive, in part, because according to County Health Director Martha Buchanan, “there is no ongoing transmission” of E. coli; the last illness KCHD connected to the dairy occurred on June 3. Buchanan indicated that the department believed that French Broad Farm was the source of the E. coli O157:H7 bacteria that sickened seven children that drank raw milk the farm produced. Interestingly, at the same time the department was investigating the dairy, it had also determined that at least four children had become ill through E. coli O157:H7 poisoning at a daycare center through direct or indirect contact with farm animals. KCHD’s investigation found no connection between the dairy and the daycare center.

What Buchanan or anyone else with KCHD never did explain was why there were no test results from milk and manure samples the department had collected from the farm over a week earlier. KCHD had gone to the farm to take milk samples on June 5 and manure samples on June 6. In addition, the department also collected an unopened container and opened container of raw milk that were produced on the suspect batch dates of May 24 and May 25.

KCHD originally sent the samples to a Tennessee lab but then on June 11 had them transferred to a more sophisticated laboratory in Iowa.

It only takes lab technicians 48 hours to make a preliminary determination on whether a sample is positive for E. coli O157:H7. Typically, if a sample is positive, a health department or other agency will issue a press release announcing the positive test and will continue with its order prohibiting the producer from distributing the suspect food. The likelihood was that all tests the Tennessee and Iowa labs took of the milk and manure samples were negative for E. coli O157:H7; it’s possible that the department didn’t announce any test results because the Iowa lab was still running tests to find e. coli.

Campylobacter, the pathogen most commonly responsible for outbreaks of foodborne illness attributed to raw milk is rarely found in samples tested in a lab; campylobacter grows and disappears quickly. E.coli, including E. coli O157:H7, is different; e. coli will often continue to grow after a sample is taken to a lab for testing. As a result it would be more likely to have a positive test result for e-coli than campylobacter. While all negative test results wouldn’t necessarily clear French Broad Farm of blame for the illnesses, they are evidence that the dairy is not responsible for the E. coli O157:H7 outbreak. The more negative tests the Tennessee and Iowa labs have the greater the evidence the dairy is not responsible for the illnesses. Buchanan did say the department looked for other commonalities among the sick children such as ground beef consumption and swimming pool usage but there are possibly other common activities among the seven children KCHD is unaware of.

Something to look at would be the multi-state foodborne illness outbreak this spring attributed to romaine lettuce contaminated with E. coli O157:H7. There have been five deaths and nearly 200 illnesses in the U.S. blamed on romaine lettuce consumption, including at least three illnesses in Tennessee. From May 16 to June 1, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) identified an additional 25 cases of illness it blamed on romaine lettuce. Reports are that there is a high level of secondary transmissions from the outbreak.

Earl Cruze ran a Grade A operation, Cruze Farm Dairy, for over thirty years. Cruze Farm Dairy is a completely separate operation from French Broad Farm and is now run by Cruze’s daughter Colleen Cruze Bhatti and son-in-law Manjit Bhatti.

The Tennessee herd share law went into effect in 2009. Since that time, herd share programs have thrived in the state; hundreds of dairies have operated herd shares at one time or another in Tennessee. The French Broad Farm investigation marks the second time herd share operations have been blamed for a foodborne illness outbreak in the state.

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IOWA House File 2055 (HF 2055) would allow the unregulated sale of raw milk and raw milk products on-farm and through delivery. There is a labeling requirement that there be a statement on the container notifying consumers that the product has not been inspected and is not subject to public health regulations. Bills have also been introduced in the Iowa legislature that would legalize raw pet milk sales (HF 2057) and the distribution of raw milk through herdshares (HF 2056) but HF 2055 is the only raw milk bill the legislature has considered so far. On January 30 a subcommittee of the House Committee on Local Government recommended passage by a 2-1 vote; the bill is now before the full committee. Iowa is one of the remaining states that prohibits any raw milk distribution.

LOUISIANA companion bills, Senate Bill 188 (SB 188) and House Bill 437 (HB 437), have been introduced that would allow the on-farm sale of either cow milk or goat milk of an average of 500 gallons per month. No permit is required but producers are subject to inspection and must comply with milk testing, herd health, and sanitary standards as well as a labeling requirement that there be a warning that the raw milk may contain harmful bacteria. The bills are a reintroduction of Senate Bill 29 (SB 29) that nearly passed in 2016. SB 29 passed out of the Senate and was defeated in the House committee by one vote.

MASSACHUSETTS Senate Bill 442 (S.442) and House Bill 2938 (H.2938) are companion agricultural omnibus bills that include provisions which would officially legalize herdshare agreements and would allow the off-farm delivery of raw milk by licensed dairies. Under the bill, farmers with no more than twelve lactating cows, goats or combination of cows and goats can enter into herdshare agreements with those wanting to obtain raw milk. There must be a written contract that includes a statement that the raw milk is not pasteurized nor subject to inspection by the state Department of Health nor the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR). MDAR has power to issue rules on testing but cannot require testing more frequently than once every two months. The bills allow from a licensed raw milk farmer to deliver raw milk to a consumer with whom the farmer has a contractual relationship, including through the farmer’s agent and through a community supported agriculture (CSA) delivery system. The bill gives MDAR power to issue regulations governing delivery; the regulations must allow for non-mechanical refrigeration. The bills have passed out of the Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture and will likely next be assigned to the Senate Ways and Means Committee.

NEW JERSEY Assembly Bill 502 (A502) is the same bill that has been introduced the prior three legislative sessions, A502 allows for the on-farm sale of raw milk and raw milk products by a licensed dairy. Producers must comply with labeling, signage, herd health, and milk testing requirements. The bill also legalizes herdshare agreements and states that no permit is required for the distribution of milk through a herdshare contract. New Jersey is one of the remaining seven states that prohibits any raw milk distribution. A502 has been referred to the Assembly Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee.

TENNESSEE House Bill 2229 (HB 2229) and Senate Bill 2104 (SB 2104) would have allowed the unregulated direct sale from producer to consumers of all foods except meat, on the farm, at farmers markets and other venues. There were labeling and signage requirements but no licensing or inspection under the bills. The bills were both defeated in committee; under current law, the distribution of raw milk and raw milk products is legal through herdshare agreements. Herdshare programs have been thriving in the state.

UTAH Senate Bill 108 (SB 108) has passed through both the Senate and House and are on the desk of Governor Gary Herbet. SB 108 allows the delivery and sale of raw milk through a mechanically refrigerated mobile unit by licensed dairies. Currently only the on-farm sale of raw milk by license holders is legal unless the producer has a majority ownership interest in a retail store (only one of the state’s ten licensed dairies meets this qualification). SB 108 also allows for the unlicensed on-farm sale of up to 120 gallons per month by unlicensed dairies if the producer is in compliance with labeling, recordkeeping, milk testing, and milk cooling requirements. Producers wanting to sell under this exemption must notify the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food (UDAF) that they are doing so. UDAF has power under the bill to order a producer to stop selling raw milk if the producer’s dairy is linked to a foodborne illness. The department has the power to levy administrative fines against producers who have been linked to a foodborne illness outbreak.

VIRGINIA Senate Bill 962 (SB 962) and House Bill 825 (HB 825) would have officially legalized and regulated herdshare operations. State policy in Virginia has long been to leave the many herdshare programs existing in the state alone. The original versions of both bills would have criminalized the refusal of either farmers or consumers to turn over copies of their contracts to government agencies. Both bills stated it was illegal for anyone besides the party to the contract to receive raw milk; in other words, giving raw milk to family or guests would have been a crime. Criminal penalties for violations of the bill’s requirements were up to one year in jail and a $2,500 fine; every day the violation continued would be a separate offense. The bills also required that the herdshare contracts contain a clause that shareholders assumed joint liability if the herd or any milk produced by the heard was responsible for any injury or illness. SB 962 was in Senate committee and shortly afterwards was stricken in the House committee.

For further updates on the progress of raw milk legislation, go to the bill tracking page at realmilk.com.

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