In May 2014, the US Department of Agriculture filed a request for weapons including submachine guns and semi-automatic or 2 shot burst trigger guns. This request has many, including the Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund, questioning what need the USDA could possibly have for such heavy arms.

According to a USDA spokesperson, the weapons are necessary for self-defense during undercover operations and surveillance. As Modern Farmer points out, this sounds like a legitimate reason when, in actuality, most of their enforcement operations relate to white-collar fraud of government programs like Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

Nor would such heavy arms be necessary in on-ground investigations into small farms and producers – for example, investigations and raids surrounding whether small farms are selling raw milk.

“Do we really want to have our federal regulatory agencies bring submachine guns onto these family farms with children?” asks Liz Reitzig, co-founder of the Farm Food Freedom Coalition.

The Campaign for Real Milk is a project of the Weston A. Price Foundation, a nutrition education non-profit based in Washington, D.C. To learn more about raw milk and other nutrient dense foods, attend one of the upcoming Wise Traditions conferences.

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