Mary and Bart Hill own M & B Fairview Farm in Hamburg, PA. For the last five years, they have provided delicious, nutritious raw milk from their gentle, friendly Jerseys and Milking Devons and subsequent crosses, as well as from their herd of a variety of breeds of dairy goats. I can personally attest to their goat’s milk being the best I have ever tasted; fresh, creamy and sweet without that typical “gamey” flavor commonly associated with goat’s milk.
They also provide grass-fed and pastured meats of beef as well as goat and chicken, along with truly pastured eggs. In fact, if you wanted to buy a live chicken from them, the website advises that you set an appointment and give plenty of warning so that they have time to go out and catch one of their free-ranging birds. Local upscale restaurants carry their meats and dairy, and they are a staple at many farm markets around the region.
But all of that changed over night for them recently during some heavy rains that hit our area. State inspectors came out during the worst of the flooding, and cited them for all of the mud and dirt. During a FLOOD! They also inspected the milking barn while they were milking, and cited them, claiming it was dirty. While there were cows there. Being milked. Doing what cows do.
The inspectors went on to insist that the free range chickens could no longer free range and must be penned. They were also denied the ability to use the brand new, processing plant they built on the property for making cheeses; a processing plant they built to the specifications and approval of the Agricultural Department.
Prior to this, for the last five years, only one inspector has come out for the scheduled inspections every few months and never found anything wrong. Now all of a sudden, two inspectors are coming out on a frequent basis, and things that were never an issue before are suddenly an issue. They have been given until January to make thousands of dollars worth of changes and upgrades. The inspectors are claiming that theses changes have always needed to be made, but this is the first they have ever brought them up to Mary and Bart, and they have given them little time or opportunity to do it, or make arrangements to accomplish it. They tried hiring a lawyer, only to find things got worse for them.
Because they have been given precious little recourse or time, Mary and Bart are now being forced to sell off their beloved herds of milk cows and dairy goats; animals who have been pampered, loved and hand raised with no antibiotics, chemicals, or hormones, and who have tested again and again to be clean, healthy and completely disease free.
This is just one more instance of an officious and meddlesome bureaucracy doing their best to run small family farms out of business. This kind of outrage is going on in our own backyards. Pennsylvania is only one of a handful of states in which raw milk is perfectly legal, but that status is tenuous at best and subject to change with the prevailing political winds and the pressures from federal agencies. Other certified raw dairy farmers I know have been experiencing increased harassment from officials, codes enforcers and state inspectors. I do not know what is going on in Harrisburg, but one needn’t look too far to find evidence of federal pressures against raw milk and small farms across the country.
Our freedoms are being stripped and our rights trampled. And it needs to stop.
Michael Moore needs to know about these small farms being run out of business for the sake of big business….
People need to be aware of what is going down, this is so sad and wrong.
YES! YES! YES! I never thought of Michael Moore! He would be great to get involved! What do you think is the best way to contact him?
It’s not just about “big business” all the time! Wake up! Your government bureaucracy is the biggest problem. Smaller government AND smaller businesses is what we need….not more of what people like Michael Moore want: greater government intervention!
But MM would bring attention to the issue – that’s what’s needed here.
Side Note: Michael Moore has given up making films. He said this at the Sedona Film Festival in 2010. I saw him say it live. So I guess we’re going to have to work this out on our own.
Paige, got news for you. Unless Michael Moore sees money in it for himself, he won’t care. It’s the federal government trampling on us…big business doesn’t have nearly as much to do with it as we’re being told. Take a look at the regulations the Feds are handing down on a DAILY basis. THAT’S the biggest problem. This grasping, greedy, administration that thinks we all need to be nannied to death.
It absoloutely IS big business – and the government is in bed with them. The government doesn’t want to allow anything to flourish which is in direct competition with what they subsidize, directly or indirectly. Yes it is government, because government in this country IS big business – anymore I see little distinction. Too much of company experts becoming govt. officials, changing the laws, and then going back to big business after retirement – they scratch eachother’s backs and cover eachother’s asses-
Big Banks own the government, both puppet parties. Big Banks own Big Business. Big Banks own the media. If you dig deep enough you will see that all of this is well orchestrated. A small group of people running the show according to their long established script. Each of the problems that Americans are starting to awaken to are scenes in a play that they wrote long ago. They create the “problem, then offer a “solution” that takes away more freedoms each time. This “problem, reaction, solution scenario (look up who coined that term) has worked in America over and over before people started waking up to it. Ex. problem; Blow up high profile buildings with airplanes, reaction; fear, look to government to “do something”, solution; government kills tens of thousands of innocents in other countries and removes freedoms at home. Lose of privacy, inability to fly without deadly scanning or invasive pat-downs, SWAT police at peaceful protests, military ability to hold Americans indefinitely, without trial as “terrorists”. The list goes on and on. We let this happen and only we, as one can stand up for ourselves and each other to end it.
I love raw milk and I agree we need to do something about it.
Ron Paul has consistently fought against the ties between big banks, big business, and big government. Check him out: http://youtu.be/kAulpWLZC2Y
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I currently am part of a cow share program in Wy, enjoying homemade cheese, butter and the general benefits of raw milk and I agree with your message…except for all the flowery language and the sensationalism that you are bringing to this issue…if Michael Moore ever came close to my place, I would take measures to get him the hell out my space and tell him to find a meaningful job!! Peace to You
There is a documentary already made called Farmageddon, it sheds light on this exact issue! Unfortunately, so super awesome mom who made it isn’t as famous and well known as MM. But it’s worth checking into and seeing if you can get a copy to screen at an event. http://farmageddonmovie.com/
Also, my husband works for a raw dairy here in CA. and they are currently under a cease and desist order for possibly sickening 4 people…even though the people became sick months ago, the milk they were drinking was tested and came back negative, the dairy tests continually and it always comes back negative for pathogens, AND the CDFA came out and tested it and it came back negative. Now they are enforcing a ton of new regulations for no reason and then want to test them again…not sure what they are thinking they will find AFTER the improvements if they are already testing negative. We are literally at war and it breaks my heart (as well as our bank account, my husband drives the delivery truck to stores that sell it and farmer’s markets…they have drug this out to a month now…and he’s used up all his sick and vacation time) I get so angry and feel so helpless but must remember we have been asked to learn how to abound, and how to be abased, how to prosper and how to be hungry…guess this is one of those times to just be still and know He is God.
Prayers for this situation and all the family farms being persecuted right now!!! That’s pretty much the only thing we can really do that will be of any consequence!
I am making a documentary on this subject. I am raising funds to complete it. Started when I filmed the Rawesome raid. There more awareness we bring to the subject the more power we have to fight this.
This type of thing is so backwards and horrifying! I’m praying for a miracle for this small farm so that they can continue to provide clean, healthy food for their community and make an honest living. God bless them!