Rawsome’s James Stewart out of jail

From David E. Gumpert, on the Complete Patient blog:

“You wonder what sitting in jail for four months–all for running a private food club–does to a guy. You wonder what it does to the people around him who were supposedly watching his back.

I’ve certainly wondered, especially with James Stewart finally being released after four months in a Ventura County jail, capped off by five days at the notorious Los Angeles County jail (known as the Twin Towers).  (He was jailed last July after missing a couple court appearances in Los Angeles and Ventura County.) 

Was Rawsome raw milk raid all about enforcement theatre and intimidation and not about substantive cases?

From David E. Gumpert on the Complete Patient blog:

“Almost like a mirage, the Rawesome Food Club case seems to be disappearing before our eyes.

A big chunk of it vaporized Friday when two defendants–Sharon Palmer and Victoria Bloch–settled the charges filed by the Los Angeles County District Attorney 13 months ago with slaps on the wrist…no, I’d say they were little taps. They each pleaded guilty to a single misdemeanor, and agreed to pay a small fine.

Palmer, the Ventura County farmer, pleaded guilty to one count of distributing milk in unsanitary conditions, was fined $400, and will have to do 40 hours of community service.  She will be on probation for three years.

Rawsome founder responds to the New Yorker article on raw milk and the Rawsome raids

Thanks to Marilyn Gang for the news tip. From Aajonus Vonderplanitz’ “We Want to Live” blog:

“The New Yorker magazines RAW DEAL article was so far more favorable to our right to have the foods we want in a major magazine, including raw milk but the details of the article are not so favorable. Everyone continues to argue bacteria.
(http://www.thecompletepatient.com/article/2012/april/25/new-yorker-profile-rawesome-highlights-stresses-raw-milk-producers-spotlight#comment-19638)
Bacteria is not the problem.

I do not understand why the New Yorker author reiterated the fraudulent disease-“statistics” from CDC, health department, university and processed-food employees and investors as if the statistics were based on science and fact, especially since they possess such a superstitious prejudice against raw milk. I gave her research that proved calling bacteria the food problem is an intentional misdirection and a way for government/industry to gain control of our food….”

Read it all on “We Want to Live”.

James Stewart, 65 yr old Rawsome manager, tortured like a political prisoner in Los Angeles jail

Health Ranger Mike Adams has the whole story at Natural News.com:

“(NaturalNews) NaturalNews exclusive report, please credit with link. NaturalNews can now report that 65-year-old senior citizen James Stewart, a raw milk farmer with no criminal history, was nearly tortured to death in the LA County jail this past week. He survived a “week of torturous Hell” at the hands of LA County jail keepers who subjected him to starvation, sleep deprivation, hypothermia, loss of blood circulation to extremities, verbal intimidation, involuntary medical testing and even subjected him to over 30 hours of raw biological sewage filth containing dangerous pathogens.

Rawsome accused tortured in custody

From David E. Gumpert, on the Complete Patient blog:

Rawsome Foods manager James Stewart. Complete Patient photo. Click image to go there.

“James Stewart was feeling “disoriented” when I caught him on his phone this morning in Los Angeles. He had just been released from a Ventura County jail last evening, finally, on $100,000 bail. “I feel like I just got off an amusement park ride,” he said.

Revisiting the “Rawsome Three” case

From David E. Gumpert on The Complete Patient blog:

Signs currently outside the now shuttered former Rawsome Food Club. David E. Gumpert photo.

Whatever happened to the Rawesome Three (James Stewart, Sharon Palmer, Victoria Bloch)?

Whatever happened to the felony case against the Rawesome Three?

Whatever happened to Rawesome Food Club?

The failure of raw milk prohibition

From Karen De Coster on Information Liberation:

Video above is from the first raid on Rawsome foods in Los Angeles, California: “Skirting past the arugula and peering under crates of zucchini, they found the raid’s target inside a walk-in refrigerator: unmarked jugs of raw milk.”

“The August 3, 2011 shakedown of the Rawesome food cooperative in Venice, California, in spite of the tragic outcome, has produced one positive result. The ruthless raid on the part of miscellaneous government agencies has sparked a wave of unprecedented discord over the question – How can government dictate what we choose to eat when we each have unique standards for good nutrition?

This federalista blitzkrieg came at a time when raw milk alarmism had reached an all-time high. The folks who wish to banish raw milk can’t leave the issue alone, and instead they have ramped up a cacophonous crusade against one of nature’s natural glories. Day after day, articles and news bits appear in the mainstream media, full of fear mongering and panic-producing propaganda in regards to the safety of raw milk.

After massive theft of people’s food at Rawsome, the California regulators are saying they want to “study” cowshares

From David E. Gumpert on the Complete Patient blog:

“….Some people don’t like it when I say we’re in a war over food rights. We are, and the reason I repeatedly emphasize that point is that the war analogy helps us understand more clearly what’s going on around us. In wars, it’s common practice for the aggressor to offer a potential settlement or compromise after launching a huge military assault, and the enemy has fought back harder than expected. The aggressor hopes to de-rail any momentum, and divide the enemy with an offer that seems tempting to everyone who hates war, which is most of us.

Even if nothing comes of the discussions, the aggressor uses the pause to gather information and intelligence, and to re-group. McAfee indicates CDFA officials were surprised to learn there are likely more than 100 dairies with herdshare/cowshare arrangements in California. Of course they were. They don’t know much of what’s going on in the real world they regulate. 

Ventura county farmer who was arrested in Rawsome raid says she’s being targeted by government

From Rachel McGrath in the Ventura County Star:

Sharon Palmer stands near a flock of lambs on her Santa Paula farm, where she raises goats, chickens, pigs and cattle. Pamler faces prosecution for the unlicensed production and sale of unpasteurized milk and related dairy products, though she maintains that she was licensed at the time she was charged. Palmer no longer produces dairy products as a result of the police raids on her home. Caption from VCstar.com. PHOTO BY ANTHONY PLASCENCIA // BUY THIS PHOTO: Click image to go to link where you can buy a copy of the photo.

“A Santa Paula farmer at the center of a raw-milk prosecution in Los Angeles says she did not sell unpasteurized products to the general public without a license.

Sharon Palmer, owner of Healthy Family Farms, is charged in a felony indictment with being part of a criminal conspiracy to produce and sell unlicensed raw milk and related dairy products in Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.

Rawsome case underlines how it’s all about government denying people access to foods they’ve sought out

From David E. Gumpert on the Complete Patient blog:

“There was an interesting article in the Chicago Sun-Times over the weekend about the growing popularity of locally produced food. While there have been any number of such articles in recent months, this one made some important additional points that tend to be ignored by the mainstream media: namely, that people are seeking good food for the sake of good health, and that our government is aggressively fighting that notion.

The article concluded: “As the momentum builds among those looking for ways to grow closer to their families and their communities, and as more of the population turns its attention to prevention of disease and other chronic health woes, Weaver believes eating locally will grow ever more mainstream.