Double O Farms

Vernon Hershberger is facing four misdeamnor charges related to his providing food to the members of his community through a food buying club. His trial is currently underway in Sauk County, Wisconsin. Eyes and ears from around this nation are watching and listening as this case may very well set a precedent that could affect similar cases for years to come. Is this right?  Should you even care?

Should the Sale of Fresh Food from the Farm be Illegal?

This may seem like a ridiculous question to even ask. It may seem like just the type of question that lawyers would come up with just to make a dollar. Unfortunately, it is a question being asked by the bench in Judge Guy Reynolds’ courtroom where Vernon Hershberger is facing criminal charges for making food from his farm available to those in his private food buying club.  Hershberger is represented by the attorneys from the Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund, an organization that found its roots in the ever increasing attacks being staged by various government agencies against farmers that choose to make the food from their farms available directly to the public.

Some questions and thoughts arise as I contemplate the proceedings against Mr. Hershberger, a husband and father of 10 children.

• Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. The Constitution does not provide for us an equation to arrive at our rights of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. This is because the authors of this cornerstone document of our country believed in the right of the individual to define this for himself as long as the exercising of this right does not jeopardize another’s freedom. Americans have the right to drive an automobile on a Sunday afternoon drive. However, when the expression of that right expands to include speeds of 100mph in addition to a couple cans of beer, the government begins restricting the individual’s rights. This is because of the risk to another’s right to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness is jeopardized by the combination of alcohol, high speeds, and a 2 ton motor vehicle. Let us jump now to the case at hand. Should an American citizen not be able to pursue the obtaining of food directly from a farmer if they feel that the consumption of those items would improve their overall health which contributes to their individual pursuit of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness?
  
• Are Government Agencies More Intelligent than the average American Adult?  This is exactly the message that is sent when grown adults are told that the government is restricting their access to the foods that they feel are the most appropriate for themselves and their families. In the State of New York, it is now illegal to purchase a super size soft drink. From a nutritional viewpoint, I would have to agree that a super size soft drink is not a good nutritional choice. However, is it a requirement in the United States of America that as an adult you can not consume nutritionally comprised foods. It is not, which is exactly why three quarters of the “food” items we find on grocery store shelves are ridden with more chemicals and synthetic elements which have been highly processed than real foods. What I find astounding is that this same train of thought is so inconsistently applied. In the same State of New York, teenage girls are able to make the determination (before reaching adulthood) to end the life of their baby without informing or obtaining the consent of their parents. Ending the life of another human being and that person’s pursuit of Life, Liberty, and Happiness is perfectly OK as long as you don’t make that decision with a super sized soft drink in your hand. Whether you support abortion or not and whether you adhere to healthy eating practices or not, does it not seem ludicrous that a minor child is told by the government that she is perfectly capable of making a choice regarding the termination of another life, but an informed adult is not capable of deciding how big of a soft drink is appropriate for him or her.
• Jail for Who? A growing problem in our country today is the lack of adequate prison space. Drug dealers and individuals found guilty of violent crimes are let out of prison early on a very regular basis in states all across our nation, because of the lack of available cells for new criminals. If found guilty, Vernon Hershberger could face prison time for providing food to those in his community while attempting to follow the letter of the law, which seemed to change with each new interpretation by various government agencies. Just what type of criminal will need to be released from an overcrowded prison to make room for a hard-working, tax paying citizen of our nation who has asked for nothing and is responsibly providing for his family of 12. It brings to mind another court trial that took place more than 2000 years ago involving two men by the names of Barabbas and Jesus of Nazareth.
• This is a Case About Every American. This case is truly about each American. It is about the freedom of choosing what is best for your family. Yes, the Hershberger case is largely situated in the controversy of raw milk. But it is more than that. It comes down to the role of government to lord over us rather than to establish order in our communities that allow us to safely express our freedoms under the Constitution in the way that each of us is lead to. The overbearing nature of the government in this case is indicative of what is creeping into so many other areas of our lives. The sliding along the slippery slope is already being seen in the restriction of religious freedoms, parental rights, food freedom, freedom to choose appropriate medical treatment and the method with which to pay for it, and the freedom to choose the best form of education for your children. If we are not careful, our nation will be found silently standing on the byways and highways as her freedoms march away.

Yes, every American should be concerned about what happens to a single farmer who entered into a private contract to provide food to families directly from his farm.  At its very core, one of the most disturbing thing about this case is that it was meant to be a private contract.  This was not a case of food being sold commercially in stores to the general public that had no idea of the origins or nature of what was being brought to their kitchen table.  These were families that researched, met with, and signed legally binding contracts with a farmer for food.  Is America still a society that is financially based on free enterprise?  One must wonder.

For current updates on the trials of Vernon Hershberger, you may want to visit:

Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund
The Official Site of Vernon Hershberger
Farmers on Trial
David Gumpert’s Viewpoints as a Reporter for Food Freedom

In closing, we ask that you keep the Hershberger family in your prayers.  In having walked a very similar journey in this very same battle, we can testify to the fact that it will take years after the last verdict is reached for this family to heal and to get back on their feet financially from the wounds that have already been inflicted. We are thankful that an outcome of our own horrific experience was the creation of the Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund, which is lightening the burden a little for this family.

Pray that America will wake up and realize that our rights are in jeopardy. We must prayerfully ask what each of us is called to DO in taking back our country and re-establishing it as was intended by the writers of the Constitution.  Every voice counts and every action taken can make a dent, but we must speak out and we must act.

***One of the freedoms not mentioned above is that of Freedom of Speech.  Unfortunately, we are fully aware that this display of our freedom to speak out may very well have repercussions for our family down the road.  We stand and we speak, because people need to know and be encouraged to be a part of the solution and not the silence.

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