tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2737234699043019617.post8150076054315830711..comments2007-09-30T06:14:31.823-07:00GordoBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05434742975623048346noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2737234699043019617.post-23133441707627428882007-09-30T06:14:00.000-07:002007-09-30T06:14:00.000-07:002007-09-30T06:14:00.000-07:00Ok, let's get our facts straight. First, there was NO EQUIPMENT taken off of the Nolt farm--only illegally produced products. <BR/>Nolt's farm was not surreptitiously raided, either. State Representative for Cumberland County, Will Gabig personally intervened to mediate the situation between his constituent and the PA Department of Agriculture. Mr. Nolt didn't even dignify Gabig's effort to contact him. Gabig even went to the Mennonite bishops in the area to warn them about the state and federal agencies that would be coming to the farm to confiscate his illegal products.<BR/><BR/>All the people involved in this case have bent over backwards trying to accommodate Nolt, but he flatly refuses to do even the simplest of things to help ensure his milk maintain the standards required to legally sell raw milk, one of which includes regular testing to assure there are coloforms (shit) in the milk. Ever been in a milking parlor? Even if cows are healthy and grass-fed, if you don't have a clean milking environment, you can have dirty milk. It's that simple. <BR/><BR/>He wasn't surreptitiously "raided" either. Even the State Representative in this region attempted to contact Nolt to try to help rectify the situation before it got to the point were law enforcement was going to confiscate his illegal products (again, no equipment was taken). Nolt refused to talk to his elected official. So the representative went a step further and went to the bishops of the Mennonite church and explained to them what was going to happen so they could warn Nolt and try to rectify the situation. Still, he ignored everyone. <BR/><BR/>The truth is that there is PLENTY of legal raw milk available, but people would rather make it seem that they are attempting to procure something that has been outlawed. Pennsylvania has some of the most progressive raw milk laws in the country and instead of focusing our energy and resources on someone who has chosen to flagrantly break the law, we should be working on making raw milk legal in all 50 states...not just about half of them.Painted Hand Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02818864134465526818noreply@blogger.com