By Dawn Xiana Moon
Kitchen Lore
Something’s wrong with the fact that Cargill can stay in business after having to recall 36 million pounds of salmonella-tainted turkey, but Nice Cream may not be able to stay in business after keeping a clean record. Something’s wrong with the fact that health departments are pushing businesses to produce processed food rather than fresh, locally-sourced food, which is much healthier. Something’s wrong here, and local ice cream may be a casualty of it, writes Moon.
Update (8.12.11): Information on Nice Cream’s manufacturing process (they do repasteurize their ice cream already, just not with the expensive machine) and how you can help Nice Cream.
The State of Illinois is shutting down local, artisan ice cream makers for such terrible offenses as using fresh fruit instead of fruit syrup and fresh cream instead of pre-packaged soft serve mix.
What, you say? How can this be?
Health officials in this state are known for being overzealous when it comes to making sure that small, independent businesses follow obscure rules – and when I say small and independent, I’m talking about businesses that are often owned and run by 1-2 people renting space in a shared, licensed commercial kitchen. These are not corporations with large amounts of money who have the capital to hire lawyers or contribute significant sums to political campaigns. No, these are real people, individuals who do their best to follow labyrinthine food regulations based on the information that they’re given by governmental agencies who don’t always agree on what the rules should be.
Illinois health regulators seem to hate anything that isn’t incredibly processed.
Read more at Kitchen Lore
Food Freedom 
Troubling
Your tax dollars at work.
Welcome to the fascist police state folks. Corporatism is law.
What the hell is going on here? It terrifies me to see people who provide healthy, not processed alternatives to the crap we KNOW is killing us all get shut down, threatened, harassed, arrested, fined, and criminalized. It is happening over and over at every level of government all over the country. These huge corporations that provide us with regular does of Salmonella and e-coli are not only allowed to continue, but are being protected by the same government officials who demonize healthy, home-grown, local, not poisoned foods from small producers. It’s just crazy!
Where are the LAWYERS fighting for justice? The only way to fight the criminal policies being forced on citizens if for LEGAL representation. Where are the lawyers for every single one of these cases???
Try finding the money for legal representation and you will find the lawyers alright. They can smell a greenback a mile away. A big wedge of them will bring them from the other side of the universe.
But ordinary little people do not have that sort of dough.
And that is what big business is counting on. It is how they have got bigger and the small independent people with real passion and pride in their products are trampled on before they can even say ‘Boo’!
Now you all know what you really need to do. Its not about loads of money either. You need to stop spending your money at these big outlets at all levels. Take your money away from the big business and stop feeding the monsters.
You also need to make sure this atrocity gets publicised. Yes posters and newspaper ads cost money but you don’t need to spend loads. You only need your bis fare to the nearest local radio station and protest right outside their door until they ask you ‘Why?’
Then your in. Do the same with your local newspaper. When you finish there go to the local cable tv station or if its a bigger outfit lobby them. But get there in huge numbers and really kick up merry hell…….peacefully of course.
One thing big bullies hate is publicity that exposes them as the bullies they are. Go armed with the words your going to say. Go armed with the evidence of miscarriage of civic duties and go armed with all the scientific evidence to prove that what you are trying to defend is worth its weight in gold dust.
If that doesn’t work then emigrate because you stand not a cats chance of winning anything because the zombies will already be in charge of everything including the media.
Your mission should you chjoose it is to fight for the right to be independent and free to choose your own path in life without let or hinderance from the thiugs and bullies in power.
Good luck and let me know how you do.
Oh and that should read ‘Bus Fare’ not bis.
Excuse the typos. I get carried away with the typing sometimes. 🙂 Really could use a spell checker. UK English please?
Actually, there are good lawyers who just need to be more informed who will do some work. There is also a legal defense group for raw milk. There are lawyers out there. We need more. Yes, also more people need to watch where they spend their money. Processed syrup tastes like total shit anyway. And yes, publicity. ALL OF THE ABOVE.
Wow…something is terribly wrong here. As an obese unhealthly nation how can they even consider processed / prepackaged food or ingredients. I would think this business would be a great boost to the local economy by sourcing fresh produce from local farmers/growers. Something is REALLY wrong. I think its time to take another look at the books for this regulation!
I, as the rest of you feel bad for this small enterprise, and it clearly shows that even the government seems to be in the hands of big corporations. I think we are more and more becoming a gestapo state. I even feel angry that the Commerce dept. said they pulled out certain addresses “out of a hat” and want to interragate me for 40 minutes re my home. I told them I would have no objections to filling out a questionaire, but no they want to do this in person, since I became upset with a supposed 30 minute telephone call. I sent them some information but again not satisfied and they insist on coming out now. I’m just going to have to be on my best behavior. You would think they would give an 80 year old some space.
Suzana, I strongly advise you to get an attorney. Perhaps Legal Aid can provide you one for free. I would not answer a 30-minute interview without counsel present.
this is fishy.
http://lasclev.org/
888-817-3777 or
216-687-1900
Intake Hours:
9:00 am – 4:00 pm – Monday, Wednesday, Friday
9:00 am – 2:00 pm – Tuesday, Thursday
Legal Aid’s General Business Lines
Call one of these numbers if you are a current client or have other business with Legal Aid.
Cleveland Office:
216-861-5888
http://lasclev.org/contact/
I absolutely agreen on legal representation. There is no time to worry about getting the “perfect” counsel money can buy. Now is the time to get the legal machine in motion for true justice. Action promotes more action and ultimately justice. The big corporations rely on marketing professionals, lobbyists and lawers for every move they make. Professional representation is IMPERATIVE.
This is the result of the new “food safety” law, federal and state. Go after your state legislators and demand that all food laws must include EVIDENCE of contamination before any demand can be made on anyone. Right now all the laws are based on something Bill Clinton introduced called HACCP. http://www.opednews.com/articles/History-HACCP-and-the-Foo-by-Nicole-Johnson-090906-229.html
Read: Clinton and the beginning of deregulation and dietary feces
http://www.organicconsumers.org/irrad/ctf.cfm
And you can read the end of this article to see who is driving this and that “organic” NGOs and public interest groups are controlled by Rockefeller funding – PIRG, NSAC, Food and Water Watch, Sierra Club, NPR, etc. – all the groups did not work to stop the food safety bill and some promoted it – a bill that that turned power over all food and farms here to Monsanto.
Among the organizations funded by RBF are: the Tides Foundation; the Tides Center; SeaWeb; Greenpeace; the Environmental Media Services; the National Environmental Trust; Human Rights Watch; the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy; Friends of the Earth; the David Suzuki Foundation; the Natural Resources Defense Council; theEnvironmental Defense Fund; the Ocean Conservancy; the H. John Heinz Center for Science, Economics and the Environment; Alliance for Justice; the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund; the Council on Foundations; the American Oceans Campaign; the Sierra Club; the Rainforest Action Network; the World Resources Institute; the Earth Island Institute; the Environmental Working Group; the World Wildlife Fund; the Urban Institute; the Izaak Walton League of America; the Open Space Institute; the Conservation Law Foundation; the U.S. Public Interest Research Group Education Fund; the Wilderness Society; the Worldwatch Institute; the Union of Concerned Scientists; Ozone Action; the Pacific Rivers Council; the Rainforest Alliance; the National Wildlife Federation; Clean Water Action; Action Against Crime and Violence Education Fund; the Pesticide Action Network; the Community Action Project; the Consultative Group on Biological Diversity; the International Forum on Globalization; Redefining Progress; Environmental Advocates; Public Citizen; Conservation International; the Earth Day Network; Physicians for Social Responsibility; Forest Ethics; the Biodiversity Action Network; Consumers Union; the Center for Health, Environment and Justice; the Public Media Center; the Environmental Research Foundation; the Environmental Justice Alliance; the League of Conservation Voters; Oxfam America; the Waterkeeper Alliance; the Resource Renewal Institute; the Foundation on Economic Trends; the Environmental Grantmakers Association; the Center for Science in the Public Interest; the Center for a New American Dream; Green Seal; the Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides; the New America Foundation; Friends of the Constitution; the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN); the American Conservation Association; the American Council for Renewable Energy; the Aspen Institute; the Brookings Institution; the National Black Child Development Institute; the Center for Clean Air Policy; the Center for Economic and Policy Research; the Center for Media and Public Affairs; the Center for Policy Alternatives; Earth Share; EarthRights International; the Wildlife Conservation Society; the Brennan Center for Justice; the World Social Forum; the Women’s Project and Production; Ecologists Linked for Organizing Grassroots Initiatives and Action; Environmental Aboriginal Guardianship Through Law and Education; the Forest Trends Association; the Pacific Institute for Studies in Development, Environment and Security; Global Justice, Inc.; the Institute for Policy Studies; the Institute for Sustainable Communities; the Gay Men’s Health Crisis; Planned Parenthood; the Sentencing Project; the Lawyer’s Committee for Human Rights; Public Broadcasting Service; the International Peace Academy; the Jewish Fund for Justice; the Meridian Institute; the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy; Amnesty International; National Public Radio; the Nature Conservancy; the Organizing Support Center; the New York University Institute for Education and Social Policy; the Wild Salmon Center; the Pacific Environment and Resources Center; the Parks Council; the Pinchot Institute for Conservation; the Ploughshares Fund; Project Underground; theRockefeller Family Fund; TechRocks; the Third World Network; and the United Nations Foundation.
http://lists.mutualaid.org/pipermail/mgj-discuss/2005-April/004279.html
Go after your state legislators to insert the requirement for EVIDENCE, into any food safety bill. Read the following and after getting over being stunned, get to work personally, organizing on the ground with friends, lobbying until you get that change. Any legislator who will not vote for evidence before someone is destroyed by these laws is going to look terrible. But most legislators don’t realized the requirement for evidence has been removed.
A National Response to Two FDA Armed Raids on Rawesome
People can also elect to represent themselves. YEs, it is time consuming, but going to the local university’s law library will help you alot, and it can be done by “just the average person”. Something we may all have to add to our skills set, actually.
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