Raw Dairy Under Attack by Government
Raised:
USD $90,607
Campaign funds will be received by Nourish Cooperative
Raw Dairy Under Attack by Government
Nourish Cooperative is a farm cooperative of several small regenerative farms located in Southwest Michigan that is currently under cease & desist by the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) for the possession and sale of raw dairy products.
On Tuesday, May 28, 2024, Nourish Cooperative was raided by the government due to the sale of raw dairy. Over $90,000 worth of product was placed under seizure, meaning this product can not be sold, moved, or utilized whatsoever. Due to the "cease and desist", countless orders had to be refunded and canceled, and at this time, several products under seizure will be going to waste due to the government's hold on them.
Several of Nourish Cooperative's partner farms rely solely on Nourish as a market for their dairy products. The wellbeing and livelihood of these small family farms are in jeopardy as Nourish is currently unable to source and sell these products.
Your donation will help cover the extensive legal fees Nourish Cooperative is accruing for legal support and legal research, as the co-op prepared for a court healing. accrues as it takes the recent cease & desist raid to court, as well as help continue to support the small family farms that rely on Nourish to purchase their products, help Nourish pay employees and keep them from going out of business.
However, the main goal of the court proceedings will be to protect our right to food freedom, and stop big food corporations from maintaining control of the food system.
ABOUT NOURISH COOPERATIVE
Nourish Coop is revolutionizing food production. There is no denying that the food system in America is declining year after year - with increasing levels of pesticides, chemicals and metabolism-suppressing & inflammatory polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) - even in meat and dairy products! This is unacceptable to us - as it shouldn't be this hard to source food that actually supports your health.
It is our mission to provide you with the highest quality food you can find. And we accomplish this through a partnership of small family farms practicing regenerative agriculture - raising animals in sync with Mother Nature without the use of medications. We have both livestock farmers AND row crop partners, who produce the feed ingredients for our low PUFA livestock feed rations, and the grains for our sourdough bread product - making our company SEED TO FORK, so that we have a say in EVERY step of the production process.
For more information about Nourish & to buy their products currently available: www.nourishcooperative.com
Epoch times article reporting on the situation, "Government Agents Seize Raw Dairy From Organic Food Co-Op in Michigan": https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/government-agents-seize-raw-dairy-from-organic-food-co-op-in-michigan-5661763
UPDATES WILL BE POSTED HERE, AS THIS IS AN ONGOING SITUATION.
Recent Donations
I am so sorry to see your farm being treated like this. I will do what I can to share and support local farming. We need you!!
Wishing you protection and success in your much-needed venture!
I am so sorry to see your farm being treated like this. I will do what I can to share and support local farming. We need you!!
I am so sorry to see your farm being treated like this. I will do what I can to share and support local farming. We need you!!
I am so sorry to see your farm being treated like this. I will do what I can to share and support local farming. We need you!!
I am so sorry to see your farm being treated like this. I will do what I can to share and support local farming. We need you!!
Praying for u guys!
Hoping many small amounts will show the support and help finance the battles you must fight for us all.
Thank you for real food and for fighting!
Fight Fight Fight. Praying for your Armstrong Sisters
Updates
Update #3: More Raw Dairy Product Destroyed
July 5th, 2024
The next round of raw dairy destruction took place on Wednesday, July 3rd at Nourish Cooperative, with almost all of the remaining 'ceased and desisted' product forced to be thrown in the dumpster.
The government officials involved were unwilling to throw out the product themselves, forcing our employees (on the clock) to spend over 4 hours packing up the product, transferring it to the dumpster, then taking off lids and caps and tossing it into the dumpster upon their inspection.
Each product tossed was counted to ensure no products placed under seizure was used or sold.
You can watch a small recap of the experience on the @strong.sistas IG LIVE here.
Update #2: Raw Dairy Product Destroyed
July 5th, 2024
On Thursday June 13, MDARD finally was able to get two inspectors to our property to witness the product disposal (after several email requests — business must go on!) Hilary and the other inspector, Christopher, the lead feed inspector at MDARD, showed up to the farm around 2:30 pm ET. Their job was to witness the destruction of raw dairy products in our fridges.
We asked Christopher and Hilary whether we could keep some of the product for personal use and dump the rest into a large bin so that we could feed it to our animals. They called an unknown connection at MDARD, who denied this request. There was no reason provided.
The product had to be thrown in the dumpster. But as government employees, they can’t throw anything away. So, they forced US to do it. The first step was to get a count on all the products in the fridge under seizure, to ensure that none of the products had been used or sold since their last visit. All products were removed from the fridge and then counted.
Once all products were accounted for, it was time to discard them in the dumpster. And we couldn’t just put the jars in the dumpster, the required process involved taking off all lids of each product, throwing the lids away, stacking the products into cardboard boxes, and then utilizing the tractor forks to move over 25 large cardboard boxes to the dumpster.
The lids were removed from the jars to ensure the product would spill into the dumpster, and thus not be able to be picked out afterwards and utilized. The glass shattering would’ve taken care of this, regardless, as that created quite a safety hazard.
Once all the products had been discarded, Christopher documented a few pictures of the dumpster and Hilary recommended we “ask the dumpster service to come sooner otherwise it may start to really smell here.” Then the two inspectors left the farm. Hillary and Christopher, to their credit, were very cordial during the visit; after all, they were just “doing their job” under current MDARD policies.
Sarah Armstrong recorded all videos and was a witness to the food destruction. She described her mix of emotions from the day as: disheartened, sickened, disgusted, angered, saddened, and repulsed.
You can read more about this situation and view Dr. Mercola's summary video here.
Update #1 - Thursday June 6th, 2024
June 6th, 2024
All raw cheeses, raw honey, and pork lard has been released for sale and removed from the cease & desist. Sourdough products will be available for sale in 1-2 weeks.
MDARD is trying to tell Nourish Cooperative that it is illegal to sell other raw dairy products (like raw milk and raw butter) for pet consumption. We have lawyers actively researching this, and preparing for a court hearing.
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