Comments on: My Sister’s Story: How Uncle Sam Controls Your Choices

By: thebovine

thebovine — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 14:30:17 +0000

Katrina, thanks for writing this up for the public record. Raw milk pioneers have had a tough row to hoe in recent years. Hope it’s ok that I’ve excerpted much of your story in a recent post on the bovine blog: http://thebovine.wordpress.com/2009/04/30/the-dee-creek-farm-raw-milk-saga/

By: The Dee Creek Farm raw milk saga « The Bovine

The Dee Creek Farm raw milk saga « The Bovine — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 14:25:08 +0000

[...] Jump to Comments This sad and moving story is excerpted from a post on Stone Soup titled “My Sister’s Story: How Uncle Cam Controls Your Choices” by Katrina Stonoff: Mike and Anita Puckett of Dee Creek Farm. (via Stone [...]

By: Annika

Annika — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 13:21:20 +0000

Wow. I am new to raw milk, having only been drinking it for a few weeks. You comparison between deaths from raw milk and deaths from tobacco really struck me. I had not thought of it in those terms. Great analogy!

I’m so sorry for the horrible ordeal your family has gone though.

By: AJ

AJ — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 11:16:10 +0000

As the owner of a small family farm in Illinois, this story shakes me to my core. We take our customer’s health to heart. It is a heavy responsibility providing good, healthy, wholesome food to people who come to our farm. I lose sleep worrying that maybe someone will become ill, that the officials are waiting down the driveway, that we will lose the farm that we have all worked so hard to build. Do you think that ANYONE in the corporate world lost sleep over all those people who ate tainted tomatoes, lettuce, spinach or strawberries? Did they experience anxiety attacks and seek counseling because they felt responsible? Do I need to answer that question?
The officials in this case needed a small farm, a posterfamily to put on their billboards as a warning to all of the other family farms out there and the people who choose to patronize them. So sorry that it had to be your family. It won’t stop there, it will continue. They will find another farm, another family. They will invent the illness and point the finger and yet another family will fall. God Bless and take care.

By: Stephen

Stephen — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 14:18:45 +0000

Wow. Just. Wow. That’s amazing and appalling. Not only is it an example of the government playing really dirty, but also how the media (you know, the one that the current GOP candidate and his sidekick refer to as ‘liberal’) can act as governmental attack dogs.

I hope that everything is now behind them and they can get on with living their lives.

By: ghostofaredrose

ghostofaredrose — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 10:37:28 +0000

This is a great – very succint – account of what happened. I’m sending the link to my friends so that they can read it, too.

Now if only there was a judge with a sense of justice in Mesa.

By: lucidlunatic

lucidlunatic — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 19:34:46 +0000

To me, at least, this is an example of the government needing to pick it’s battles. Are there things that it should control? Yes. But it should focus on the greater dangers- traffic regulations, Rx drug safety, etc. rather than banning legetimate food items. At the most the government should require that potential consumers be informed of the dangers.

Now, did the farm warrant investigation? Yes. If it was a potential source of E. Coli it needed to be searched for the pathogen. From the government’s point of view the farm could have been a breeding ground for disease, unbeknownst to the co-owners of the cow. That wasn’t the case. Furthermore, not only did the Puckett’s do all the right things, but the government badly mismanaged the case.

From a legal perspective, the new legislation is a good thing. The co-owner arrangement seems like was really just a loophole. I can understand the Puckett’s reluctance to sign the agreement, despite the fact it was legal.

By: melinda

melinda — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 01:57:27 +0000

So, we had a storm and, between turning my computer on and off all evening, I had to read your story in bits and pieces. But, all storms aside…

I’m really sorry that they, and you, have had to go through all this. Like you, I am neither for or against raw milk. But, as I’ve gotten older and my political views have matured, I’ve come to question a LOT of our current government regulations. This is one of them. It seems to me that it would be most practical to educate the public on the risks and benefits of raw vs. processed milk, and then leave it up to them on what to do. Same for other foods… like, grass-fed beef vs. beef with hormones vs. cloned beef. Whatever… my point is, I really don’t think the government should be telling us what we can put in our mouths.

It’s like those lawsuits against McDonald’s because someone got fat from eating there. Yes, McDonald’s is fattening. Yes, McDonald’s is also delicious. Yes, I probably eat there more than I should. But it is not THEIR fault that I am overweight. I don’t need the government telling me what I can or can’t eat.

Send my love to your sister and husband. I know this has been awful, and that now they’ll have to get back on their feet. But they’ve definitely earned my respect, and I would guess they’ve got the full respect of the community as well.

By: trudyj65

trudyj65 — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 00:10:56 +0000

It’s an interesting story, and I’m terribly sorry your family had to go through that experience, which must have been harrowing. I wasn’t even aware of “raw milk” or the debate around it until I read this … we have enough of a struggle here just getting local grown/raised produce and meats, much less organic, much less “raw.” I think there is obviously some government regulation needed to protect consumers, but there’s also a tendency to over-regulation that often seems to serve big business (including agribusiness) interests moreso than the genuine needs of the public. It’s a delicate balance between necessary government vigilance and squeezing out the rights of small producers, who in my opinion need all the encouragement they can get.

So glad the final court result was one you can all be at peace with.

By: katrinastonoff

katrinastonoff — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 23:51:40 +0000

Thanks. I really appreciate your warm remarks, both of you. And your thoughts and prayers.

It frightens me a little how the U.S. government, little by little, is removing parents’ right to make decisions about how to raise their children. Someday, when a little more time has passed, I’ll tell you a story about medical care and what happens when you try to buck a pediatrician (even if what he’s doing goes directly against the recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics). YIKES!

I hope it’s better in Canada, Tara.