Swat Team Conducts Food Raid on Food Co-op in Ohio

[Guest guest]

Very disturbing.

Looks like our government will try any means feasible in order to make sure we

do not have access to clean, unadulterated food. Please pass this along

to those who need to be informed. [Yellow highlights are mine.]

 

 

SWAT TEAM CONDUCTS FOOD RAIDS IN RURAL OHIO

By Andy and Berit Kjos

December 21, 2008

NewsWithViews.com

Note: The report below was not written

by me (Berit), but I did add these 3 quotes:

" Over

the past 20 years Congress has encouraged the U.S. military to supply

intelligence, equipment, and training to civilian police. That encouragement

has spawned a culture of paramilitarism in American law enforcement. The 1980s

and 1990s have seen marked changes in the number of state and local

paramilitary units, in their mission and deployment, and in their tactical

armament. " --Cato Institute (more information below)

" We

cannot continue to rely on our military in order to achieve the national

security objectives that we've set. We've got to have a civilian national

security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as

well-funded. " --Barack Obama, " Obama's

Civilian National Security Force "

" At

the World Food Programme we have recognized what a valuable tool food aid can

be in changing behaviour. In so many poorer countries food is money, food is

power..... " --Catherine Bertini, Executive Director of the World Food Program,

" The UN

Plan for Food and Land "

On Monday, December 1, a SWAT

team with semi-automatic rifles entered the private home of the Stowers family

in LaGrange, Ohio, herded the family onto the couches in the living room, and

kept guns trained on parents, children, infants and toddlers, from

approximately 11 AM to 8 PM. The team was aggressive and belligerent. The

children were quite traumatized. At some point, the “bad cop” SWAT

team was relieved by another team, a “good cop” team that tried to

befriend the family. The Stowers family has run a very large, well-known food

cooperative called Manna Storehouse

on the western side of the greater Cleveland area for many years.

There

were agents from the Department of Agriculture present, one of them identified

as Bill Lesho. The search warrant is reportedly suspicious-looking.

Agents began rifling through all of the family’s possessions, a task that

lasted hours and resulted in a complete upheaval of every private area in the

home. Many items were taken that were not listed on the search warrant. The

family was not permitted a phone call, and they were not told what crime they

were being charged with. They were not read their rights. Over ten thousand

dollars worth of food was taken, including the family’s personal stock of

food for the coming year. All of their computers, and all of their cell phones

were taken, as well as phone and contact records. The food cooperative was

virtually shut down. There was no rational explanation, nor justification, for

this extreme violation of Constitutional rights.

Presumably

Manna Storehouse might eventually be charged with running a retail

establishment without a license. Why then the Gestapo-type interrogation for a

3rd degree misdemeanor charge? This incident has raised the ominous specter of

a restrictive new era in State regulation and enforcement over the

nation’s private food supply.

This

same type of abusive search and seizure was reported by those innocents who

fell victim to oppressive federal drug laws passed in the 1990s. The present

circumstance raises the obvious question: is there some rabid new interpretation

of an existing drug law that considers food a controlled substance worthy of a

nasty SWAT operation? Or worse, is there a previously unrecognized provision(s)

pertaining to food in the Homeland Security measures? Some have suggested that

it was merely an out-of-control, hot-to-trot ODA agent, and, if so, this would

be a best-case scenario. Anything else might spell the beginning of the end for

the freedom to eat unregulated and

unmonitored food.

One

blogger

familiar with the Ohio situation has reported that:

“Interestingly, I believe they [Manna Storehouse] said a month or so

ago, an undercover ODA official came to their little store and claimed to have

a sick father wanting to join the co-op. Both the owner and her daughter-in-law

had a horrible feeling about the man, and decided not to allow him into the co-op

and notified him by certified mail. He came back to the co-op demanding to be

part of it. They refused and gave him names of other businesses and health food

stores closer to his home. Not coincidentally, this man was there yesterday as

part of the raid.”

The

same

blog also noted that the Ohio Department of Agriculture has been chastised

by the courts in several previous instances for its aggression, including trying

to entrap an Amish

man in a raw milk “sale,” which backfired when it became known

that the Amish believe in a literal interpretation of “give to him that

asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away”

(Matthew 5:42)

The

issue appears to be the discovery of a bit of non-institutional beef in an

Oberlin College food service freezer a year ago that was tracked down by a

county sanitation official to Manna Storehouse. Oberlin College’s student

food coop is widely known for its strident ideological stance about eating

organic foods. It seems that the Oberlin student food cooperative had joined

the Manna Storehouse food cooperative in order to buy organic foods in bulk

from the national organic food distributor United, which services buying

clubs across the nation. The sanitation official, James Boddy, evidently

contacted the Ohio Department of Agriculture. After the first contact by state

ODA officials, Manna Storehouse reportedly wrote them a letter requesting

assistance and guidelines for complying with the law. This letter was never

answered. Rather, the ODA agent tried several times to infiltrate the coop, as

described above. When his attempts failed, the SWAT team showed up!

Food

cooperatives and buying clubs have been an active part of the American

landscape for over a generation. In the 1970s, with the rise of the organic

food industry (a direct outgrowth of the hippie back-to-nature movement) food

coops started up all over the country. These were groups of people who freely

associated for the purpose of combining their buying power so that they could

order organic food items in bulk and case lots. Anyone who was part of these

coops in the early era will remember the messy breakdown of 35 pounds of peanut

butter and 5 gallon drums of honey!

These

buying clubs have persisted and flourished over the years due to their ability

to purchase high quality organic foods at reduced prices in bulk quantities.

Most cooperatives have participated greatly in the local agrarian economies,

supporting neighborhood organic farmers with purchases of produce, eggs,

chickens, etc. The groups also purchase food from a number of different local,

regional and national distributors, many of them family-based businesses who

truck the food themselves. Some of these food cooperatives have become large

enough to set up mini-storefront operations where members can drop in and

purchase items leftover from case lot sales. Manna Storehouse had established

itself in such a manner, using a small enclosed breezeway attached to their

home. It was a folksy place with old wooden floors where coop members stopped

by to chat and snack on bags of organic corn chips.

The

state of Ohio boasts the second largest Amish population in the country. Many

of the Amish live on acreages where they raise their own food, not unlike Manna

Storehouse, and sell off the extras to neighbors and church members. There is a

sense of foreboding that this state crackdown on a longstanding, reputable food

cooperative operation could adversely impact the peaceful agrarian way of life

not only for the Amish, but homeschoolers and those families living off the

land on rural acreages. It raises the disturbing possibility that it could

become a crime to raise your own food, buy eggs from the farmer down the road,

or butcher your own chickens for family and friends – bustling activities

that routinely take place in backwater America.

The freedom to purchase food directly from the source is

increasingly under attack. For those who have food allergies

and chemical intolerances, or who are on special medical diets, this is

becoming a serious health issue. Will Americans retain the right to purchase

food that is uncontaminated by pesticides, herbicides, allergens, additives,

dyes, preservatives, MSG, GMOs, radiation, etc.? The melamine scare from China

underscores the increasingly inferior and suspect quality of modern processed

institutional foods. One blog, commenting on the bizarre and troubling Manna

Storehouse situation, observed that:

“No one is saying exactly why. At the same time the

FDA says it is safe to eat the 40% of tainted beef found in Costco's and Sam's

all over the nation. These farm raids are very common now. Every farmer needs

to be fully equipped [sic] for the possibility of it happening to them. The Farmer To Consumer Legal Defense Fund was

created just for this purpose. The USDA just released their plans to put a law

into action that will put all small farmers out of business. Animals for the

sale of meat or milk will only be allowed in commercial farms, even the organic

ones.” December 3, 2008 7:09 PM

Berit's notes:

" The

police paramilitary units also conduct training exercises with active duty Army

Rangers and Navy SEALs. State and local police departments are increasingly

accepting the military as a model for their behavior and outlook.... The

problem is that the mindset of the soldier is simply not appropriate for the

civilian police officer. Police officers confront not an 'enemy' but

individuals who are protected by the Bill of Rights. Confusing the police

function with the military function can lead to dangerous and unintended

consequences.... " (Diane Cecilia Weber, Cato Institute, " Warrior Cops: The Ominous

Growth of Paramilitarism in Police Departments " )

Since

globalist leaders plan to control food and supplements,

water, physical and

mental health, energy,

and " human

settlements " – and as the unthinkable global standards

and surveillance

system are being implemented -- they will obviously need paramilitary

forces to control the unhappy masses.

The

Stowers family has been financially devastated by this atrocity. They have not

broken any law -- no charges have been filed -- yet they have lost all of their

own personal food for the coming year. If you would like to help the family,

the contact information is posted on

their website.

“The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the

strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid? ..

Though an army may encamp against me, My heart shall not fear;

Though war should rise against me, in this I will be confident. " Psalm

27:1-2

©

2008 Berit Kjos -

 

 

Order Berit's book Brave

New Schools

 

 

 

Berit Kjos is a widely respected researcher, writer and

conference speaker. A frequent guest on national radio and television programs,

Kjos has been interviewed on Point of View (Marlin Maddoux), The 700 Club,

Bible Answer Man, Beverly LaHaye Live, Crosstalk and Family Radio Network. She

has also been a guest on " Talk Back Live " (CNN) and other secular

radio and TV networks. Her last two books are A Twist of Faith and Brave

New Schools. Kjos Ministries

 

Be Well

 

Loretta Lanphier, ND, CN, HHP, CH

OASIS

ADVANCED WELLNESS, LLC

Natural Solutions for

Optimum Health

www.oawhealth.com | www.oasisserene.com

| All-Natural

Skincare

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

How precious is this family,so glad I have a way to contact them.Just a few

years ago I would have said this is impossible but I had a similar experience in

Phoenix 6 years ago.I was " held " overnight.Afterwards officials wanted me to

press charges against the police dept. but all I wanted to do was get out of

there.I was a 60 year old very nice G.Mom and reasoning was impossible with

them.I had no rights read to me and begged to make 1 phone call and was told

no.Very interesting what Yeshua lets His kids go through.It was a lesson never

to be forgotten.My heart goes out to these dear ones but it is not a wasted

lesson I know. sandy

[Guest guest]

In a similar "good news" story about our FDA and the FTC:

South Florida Sun-Sentinel.comMakers of dietary supplement to pay $7 million settlementDecember 17, 2008Airborne Health Inc., the makers of a popular dietary supplement that proudly advertises it was "developed by a teacher," on Tuesday agreed to a $7 million settlement with attorneys general in Florida and 31 other states.http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/sfl-flzairborne1217sbdec17,0,450950.storyThe company, headquartered in Bonita Springs, is also prohibited from implying Airborne can prevent, treat or cure colds, the flu or upper respiratory infections.Florida's will receive $460,000 through the settlement, the third and final such action pending against Airborne.In a statement, co-owner Victoria Knight-McDowell said she felt the legal claims were unjustified but that the company decided to settle to "let us focus … on making great products that people want and count on."Diane C. Lade, South Florida Sun-Sentinelhttp://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/sfl-flzairborne1217sbdec17,0,450950.story

My response:

 

Despite what was reported (or parroted) by the mainstream media, this had nothing to do with a supplement company promoting and selling a dangerous product or even making bogus health claims. Instead it is yet another example of how agencies like the FTC and FDA have been perverted to serve their corporate lords and masters, such as Big Pharma, to take clearly unconsitutional actions to suppress natural healing and truthful information about natural alternatives to the detriment of those alernatives as well as our freedom of choice to decide how to address our own private health issues.

Anyone who knows anything about natural health can take one look at the ingredients of Airborne Health's product and see that it could indeed "prevent, treat or cure colds, the flu or upper respiratory infections".

Vitamin AVitamin CVitamin EZincSeleniumManganeseMagnesiumAmino AcidsRiboflavinForsythiaShizonepetaChinese VitexIsatisEchinacea

The action against Airborne Health was based solely on the fact that the FDA has taken it upon themselves to protect the makers of "approved" drugs from competition by declaring that any substance which advertises or implies any health benefits for any medical condition can be classified as a drug and only substances which have passed the FDA drug trial process costing up to a billion dollars are "approved drugs". Since it is impossible to ever re-coup such costs by non-patentable natural vitamins, minerals, herbs, amino acids and other such substances, no natural product will ever be allowed to so advertise health benefits, no matter how many studies confirm them - such as these studies cited on the website of Airborne Health:

 

Vitamin A

Chen, Q., Ross, A.C. Retinoic acid regulates CD1d gene expression at the transcriptional level in human and rodent monocytic cells. Exp Biol Med (Maywood). Apr:232(4):488-94(2007).

Engedal, N., Gjevik, T., Blomhoff, R., Blomhoff, H.K. All-trans retinoic acid stimulates IL-2-mediated proliferation of human T lymphocytes: early induction of cyclin D3. J Immunol. Sep 1:177(5):2851-61(2006).

Morikawa, K., Nonaka, M. All-trans-retinoic acid accelerates the differentiation of human B lymphocytes maturing into plasma cells. Int Immunopharmacol. Dec:5(13-14):1830-8(2005).

Tao, Y., Yang, Y., Wang, W. Effect of all-trans-retinoic acid on the differentiation, maturation and functions of dendritic cells derived from cord blood monocytes. FEMS Immunol Med Microbiol. Aug:47(3):444-50(2006).

Wei, D., Yang, Y., Wang, W. The expression of retinoic acid receptors in lymph nodes of young children and the effect of all-trans-retinoic acid on the B cells from lymph nodes. J Clin Immunol. Jan:27(1):88-94(2007).

 

 

Vitamin C

Anderson, R., Oosthuizen, R., Maritz, R., Theron, A., Van Rensburg, A.J. The effects of increasing weekly doses of ascorbate on certain cellular and humoral immune functions in normal volunteers. Am J Clin Nutr. 33:71-76 (1980).

Bergman, M., Salman, H., Djaldetti, M., Fish, L., Punsky, I., Bessler, H. In vitro immune response of human peripheral blood cells to vitamins C and E. J Nutr Biochem. Jan:15(1):45-50(2004).

Leibovitz, B. and Siegel, B.V. Ascorbic acid, neutrophil function and the immune response. Internat J. Vit Nutr Res. 48:159-164 (1978).

Perez-Cruz, I., Carcamo, J.M., Golde, D.W. Vitamin C inhibits FAS-induced apoptosis in monocytes and U937 cells. Blood. Jul 1:102(1):336-43(2003).

Tauler, P., Aguil', A., Gimeno, I., Fuentespina, E., Tur, J.A, Pons, A. Response of blood cell antioxidant enzyme defences to antioxidant diet supplementation and to intense exercise. Eur J Nutr. Jun 45(4):187-95 (2006).

 

 

Vitamin E

Davison, G., Gleeson, M., Phillips, S. Antioxidant supplementation and immunoendocrine responses to prolonged exercise. Med and Sci Sports Exer. Apr 39(4):645-652(2007).

Del Rio, M., Ruedas, G., Medina, S., Victor, V.M., De la Fuente, M. Improvement by several antioxidants of macrophage function in vitro. Life Sci. 63(10):871-81(1998).

Han, S.N., Adolfsson, O., Lee, C.K., Prolla, T.A., Ordovas, J., Meydani, S.N. Age and vitamin E-induced changes in gene expression profiles of T cells. J Immunol. Nov 1:177(9):6052-61(2006).

Marko, M.G., Ahmed, T., Bunnell, S.C., Wu, D., Chung, H., Huber, B.T., Meydani, S.N. Age-associated decline in effective immune synapse formation of CD4(+) T cells is reversed by vitamin E supplementation. - J Immunol. Feb 1:178(3):1443-9(2007).

Meydani, S.N., Barklund, M.P., Liu, S., Meydani, M., Miller, R.A., Cannon, J.G., Morrow, F.D., Rocklin, R., Blumberg, J.B. Vitamin E supplementation enhances cell-mediated immunity in healthy elderly subjects. Am J Clin Nutr. Sep:52(3):557-63(1990).

Meydani, S.N., Meydani, M., Blumberg, J.B., Leka, L.S., Siber, G., Loszewski, R., Thompson, C., Pedrosa, M.C., Diamond, R.D., Stollar, B.D. Vitamin E supplementation and in vivo immune response in healthy elderly subjects. A randomized controlled trial. JAMA. May 7:277(17):1380-6(1997).

Pallast, E.G., Schouten, E.G., de Waart, F.G., Fonk, H.C., Doekes, G., von Blomberg, B.M., Kok. F,J. Effect of 50- and 100-mg vitamin E supplements on cellular immune function in noninstitutionalized elderly persons. Am J Clin Nutr. Jun:69(6):1273-81(1999).

Tauler, P., Aguil', A., Fuentespina, E., Tur, J.A., Pons, A. Diet supplementation with vitamin E, vitamin C and beta-carotene cocktail enhances basal neutrophil antioxidant enzymes in athletes. Pflugers Arch. Mar:443(5-6):791-7(2002).

 

 

Zinc

Aydemir, T.B., Blanchard, R.K., Cousins, R.J. Zinc supplementation of young men alters metallothionein, zinc transporter, and cytokine gene expression in leukocyte populations. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. Feb 7:103(6):1699-704 (2006).

Hasse, H., Mazzatti, D.J., White, A., Ibs, K.H., Engelhardt, G., Hebel, S., Powell, J.R., Rink, L. Differential gene expression after zinc supplementation and deprivation in human leukocyte subsets. Mol Med.13(7-8):362-70(2007).

Hasse, H., Mocchegiani, E., Rink, L. Correlation between zinc status and immune functions in the elderly. Biogerontology. 7(5-6):421-8(2006).

Kramer, T.R., Udomkesmalee, E., Dhanamitta, S., Sirisinha, S., Charoenkiatkul, S., Tuntipopipat, S., Banjong, O., Rojroongwasinkul, N., Smith, J.D., Lymphocyte responsiveness of children supplemented with vitamin A and zinc. Am J. Clin Nutr 58(4):566-70 (1993).

Li, T.X., Li, Y. Synergistic effect of zinc and vitamin A on T cell functions. Biomed Environ Sci. Apr 20(2):131-4(2007).

Muzzioli, M., Stecconi, R., Donnini, A., Re, F., Provinciali, M. Zinc improves the development of human CD34+ cell progenitors towards Natural Killer cells and induces the expression of GATA-3 transcription factor. Int J Biochem Cell Biol. 39(5):955-65 (2007).

Rink, L. Hasse, H. Zinc homeostasis and immunity. Trends Immunol. 28(1):1-4 (2007).

 

 

Selenium

Arthur, J.R., McKenzie, R.C., Beckett, G.J., Selenium in the Immune System. J. Nutr 133:1457S-1459S(2003).

Saito, Y., Yoshida, .Y, Akazawa, T., Takahashi, K., Niki, E. Cell Death caused by selenium deficiency and protective effect of antioxidants. J. Biol Chem. Oct 10:278(41) 39428-34((2003).

The shameful action recalls the FDA's gestapo like raid against the company that made Bitter Melon Tea and had the audacity to cite hundreds and hundreds of Pubmed referenced studies on their website to back up the claims of bitter melon's health benefits.

Regardless of the actions or interpretations of the FTC, FDA or any other alphabet soup agency, no one and no agency has a constitutional right to tell us what we can and cannot take to address our private health issues and concerns nor do they have the right to trample on constitutionally protected freedom of speech whether commercial or private.

If the FDA cared about the consumers they are supposed to protect instead of the monied interests they serve, they should only cite proof of harm instead require proof of effectiveness according to guidelines they developed which make such proof clearly impossible.

Some day there will have to be a reckoning for those who abuse us.

oleander soup , "Dr. Loretta Lanphier" <drlanphier wrote:>> > > Very disturbing. Looks like our government will try any means feasible in> order to make sure we do not have access to clean, unadulterated food.> Please pass this along to those who need to be informed. [Yellow highlights> are mine.]> > > > SWAT TEAM CONDUCTS FOOD RAIDS IN RURAL OHIO>