READ THIS IF YOU'RE IN OHIO (or anywhere else for that matter) !!!!!!!

[SandRun]

I heard this on a Cincinnati radio station talk show. The host interviewed the attorney representing the family. I don't generally believe the government is "out to get us", but this is unreal. Makes me think twice about trying to sell surplus eggs to friends and family.

I'll try to keep up with this and keep it posted here.

http://buckeyeinstitute.org/article/1284

 

[NorTracNY]

Please keep us posted. I read the article and watched the video. There clearly has to be a lot more to this story. There is no talk of what the government was charging them with or any legal issues discussed.

 

[LilRalphieRoosmama]

Oh my - thanks for posting that. I happen to live in Lorain County and with the assistance of the Oh Dept of Ag, have researched the rules regarding the selling of eggs & poultry.

The Ohio laws clearly state that you can sell eggs and poultry that you process yourself from your property. They told me I could put a sign up in my front yard or an ad in the paper tomorrow. But - in order to sell off your property, and perhaps in this co-op situation, you have to be certified to sell eggs, and all meat must be processed by a licensed and inspected facility. In addition, ANY food being sold to a restaurant or a buyer within the food service industry must be inspected and processed by a state authorized facility. There is currently only one licensed poultry processing facility in the state of Ohio, and that is down near Dayton. I can't speak for the beef or other animals because I'm not familiar with those rules. In addition, it looks like they were operating a business without a license, which is clearly a no-no.

I think where this is going to get sticky is that they have a large family, so they can claim that they were raising the meat for themselves, but if they were operating as a business, then obviously it wasn't all going in their own freezer.

 

[SandRun]

I agree there has to be more to the story. The complaint is also attached to the article which obviously has a pro-family slant to it.

 

[KingsCalls]

As a former truck driver, having to drive thru Ohio everyonce in a while.....I believe anything about how they (Ohio gov.) treats people. Ohio is known as the "comunist state" by most truck drivers. They have different speed limits for big trucks thinking this helps, while in reality this causes more accidents as you have different vehicles going different speeds on a inter-state highway. Now for the raid on the home........I am a law abbiding citizen of the U.S. and I own guns. This has nothing to do with the family and their food co-op except this........when and if, the gov. ever takes your freedom to own guns........guess what? This will become an every day happening ! I love this country but, some people are just stupid and don't have a clue what they are doing. Example..........how many officials that set the rules for how many if any chickens you can have inside a city have ever seen a live chicken? How many making gun laws have ever held a gun? If you don't think the gov. is flawed.........look at the state of the economy!

 

[kpeavey]

I read up on that story a couple weeks ago. A swat team with semiautomatic weapons pointed at children seems a little strong for the charge of operating a food market without a license.

 

[NorTracNY]

So is that actually the only charge that was placed? Does anyone have a link to an actual news article from a local paper? Something from the AP?

 

[onebuggirl]

Quote:
Too bad they aren't that tough on real criminals..sheesh!

 

[LilRalphieRoosmama]

Here's the link from our local paper:

http://www.chroniclet.com/2008/12/18/couple-sue-over-raid-on-organic-food-co-op_122/

 

[NorTracNY]

Thanks for the link. Unfortunately the article is a poor article. It is mainly written from the lawsuit filed by the people and the words of their lawyer. At least they mention the sheriff. Sure would be nice to get some words from the Ohio Department of Agriculture. Of course now that a lawsuit is filed you won't hear anything until the trial. I checked the Ohio Department of Agriculture's website, but nothing.