01/27/2023
From Amos' February Newsletter:
Dear Members,
Winter greetings sent to you in the name of God our Creator who made things so well.
The month of January has been rather mild which makes things easier here on the farm in regards to keeping the animals warm and comfortable. Last spring, summer and fall we were busy harvesting hay and herbs such as dandelions and drying them to store in the barn, or fermenting them, which the animals enjoy all winter. We do the same for you, our members: when the vegetables ripen and the cows produce a large amount of milk in the spring and summer, we take the opportunity to stock our shelves with fermented vegetables and aged cheeses so you can enjoy nutrient dense foods year round. We had a good growing season this past year, which was truly a blessing from God. Let us not forget to give our Creator thanks for his blessings of abundance.
We were delighted to host our attorney, Robert Barnes, here at the farm recently. We gave him a tour of the farm, showing him what we produce and how we care for our animals, in which he took great interest. Following some legal meetings, my wife Becky prepared a delicious dinner of baked chicken, peas, lentils in broth, potatoes, sweet potatoes, salad with homemade sour cream dressing, fresh baked breads, and homemade cookies and our raw milk ice cream. Robert and his associates said it was one of the best meals they ever ate! Mr. Barnes believes in the importance of nutrient dense foods and our right to enjoy nature’s abundance without harmful chemicals or preservatives. Here is a statement he released recently regarding the importance of our case:
“Food sovereignty stands for the principle that those who produce, distribute and consume food should be in control of the policies governing food production and distribution. In other words, an Informed Consent driven process where we choose what we put in our bodies, and what food production methods we wish to support. The term itself arose from a global peasant and small farmer movement in the 1990s responding to the global onslaught of corporatized, centralized, industrialized food control, enabled by government edicts and costly regulatory superstructures – it costs about one million dollars for a farmer to set up a USDA compliant “inspection” facility to sell “USDA inspected” meat.
The first problem with this process is that food is not amenable to scale without jeopardizing health. Centralizing food production for efficacy incentivized high-density animal housing, chemical laced food products, and undermined traditional diets, replacing them with processed foods. Ask Native American tribes what this produced: a sky-rocketing rise in heart disease and diabetes. Or simply contrast to the Amish, who live longer, healthier lives than most of their corporate-food dependent neighbors. Imagine a world where we are told a McDonald’s “happy” meal is “safer” for us than the spread at an Amish farmer’s dinner table.
The second problem was supply chains, as unveiled during the pandemic: concentrating and centralizing our food supply made our food more vulnerable to supply shocks. As nearly 98% of our food comes from Big Ag, the pandemic saw sudden supply disruptions that stripped us of food at a critical time, a problem that would not occur if local farmers fed us rather than a chain of corporate warehouses.
The third problem is the disconnection from nature and from small farmers. A society without yeoman farmers strips it of more than self-sustainability in food and food choice – it strips us of a part of society, culture and the economy that keeps us connected to the values of independence, entrepreneurship, and interconnection to God’s creation that critically fuels self-sustaining republics and democracies. There’s a reason so many of our nation’s founders talked of the essential role of yeoman farmers in the American political experiment.
That is why Amos Miller’s fight is about more than an Amish farmer and his customers providing and getting the food they want and need. It’s about the American way of life foreseen by our founding generation. Food sovereignty IS American sovereignty. Amos’ fight is for more than the sustenance of the human body; it is for the sustenance of the soul of the American Dream.”
We take courage from having an attorney who understands what is at stake and is working to get us back into the meat business as quickly as possible. We are grateful for your support and patience as legal journeys such as ours are usually marathons, not sprints.
Good News! We found the best Healthy Farming Attorney to join Amos' … Niki Adamkova needs your support for Help Us Pay for the Best Attorney for AMOS MILLER!
