Victory! South Carolina upholds freedom of residents to buy, sell raw milk

Monday, February 11, 2013 by: Ethan A. Huff, staff writer
Tags: South Carolina, raw milk, food freedom

(NaturalNews) We are excited to report that food freedom has won out in South Carolina, where a factory farm front group recently tried, but failed, to stamp out longstanding state laws that recognize the freedom of individuals to buy and sell raw milk throughout the Palmetto State. And all of you, our valued readers, helped make this possible by calling and emailing the South Carolina Farm Bureau (SCFB) in the eleventh hour and urging the group to oppose this attempted assault on an all-natural food product.

In case you missed it, the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), a national nonprofit group that purports to represent the interests of American farms, recently tried to convince South Carolina officials to quietly scrap the state's freedom-loving regulatory paradigm for raw milk sales. In its place, AFBF wanted its own standardized policy of prohibition, which erroneously views raw milk as dangerous, to be implemented as law in South Carolina against the will of the people.

It just so happens that South Carolina is one of the few states in the southeastern United States that continues to recognize the freedom of its residents to buy and sell raw milk at the retail level. Nearby North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, on the other hand, prohibit the retail sale of raw milk, and only allow it to be sold as pet food, making South Carolina a food freedom territory surrounded by Big Brother tyranny.

Opposing tyranny is not a fruitless endeavor

Once the food freedom community got wind of AFBF's machinations; however, we collectively banded together to vehemently oppose them, a move that in this case resulted in a monumental victory. According to the latest information we have received, David Winkles, Jr., head of SCFB, has decided to reject AFBF's proposals, and uphold the freedom of South Carolinians to buy and sell raw milk. And now it is our turn to thank him for respecting food freedom in his state.

"In a recent meeting to discuss policy regarding raw milk, South Carolina Farm Bureau (SCFB), under the leadership of President David Winkles, has made decisions that SCFB will continue its historic position of not opposing current South Carolina law that allows the sale of regulated raw milk for human consumption," explains an update issued by a prominent South Carolina dairy farm.

Since a victory of this nature is somewhat rare -- more often than not we have no choice but to report on human rights being trampled rather than defended -- it is important that we thank Mr. Winkles for doing the right thing, and encourage him to continue this tradition of respecting individual liberty. You can contact Dr. Winkles at: [email protected] or (803) 936-4211

At the same time, AFBF needs to know that we are still paying attention, and that we will not stand for any further attempts to erode raw milk freedom in the U.S. You can contact Bob Stallman, head of AFBF, at: [email protected]

To learn more about raw milk, or where to buy it in your own state, visit: http://www.realmilk.com/

Sources for this article include:

http://www.naturalnews.com

http://www.farmtoconsumer.org/raw_milk_map.htm