Originally published August 29 2013
Victoria Bloch from 'The Rawesome Three' opens up about her unlawful arrest over raw milk
by Ethan A. Huff, staff writer
(NaturalNews) More than a year after being unlawfully arrested as part of a malicious raw milk sting initiated by the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), Victoria Bloch, one of "The Rawesome Three," has come out with more sordid details about her hellish experience. As recounted in a Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund (FTCLDF) posting, Bloch explains how she got caught in the fray of a concerted attack by the state against raw milk, which left her, James Stewart, and farmer Sharon Palmer literally fighting for their lives and livelihoods.
According to Bloch, who has long been a chapter leader for the Weston A. Price Foundation (WAPF), her involvement as a volunteer for Sharon Palmer's Healthy Family Farms is what landed her in the crosshairs of the state, which had already launched a vendetta against both Rawesome and the farm. And like both Palmer and Stewart, Bloch ended up getting charged with a bounty of ridiculous offenses, all of which were vindictively categorized as felonies by the district attorney's office.
"Collectively, the three of us were charged with a variety of offenses -- all of them felonies, since the D.A. chose to make almost every count a conspiracy to commit a misdemeanor, and conspiracy is an automatic felony," relates Bloch. "By this means, simple civil misdemeanors became felonies, landing our case in criminal court -- on a par, legally speaking, with murders, drug deals, assaults, and other serious offenses."
While in prison waiting for the saga to get sorted out; however, Bloch was actually able to share with dozens of other inmates, as well as prison guards and sheriff's deputies, the truth about raw milk. She recalls the experience as an "opportunity to educate" in the midst of what can only be legitimately described as lawless persecution by the state. And yet at the same time, Bloch's chilling experiences provide unique insight into just how much force the state is willing to wield against innocent people involved in any way with raw milk production or consumption.
You can read Bloch's full account here: http://www.farmtoconsumer.org/news_wp/?p=2204
Bloch was eventually freed from prison after accepting a small misdemeanor plea, as was farmer Sharon Palmer. But James Stewart, the raw "milkman" responsible for creating Rawesome Foods, continues to be unlawfully detained due to relentless oppression from the Ventura County District Attorney's Office. The natural health community is currently trying to raise awareness about this injustice with the hope that Stewart will be freed sooner rather than later.
Some of Stewart's supporters and advocates have created a Change.org petition to have all his illegitimate charges dropped. You can access that petition here: http://www.naturalnews.com
Sources for this article include:
http://www.farmtoconsumer.org/news_wp/?p=2204
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