Amos Miller the Renegade Rancher
RootCause Dispatch #21
Amos Miller is an Amish farmer who runs Miller’s Organic Farm in rural Pennsylvania. They raise grass-fed, grass-finished beef, pork, chicken and unpasteurized dairy. The Millers’ farm uses no industrial fertilizers, herbicides or antibiotic inputs. They process animals on-site and ship nationally as part of a “buyers club” system.
Amos has been ordered to pay $305 000 in fines related to his private food club and failing to comply with US Department of Agriculture requirements around slaughter, butchery, inspection and labeling of farm products. He faces a further hearing on September 26 and jail time for non-compliance.
This is the latest installment of man vs federal agricultural bureaucracy. A saga in which Miller has repeatedly refused to comply with food processing regulations for close to a decade. As an Amish man, he rejects the jurisdiction of federal agencies over his operation stating that century-long traditions of the farm pre-date any bureaucratic mandates.
Trial by media
A ‘trial by media’ is usual treatment for anyone repeately challenging the Powers That Be. The person in question is simply labeled as a “ ____er” and is painted with a broad brush that serves as a mimetic heuristic, relieving the masses of the burden of forming their own opinion.
In Miller’s case, an outbreak of listeriosis leading to hospitalization of two people of 2013-14 (one in Florida and one in California) were supposedly linked by genetic testing to unpasteurized milk products sold from the Miller farm* (see footnote below). Miller refutes these claims. He further states that that none of his current 4000 buyers club customers have complained about his products or the manner of their slaughter.
Taken together, it all seems a bit fishy. The association of the Miller’s Organic Farm with historical allegations of poor food safety practices at the same time as the current charges appear conveniently timed to discredit the Millers in the eyes of the public. More likely is that all tools being brought to bear against a man who refuses to bow to authority.
Repeatedly disobey the federal government at your own peril.
Decentralized and self-regulating
The case against Miller is a microcosm of a the wider trend toward centralization of agriculture and the food supply. This is manifesting as onerous bureacratic hurdles on small scale agricultural operators and attacks on the food sovereingty movement that promotes dis-intermediation of food corporations and the industrial food system.
If you’ve read my previous pieces including The Corruption of the Human Diet, The Malignant Centralization of Agriculture, Healthcare and Nutrition and the Decentralized Revolution in Agriculture, Healthcare and Nutrition then you will know that I support a large number or geographically dispersed, family-run organic farming operations and processing facilities as opposed to smaller number of large industrial producers and processors.
This opinion is founded in the belief that a decentralized food system is more robust, less prone to supply chain disruptions (remember COVID meatpacking shutdowns), less prone to regulatory capture (that favors multinational corporations like JBS, Cargill et al.), and more supportive of consumer choice.
More, not less, decentralization is key to generating a thriving free market that self-regulates in a spontaneous and emergent manner. In a thriving free market, there is no need to send your organic chicken breasts to a chemical-laden facility to be washed in acid solution before being sold because the unsafe farmer selling contaminated chicken would soon go bankrupt.
Any genuinely dangerous or unclean operator would simply go out of business because consumers would quickly cotton on and refuse to patronize his farm store. Especially in an age of Facebook mothers groups, Instagram and social media where reputation hinges on transparency and word spreads like lightning.
Over-reaching government
The crux of the matter is one’s opinion on the role of government as intermediary (and interfering agent) in the free, voluntary commerce between two willing and consenting parties.
Is direct federal government oversight necessary, or even desirable?
Does the government have the duty to so thoroughly ‘protect’ people from themselves that they are unable to make a own decisions about the type and quality of produce they purchase?
Your opinion of Miller is either renegade public health hazard or farmer-cum-freedom-fighter depending on your position.
Clown world continues
The case against Amos Miller is emblematic of the disastrously and ridiculously misplaced priorities of the public health bureaucracy today.
There is a real epidemic and national crisis of metabolic health and high-calorie malnutrition stemming from consumption ultra-processed foods made with commodity crops contaminated with endocrine-disrupting herbicides.
Yet federal bureaucrats choose to target the Amish farmer growing highest-quality organic, nutrient dense food selling direct-to-consumer with no ties to corporations or industry.
Exercising your right to poison yourself
Every day 100s of millions of Americans exercise their right to poison themselves with litres of coke, pounds of sugar, and trays full of fast food.
It seems absurd that people are permitted, even encouraged, to consume piles of this processed crap but are dissuaded and forbidden from purchasing organic food in its un-refined form as has been consumed for the duration of our species time on this planet.
This story is a continuation of an increasingly Kafkaesque world in which government-endorsed guidelines for nutrition (and health more broadly) are more likely to do harm than good. Red meat and saturated fat is a case in point. Such is the power of fiat money, fiat incentives and regulatory capture.
Tell the story of the persecution of Amos Miller in any developing nation of Latin America, Asia, or Africa and you would get laughed out of the room.
Any farmer producing this much high quality produce for their community would be lauded, not fined.
Anyway, you can make your own mind up about whether Amos Miller’s actions continue to justify the case against him. Post your comments below.
The Rest Is Up To You…
— RootCause MD
September 24, 2022
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*Listeria monocytogenes is a nasty foodborne pathogen that can cause sepsis and meningitis in immunologically vulnerable people, as well as intrauterine infection and stillbirth in pregnant women. Listeria and other pathogenic bacteria are killed by process of pasteurization.
For context, the majority of Listeria outbreaks and cases of listeriosis in the US are related to contaminated fruit, vegetables and processed meat, not raw milk. The most infamous listeria outbreak was linked to Jensen Farms Canteloupes, Colorado in 2011.
While people should have the reasonable expectation their food isn’t contaminated with disease-causing pathogens, there is a non-negligible risk that must be embraced by those who are seeking the health benefits of raw milk consumption. As I keep reminding everyone, provenance is key and understanding the source of your food is essential — when you outsource this responsibility you will have problems.
Nothing a bureaucrat hates more than a citizen proving his job is not necessary except as a gatekeeper for monopolists.
Does he have a gofundme or equivalent? He should.